Underground Injection Disposal Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Study Finds Potential Health Issues Tied To Wastewater Disposal Site

A report published this week says an oil and gas wastewater disposal site in West Virginia is leaking chemicals that can harm fertility in animals.

The study, “Endocrine Disrupting Activities of Surface Water Associated with a West Virginia Oil and Gas Industry Wastewater Disposal Site” was published online in the peer-reviewed journal Science of the Total Environment. It looked at water samples collected from a site near Fayetteville. The report indicates that water downstream from the injection well site had significantly more endocrine disrupting activity than water upstream.

Endocrine disruptors are chemicals that interfere with hormone systems in mammals, according to the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. The report shows these disruptors were found above levels known to result in adverse health effects.

Industry groups criticize the report saying it amounts to scientific fear-mongering. They say the levels of chemicals found would have to be much higher concentrations to be considered dangerous to humans.

Fayette County recently banned wastewater injection wells in response to years of contention surrounding this particular site.

Property Owners Terminate Lease at Lochgelly

The property owners of a Fayette County injection well site are terminating their lease agreement with the site operator and are asking the state Department of Environmental Protection to also withdraw its permit application.

The North Hills Group owns the Lochgelly site in Fayette County that Danny Webb Construction has been operating two injection wells on. The site collects waste from the natural gas industry and disposes of it underground.

North Hills terminated Danny Webb’s lease this week and is now asking the DEP to withdraw the permit application the company filed earlier this year. A DEP spokesperson says they haven’t received any request from Danny Webb.

Danny Webb Construction was forced to apply for the permits in April after the West Virginia Environmental Quality Board said the DEP violated state law by allowing them to operate two underground injections wells in Fayette County without a permit. The DEP had revoked the company’s permit to inject natural gas drilling waste underground on March 4^th, 2014.

But the DEP allowed the wells to continue operating until the company’s applications to renew the permit were approved or denied.

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.