| Disposal of drill cuttings, fracturing sand and other fracking waste |
| While the disposal of billions of gallons of shale gas fracking wastewater has been the main drilling waste issue in the forefront, much less is known or talked about when it comes to the disposal of millions of pounds of drilling waste generated by shale drilling and hydraulic fracturing.Since Marcellus Shale is radioactive by nature, drilling waste can vary from low levels of radiation to highly radioactive waste which must be shipped to a special facilities originally equipped to handle nuclear waste. Another aspect of this radiation, primarily from Radium 226 and Radium 228, is that it is soluble in water making contamination of drinking water sources a much greater concern.Residents of Kentucky were alarmed to learn in early-2015 that radioactive drilling waste from Pennsylvania and West Virginia had been hauled into two local landfills with one of the landfills being directly across the highway from the Eskill County Jr/Sr High School. Below we take a look at just three of the landfills in the Pittsburgh region to see the large volume of waste received in just one year. |
| SOUTH HILLS LANDFILL Library, Pa. Unconventional Gas Well Waste accepted in 2014Drill Cuttings14,124.69 Tons 28,249,380 Lbs.Drilling Fluid Waste2,499.95 Bbl 104,997.9 Gal.Flowback Fracturing Sand1,472.73 Tons 2,945,460 Lbs.Data source: Pa. Department of Environmental Protection |
| WESTMORELAND LANDFILL Belle Vernon, Pa. Unconventional Gas Well Waste accepted in 2014Drill Cuttings41,450.3 Tons 82,900,600 Lbs.Drilling Fluid Waste1,013.37 Bbl 42,561.54 Gal.Flowback Fracturing Sand665.42 Tons 1,330,840 Lbs.General O&G Waste not covered by other waste types12.06 Tons 24,120 Lbs.Data source: Pa. Department of Environmental Protection |
| YUKON LANDFILL Yukon, Pa. Unconventional Gas Well Waste accepted in 2014Drill Cuttings25,029.67 Tons 50,059,340 Lbs.Drilling Fluid Waste58,294.28 Bbl 2,448,359.76 Gal.Production Fluid1,001 Bbl. 42,042 Gal.Data source: Pa. Department of Environmental Protection |