DIMOCK RESIDENTS WORKING TO PROTECT WATER FROM A NEW THREAT: FRACKING WASTE

Senator Katie Muth and Dimock, Pennsylvania residents are working to stop Eureka Resource’s permit to release effluent from a proposed fracking wastewater treatment plant. Elsewhere in Dimock, many residents still cannot drink their well water which was fouled by Cabot Oil and Gas over a decade ago, as the company (now Coterra Energy), continues to operate in Susquehanna County. This is part 1 of a 2 part series on Dimock. 

On Monday, March 28th, Senator Katie Muth filed an appeal with the Environmental Hearing Board for the permit of a new fracking wastewater treatment plant in Dimock, the Pennsylvania town notorious for its fracking-contaminated water.

Eureka Resources’s Susquehanna Facility would accept toxic wastewater from fracked wells in the region for treatment. Part of the treated wastewater would be sold for reuse, but a portion of it would also be discharged into a small tributary, under a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit. This is the permit that Senator Muth, along with residents, are appealing. 

The appeal states:

“This appeal is centered around the failed oversight of taxpayer funded regulators and the potentially fraudulent approval of an oil and gas wastewater treatment facility that will directly discharge toxic substances into a swale and small waterway utilized by cattle for drinking water and for household use such as laundry and shower water. The proposed location will be in a community plagued with legacy pollution from negligent oil and gas companies who continue to exploit the land and natural resources for profit and decimate ground water and private wells used for resident drinking water supplies for over twelve years. Further, the proposed facility would be located right next to an oil and gas flowback site with several serious unregulated and unabated pollutional incidents.” 

It goes on to say that the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PA DEP) did not notify the public of the harms associated with Eureka’s Susquehanna Facility and “failed to follow the NPDES permit review process required by US EPA Region III and approved a permit that the Department does not have the authority to approve.”

Fracking waste background

Despite the fact that fracking waste contains carcinogens, heavy metals, and radioactive materials, it is exempt from regulations under the hazardous waste sections of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. This is the result of a decision made by the US EPA over thirty years ago, influenced by an industry trade group. As a result, fracking waste is injected underground and sent to landfills and treatment plants with insufficient tracking, testing, and management. Given the enormous volume of waste the industry produces (in 2019, Pennsylvania’s fracked wells produced over 2.7 billion gallons of liquid waste), handling and disposing of it all creates a major burden for the industry and a major health risk for communities. 

The area where Eureka Resource’s will discharge, which residents say dries up during parts of the year. Photo by Erica Jackson, March 19, 2022.

Eureka Resources’ Susquehanna Facility and impacted waterways

White Hawk

On June 15, 2020, Pennsylvania’s Attorney General Josh Shapiro charged Coterra, called Cabot Oil and Gas at the time, for environmental crimes after a two year investigation.

The Grand Jury’s investigation concluded that Coterra was responsible for contaminating drinking water in Dimock that harmed residents. AG Shaprio stated, “They put their bottom line ahead of the health and safety of Pennsylvanians. The Grand Jury repeatedly found evidence of a company that placed profit over our laws.”

Coterra’s attorney waived a preliminary hearing for the case, allowing the charges to move to the Susquehanna County Court for a potential trial. In the meantime, the company continues to drill in the state. The Eureka wastewater treatment plant would accept waste trucked from Coterra oil and gas wells, as well as other operators in the area. All of Coterra’s Pennsylvania wells are in the northeastern part of the state, with 1,603 active, unconventional wells in Susquehanna County, according to the PA DEP (Figure 2).

• Pennsylvania Oil & Gas Waste: Report and Interactive Map by Earthworks and FrackTracker Alliance.  September 10, 2019. 
• Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection: Eureka Resource’s LLC NPDES permit. Issued January 18, 2022.
• The Pennsylvania Environmental Hearing Board, Case #2022015. Ameded Notice of Appeal March 28, 2022.
• AP News: ‘Irreversible:’ No easy fix for water fouled by gas driller. February 18, 2022.
• PA DEP: Oil and gas well permit issue report.
• PASDA: Water Management Plans, Marcellus Shale.

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