Tag: Fayette County

Listen: A West Virginia Superintendent Sings to Announce Closings, Delays

Winter weather has shut down government offices, shopping malls and, of course, public schools. School was in session for President’s Day in some schools…

Winter weather has shut down government offices, shopping malls and, of course, public schools. School was in session for President’s Day in some schools systems in order to make up for snow days.

There’s no doubt that children look forward to the automated calls from school administrators canceling or delaying school days. But some working parents dread those calls since another snow day means another day to find child care or even miss work.

Fayette County Superintendent Keith Butcher is hoping to ease the tension by adding a melody to the message.

"This is the phone call kids love to hear, So gather around let me be clear. Ice and snow has come our way, And so I announce this two-hour delay. Please don't cry and please don't complain, You'll get a chance to wake up your brain. Two more hours of sleep and then it's back to the school again."

On Friday of last week, Butcher announced schools in Fayette County would be closed. Central office staff didn’t have to report to work but, custodians, maintenance, and transportation staff were called into work. At least he broke the news to everyone with an adaptation of “Let It Snow.”

0214FayetteCoClosing.mp3
Fayette County Superintendent of Schools Keith Butcher announces a Code B Closing on Friday, February 14 through an automated voice message.

"Oh, the snow outside is still falling. That's the reason that I'm calling. Since traveling is not cool, There's no school, there's no school, there's no school."

Fayette Fracking Waste Permit Granted, National Group Reacts

The Natural Resource Defense Council is disappointed with the state Department of Environmental Protection’s decision to renew a permit for an underground…

The Natural Resource Defense Council is disappointed with the state Department of Environmental Protection’s decision to renew a permit for an underground injection well in Fayette County.

The permit allows Danny Webb Construction to accept fluids from oil and gas exploration, development drilling, and production fluids for another five years.

The DEP renewed the permit earlier this month for a class two UIC, or underground injection control disposal well owned by Danny Webb Construction. The permit had expired in 2012. Residents and even former construction workers testified at a public hearing in June 2013 strongly opposing the site.

Upon evaluation DEP workers found a pit filled with fracking water and other waste from oil and gas drilling. The pit was used to help remove sediments from the waste before injecting underground.

The DEP found that the pit or pond above ground does not meet the minimum pit and impoundment standards.

Although the DEP did not find the pit to be leaking, officials say it needs to be upgraded.

Underground Injection Control Permit Reviewer for the DEP Office of Oil and Natural Gas James Peterson told West Virginia Public Radio that the pit needs a leak detection system and a new liner. Peterson says the operator was told to submit a plan to fix the issues with the pit, but never did. Still while the DEP waited on the plan, the operator could continue to accept and inject waste underground in the well.

The Natural Resource Defense Council sent a letter to the DEP the same day our original story aired last month. In the statement, the council urged the department to shut down the wells since Danny Webb Construction was not operating with a valid permit.

Amy Mall is a Senior Policy Analyst with the Natural Resource Defense Council, a national environmental advocacy group.

“This is a site that should already have a plan,” Mall said. “The DEP, its inspectors have determined that there have been multiple violations for years at that site and it’s just unacceptable that they don’t have a plan now. That’s just laughable, really. It’s no way to protect public health and the environment.”

In an email, Peterson said the site has only been issued 5 citations or violations in the past 10 years.

Still a permit was granted for the injection well with the condition that the company close the above  ground waste pit.

Residents have spoken out against this well and the waste pond near the well for years.  The NRDC is not the only group that has spoken out in opposition of this site; the Plateau Action Network, West Virginia Highlands Conservancy, and the Sierra Club have also sent letters to the DEP.

Mall says the issues the NRDC takes with this pit in Fayette County is the same for wells across the country. Mall says federal law that governs hazardous waste has a loophole for oil and gas waste that was created in 1980’s through an amendment to the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.

Mall says a bill introduced this past summer in Washington could help close this loophole. The NRDC is supporting the `CLEANER Act’ or the `Closing Loopholes and Ending Arbitrary and Needless Evasion of Regulations Act of 2013′.

Danny Web Construction currently has another UIC permit under consideration for renewal. It’s currently in the public comment period.  

In the meantime, the DEP is asking the operator to submit an engineered plan to properly close the above ground pond. 

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.

Danny Webb Construction did not immediately return our request for comment.

Jessica Lilly can be reached at 304.384.5981, or by email jlilly@wvpublic.org. You can also follow her on twitter: @WVJessicaYLilly.

For updates from West Virginia Public Broadcasting’s statewide news team, follow @wvpubnews.

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.

Frackwater Pit at Risk of Leaking

A waste pit in Fayette County does not meet the minimum pit and impoundment standards. The pit is filled with fracking water and other waste from oil and gas drilling. The state Department of Environmental Protection asked Danny Webb Construction to come up with an acceptable plan for the pit.

Community members have been concerned about the waste site for years.

The pit is used to remove sediments from waste before being injected into the nearby underground injection well in Lochgelly. The permit for the well expired in October 2012 and remains in the renewal process.

James Peterson is the Underground Injection Control Permit Reviewer for the DEP Office of Oil and Gas. He says the UIC permit has not been accepted because the nearby sediment pond is not up to code. At a public meeting in June, community members shared concerns over the site. They worried the pit was leaking.

“We do not see that as leaking,” Peterson explained, “but it has been compromised on top just where folks have been walking around the pit. So we’re looking at bringing him up to current pit construction standards.”

Peterson says Danny Web Construction needs to fix the lining of the pit. Without it Peterson says the pit could leak. The DEP also wants the company to install a leak detection system. The DEP denied the first plan and is waiting on the company to submit another for review.

Peterson says the injection well itself wasn’t posing the regulatory problem, so the company can still accept waste.

Since the pond is used to remove solids from the waste, Peterson says Danny Webb Construction will need to use more filters at the site to avoid clogging the well itself. But  that’s not regulated so it’s up to the company to decide to use the filters. 

State lawmakers are considering other ways to dispose of fracking waste. Senate Majority Leader John Unger began the discussion during a meeting of a Joint Legislative Oversight Commission on state Water Resources last November.

You have to do something with those waste fluids and to date, that's the best answer; disposal wells. – James Peterson, WV DEP

Since water is mixed with various chemicals, pressurized, and pumped into wells to release the gas from the Marcellus shale rock formations during the fracking process, it’s a critical component in the process.  It’s estimated that in West Virginia, each horizontal well requires about 5 million gallons of fresh water.

About 10 percent of that comes back up during the process as “flowback” fluid. While new recycling practices adopted in the state are diverting about 75 percent of that flowback for reuse, Peterson points out that injection wells are still the best practice for disposing the remainder… at least for now.

“You have to do something with those waste fluids and to date, that’s the best answer; disposal wells,” Peterson said.

“You’re putting fluids in a sense back where it came from into deep formations. The whole goal of the UIC program is to protect underground sources of drinking water fresh water aquifers so there’s monitoring requirements and construction requirements to make sure that happens.”

Danny Web Construction did not immediately return our request for comment.

There are currently 17 permitted commercial disposal wells like the one owned by Danny Webb Construction. There are 54 non-commercial UIC disposal wells.

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