Proposed regulations that would significantly lower the amount of total dissolved solids (TDS) permitted in wastewater discharges from drilling operations in Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale gas play unfairly target the industry and would create more problems than they would solve, according to Kathryn Klaber, president of the Marcellus Shale Coalition.

Pennsylvania’s Environmental Quality Board (EQB) recently approved the “first-of-its-kind regulation,” which would restrict wastewater discharges from drilling operations to a more stringent 500 milligrams per liter (mg/l) standard, while other new and expanded facilities in general use would be allowed discharges up to a threshold of 2,000 mg/l (see Daily GPI, May 18).

According to the EQB, “the lower standard was set for the drilling industry because drilling wastewater is so heavily polluted and because drillers have options other than returning water to rivers and streams such as reusing and recycling it, or injecting it deep into caverns situated below ground water supplies when approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.”

“500 [mg/l] is a secondary drinking water standard widely accepted at the level that where you’re drinking a glass of water it’s not a health issue, but it’s a nuisance” that could, for example, leave spots on glasses after dishwashing, Klaber told NGI. “That is a good number for what is coming into a home, but it is not a good number for what is going out a pipe into the river…to have us treat one individual stream of water to that low a standard before it goes into the river uses more energy, creates more waste streams and more new air emissions than we are solving by doing that treatment in the first place.

“The Marcellus Shale Coalition has been very clear on this issue: we are supportive of having total dissolved solids within our commonwealth waterways that meet the drinking water standard. That in-stream standard is a good thing, but this in-the-pipe standard is really putting the emphasis on the wrong thing. We think we should have a much more workable standard than that.”

Singling out drilling operations for the 500 mg/l standard is a change made since the rule was first proposed, Klaber said. “I think that’s a pretty significant change from a proposed rule to a final rule, especially because…TDS is TDS. It’s not like one type of a discharge is worse than another. Why would a state give some higher level for the same exact pollutant if they really cared about the pollutant?”

Published reports of TDS concentrations of about 300,000 mg/l in Marcellus drilling discharges are misleading, according to Klaber. One recent analysis indicated that only one of approximately 240 sources in Pennsylvania reached the 300,000 mg/l level, she said.

“Total dissolved solids is an extremely complex issue…this is not just a Marcellus issue. It’s something that Pennsylvania should have probably been dealing with already. It’s just convenient to point at the new kid on the block.”

Overlooked in the wastewater debate are some “huge sources” of TDS, including discharge from abandoned mines and tons of salt put down on winter roads, Klaber said. “Some municipal authorities have talked about the fact that the TDS that they discharge to the waterways tripled during the wintertime,” she said.

The EQB-approved regulations must still be approved by the Environmental Resources and Energy committees in the state House and Senate, and undergo reviews by the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office and the Independent Regulatory Review Commission (IRRC). The IRRC, which turned away the proposed regulations in its first assessment, is expected to reconsider them at its June 17 meeting, Klaber said.

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