Tag: Environment

Danny Webb Construction Permit Hearing Rescheduled

A public hearing on two permit renewal applications for an underground injection control (UIC) facility near Lochgelly in Fayette County has been rescheduled for Feb. 19, according to a release. The hearing was initially scheduled for Jan. 7 but had to be postponed due to inclement weather conditions.

The hearing is set for 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. at Oak Hill High School. The DEP is also accepting written comments until March 1.

Background

The DEP ordered Danny Webb Construction to close an above ground waste pit last year. Folks have worried for years that both the above ground waste pit and underground injection well have been leaking oil and gas waste into Wolf Creek, a tributary to the New River. It appears a researcher from Duke University now shares those concerns.

Danny Web Construction’s permit for an underground injection well expired in 2012. The DEP renewed the underground injection well, or UIC, permit in February last year under the condition that Danny Webb Construction close the above ground waste pit.

Representing the Natural Resources Defense Council, The West Virginia Surface Owners’ Rights Organization, Plateau Action Network and citizen Brad Keenan, Tom Rist with the Rist Law Office filed a letter of appeal. After ‘receiving significant public interest” the DEP revoked the permit soon after.

This past summer the Environmental Quality Board heard complaints against the DEP’s permitting process in this case. The groups point out that despite the permit expiring, and the revocation order, Danny Webb could still collect waste.

The board still hasn’t made a decision in that case and now, in light of the public hearing, it appears the DEP is moving forward in granting the permit. A public hearing is part of the permit issuance process.

Residents Remain Worried

The groups remain concerned about potential hazards to public safety. According to court documents, resident Brad Keenan presented results from water samples taken from Wolf Creek in 2007 that showed “high concentration of diesel and other petroleum products”.

In an appellant’s brief filed in September, the Rist Law Office sharply criticizes the DEP for not taking action against Danny Web Construction. Tom Rist points to the DEP’s records as evidence showing the site was out of compliance.

Science Study

The appeal also quotes an environmental researcher and Duke University professor Avner Vengosh saying that samples taken from Wolf Creek, included “elevated levels of several dissolved constituents in water such as chloride, bromide, sodium, manganese, strontium and barium.”

These chemicals are typical of oil and gas wastewater. It’s important to also point out that this site in Fayette County is a commercial disposal well, which means all kinds of liquid industrial waste is brought in from other sites.  These underground injection wells accept oil and gas waste from states throughout the region including Pennsylvania, and Virginia.

Tourism Trouble?

Finally, groups point out that Wolf Creek is a tributary to the New River, which brings in tourism dollars to the region. The site is also located about a mile from one of the county’s only day care facilities.

Danny Webb Construction did not responded immediately to our request for comment. The public is invited to attend a public hearing to voice concerns or support of the permit, at Oak Hill School tonight at 6:30 p.m.

The DEP says there are currently 14 commercial sites across the state and 33 private disposal wells.

Blankenship Ordered to Appear for Arraignment, Gag Order Set

A federal Magistrate has denied former Massey CEO Don Blankenship’s request to delay arraignment proceedings.

According to court records, Magistrate Judge R. Clarke VanDervort denied Blankenship’s request to postpone his initial court appearance. VanDervort ordered Blankenship to appear in court, surrender his passport, prepare to meet and discuss his financial circumstances, and other actions to prepare for court proceedings.

The former Massey CEO  is set to be arraigned in federal court on Thursday. The former leader of what was once one of the largest coal producers in the country Massey Energy CEO, Don Blankenship was indicted by the United States Attorney’s Office on two mine safety charges, lying to the securities and exchange commission and securities fraud.

The decision to proceed this week with his arraignment comes days after the judge presiding over Blankenship’s criminal case issued a gag order for the parties involved.

Last week Federal Judge Irene Berger issued a gag order that’s basically broken down into two parts:

First, it prevents both parties involved, Blankenship and the US Attorney’s Office from speaking to the media.  That includes:

“… their counsel, other representatives or members of their staff, potential witnesses, including actual and alleged victims, investigators, family members of actual and alleged victims as well as of the Defendant, nor any court personnel shall make any statements of any nature, in any form, or release any documents to the media or any other entity regarding the facts or substance of this case.”

The second part of the gag order stipulates some proceedings in the case also go unreported such as

“…any and all motions, stipulations, discovery requests, responses, supplemental requests and responses, and other relevant documents shall be filed directly with the Clerk …” 

The court orders that access to all documents filed in said way,  “be restricted to the case participants and court personnel.“

Long time mine safety advocate, former Kentucky Mine Safety prosecutor Tony Oppegard says the order is unusually broad and seems to effectively prohibit anyone with even vague connections to the case from talking to the media.

“As an attorney I would have to assume in good faith that the judge is trying to avoid, through this gag order, poisoning the pool of potential jurors,” Oppegard said.

It appears, however, that summaries of court proceedings, will be made public. Still, some media outlets are considering challenges to the gag order on constitutional grounds.

Leak Found at Fayette Frack Waste Site

  Updated June 6, 2014

The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection says the leak occurred in a tank carrying oil and gas waste from the above ground pits and not a pipe.

The DEP says about 20 to 30 gallons spewed for two to three hours through a pinhole in a joint weld.

The DEP says the “failure in the line” was above ground.

The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection says there indeed was a leak earlier this month in a pipe carrying oil and gas waste from an above ground pit, to an underground injection well in Lochghelly in Fayette County.

As we reported earlier this week, Danny Webb Construction is working to close and reclaim an above ground pit holding waste from the oil and gas industry, including frackwater.

The DEP confirmed that residents’ concerns about leakage during the process were valid. The DEP says there was a leak earlier this month in a pipe carrying wastewater to an underground injection well on the property.

The state environmental agency says the leak was fixed and the impacted soil was dug up and disposed of in a landfill.

The reclamation work comes months after the DEP ordered the pits closed because the operator needed to update the lining and install a leak detection system.

Danny Webb Construction used the pits to remove sediments before injecting into a UIC or underground injection well. The permit for this well expired in 2012 but was renewed February 2014, only to be revoked in early March.

Since then, the DEP changed the application for this type of well. The changes include a new format structured to look more like the permit applications used by the DEP’s Division of Water and Waste Management, and also inclusion of additional guidance on what is needed for the application.

As of Wednesday the operator had not resubmitted a permit application. Environmental groups and citizen Brad Keenan are appealing the revocation because it appears to allow the operator to continue to collect waste just the same as if the permit were approved. A hearing before the Quality Control Board is set for June 12 at the Charleston DEP office.

DEP Orders Fayette County Waste Pit Shutdown, Renews Well Permit

The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection has renewed a permit for an underground injection well in Fayette County that accepts fracking water and other waste.

A public hearing in 2013 brought concerned residents and former workers of Danny Webb Construction, the owner of the site. Residents have been concerned about the site for years.

The DEP renewed the permit on February 6 for a class two UIC, or underground injection control disposal well owned by Danny Webb Construction. The permit allows the company to accept fluids from oil and gas exploration, development drilling, and production fluids for another five years, although during the renewal process, the company could accept the waste anyway.

The permit was granted with the condition that the company close a waste pit and no longer use it. The pit is located near the underground well and was used to help remove sediments from the waste before injecting underground.

The DEP ordered the pit closed after the operator failed to submit a plan to bring the pit up to code. Although the DEP did not find the pit to be leaking, officials say it needed to be upgraded.

Underground Injection Control Permit Reviewer for the DEP Office of Oil and Natural Gas James Peterson says the pit needs a leak detection system and a new liner.

DEP is asking DWC to submit an engineered plan to properly close the pit.

The renewal comes despite opposition letters from several national and local environmental groups.

This pit and the well have received waste from Pennsylvania, Virginia and other parts of West Virginia.

The DEP says there are 54 non-commercial and 17 commercial disposal wells in the state as of late last year.

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