What Happened at Fernow
Liming the Pit
Basic pit waste treatment involves aeration, liming and settling and each step serves a purpose. The 1985 Fact Sheet created by the state for an earlier version of the General Water Pollution Control Permit explains the rationale.
Concerns at the DEP were varied: how to manage heavy metals, how to manage volatile hydrocarbons, and how to lessen the overall contaminant level of the liquid pit waste.
Aeration's main purpose is to promote the evaporation of the volatiles, which for natural gas well drilling tend to be prevalent. The four main volatile organic compounds of concern are benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene (BTEX), though there are numerous other volatiles, including some that are used sometimes as drill mud additives (such as the biocide glutaraldehyde).
Liming, which is done at the same time as aeration, serves two purposes: to raise the pH (some pit waste can be very acidic) and to precipitate out some of the heavy metals by a process called hydroxide precipitation. We call it liming the pit because lime (calcium carbonate) is most commonly used, but caustic soda (sodium hydroxide) can also be used. A web page explains the process well. (To use the chart on that web page, Fe is iron, Cr is chromium, Cu is copper, Zn is zinc, Ni is nickel, Cd is cadmium, Pb is lead, and Ag is silver.)
The final step is settling and the DEP's belief in 1985 was that settling should be encouraged to last "at least 10, preferably 20 days." As the permit is written now, though, settling is 5 days for category 1 pits, 10 days for category 2 pits, and 20 days for category 3 pits.
While this treatment process may work, we have concerns. Aeration is meant to evaporate dangerous volatiles but there seems to be a singular lack of concern for workers or those who live near the well site. A visible mist floats above the pit during the process and the time we saw it being done the operator's employee wasn't wearing a protective mask or breathing apparatus. Benzene is extremely toxic and is perhaps the most common of dangerous wellfield contaminants. Glutaraldehyde (if it was used as an additive) is not known to be carcinogenic (is suspected) but can, upon exposure, create chemical hypersensitivity. Our best guess is that a distance of at least 300 feet should be maintained during aeration of a drill waste pit unless protective gear is worn. Aeration occurs again when the liquid pit waste is landsprayed. Protective gear should be worn then also.
A table showing pit constituents of five wells drilled in different West Virginia counties appeared in the 1985 Fact Sheet, and the values for metals after treatment are all low. To us, suspiciously low. (We've transcribed part of that table and it's in the pitfluids.xls workbook along with the chloride load and SAR worksheets.) Hydroxide precipitation uses pH to target particular metals. Some metals, like iron, begin to precipitate when the pH rises above 3. The iron test required by the state in the General Water Pollution Control Permit is to confirm that the hydroxide process has been effective. Other metals, such as lead, don't begin to precipitate until a pH of about 8.5, stop precipitating at 10 and begin to be reabsorbed into the liquid as it becomes more basic.
The state requires that pit pH be from 6 to 10 and the DMR for the Berry well states that the pH during landspraying was 7.5. Lead would not have begun precipitating nor would other toxic heavy metals cadmium and silver.
The hydroxide process might be satisfactory except in cases where a company has used additives, particularly weighing agents, that contain heavy metals such as arsenic, lead or mercury. As it is now, we think the state relies too heavily on liming to deal with all situations.
Other states and some Canadian provinces use load criteria for certain metals, just like they do for salts and sodium. We believe that this is a more sensible policy.
The next chapter presents a short history of fracturing derived from well reports filed with the state for several wells (including the B800 well).
Go to A Short History of Fracturing.
What Happened at Fernow
Landspraying
Fernow Experimental Forest
Discharge Monitoring Report
Chloride Load
SAR
Liming the Pit
A Short History of Fracturing
Fracturing Chemicals
What Happened at Fernow
Recommendations & Sources
Gas Well Study is the examination of natural gas wells in West Virginia.
Underground Injection Control Class 2 Wells
These wells are used either for the disposal of oil and gas liquid waste or for the enhanced recovery of oil or natural gas.
Gas Well Study Site Visits
Annual reports, environmental assessments, and individual well information.
YouTube Videos
Select videos from the Gas Well Study YouTube channel.
What Happened at Fernow
An investigation into what caused the vegetation death in the land application area after landspraying hydraulic fracture flowback waste.
The Spill at Buckeye Creek
An investigation into a spill from a Marcellus well site into Buckeye Creek in Doddridge county.
The Details
Plunger Lift Technology on Gas Wells
Fluids Brought to the Surface during Production
Plugging a Well
How To Read a Lab Report
Information the Completion Report Provides
Casing and Cementing