Jeremy L. Dillon
RW Monitor
2/13/2015
An environmental activist group in New York last week called for the closure of state loopholes that enable radioactive fracking waste from Pennsylvania to be disposed of in New York landfills. The Environmental Advocates of New York released a report last week that claimed there is a lack of oversight for the disposal of Technologically Enhanced Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material (TENORM) from fracking operations in Pennsylvania. With the increase of fracking in the Marcellus Shale, Pennsylvania has seen a dramatic increase in the amounts of TENORM needed for disposal in the last decade, but not all of it can be disposed of in-state. Earlier this year, New York, however, banned fracking due to threats to public health.
The environmental group would like the state to incorporate federal TENORM standards into state regulations while also requiring the monthly leachate testing of radiation monitors at all landfills. “Fracking wastes are notoriously toxic and radioactive,” Liz Moran, the group’s water and natural resources associate and author of the report , said in a statement. “Despite knowing the public health concerns, the [New York] Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) enables New York landfills to accept Pennsylvania’s fracking waste with little oversight. If fracking isn’t safe for New Yorkers, then waste from other states’ fracking operations isn’t safe for New Yorkers either.” The group claims 460,000 tons of solid fracking waste and 23,000 barrels of liquid waste have been dumped in New York landfills, citing a Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection report.
DEC: Report is ‘Irresponsible’
New York’s DEC, meanwhile, fired back this week that the group’s report was inaccurate and incorrect. “The Environmental Advocates report is inaccurate, misleading and irresponsible,” DEC spokesman Peter Constantakes said in an email. “New York State landfills have not accepted and do not accept wastewater or sludges from high-volume hydraulic fracturing (HVHF) wells. New York has strong regulations on the types of materials that can be disposed of in landfills and DEC enforces these regulations to ensure all materials accepted at landfills are handled properly to protect the environment and public health.”
Group Presses on Disposal of Drill Cuttings
The main loopholes in the regulations the group would like to see closed involved exemptions that enable drill cuttings to be classified as something other than radioactive waste. “DEC states that the only type of fracking waste New York landfills are permitted to accept is drill cuttings, even though data from Pennsylvania reveals New York landfills have accepted other types of toxic fracking wastes as well,” the report said. “Because the origin of the drill cuttings, the Marcellus Shale, contains large quantities of naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM), the drill cuttings, too, would contain uranium, radium-226, and radium-228. Despite this, DEC has determined that drill cuttings are not to be regulated as radioactive wastes.”
DEC: Cuttings Must Be Below Background
Constantakes of the DEC said that state landfills can accept drill cuttings, but only at levels that are below naturally occurring background radiation. Each landfill is outfitted with radiation detection that detect any levels above the legal limit. He also added that the group’s claim of little oversight was false. “EA’s characterization that DEC has “little oversight” over landfills in the state could not be further from the truth,” he said. “All landfills are regularly inspected by DEC inspectors, and all landfills that report receiving drill cuttings or dewatered drilling muds are inspected daily or multiple times per week by on-site environmental monitors employed by the agency.”
The increased activity in oil and gas exploration, especially in the Marcellus Shale and Bakkan Shale formations, has increased volumes of TENORM in states where that type of waste did not regularly occur. Radioactive contaminants like uranium, thorium, and radium naturally occur within the earth, and the fracking process exposes that material to drill tailings and water, among other things, and brings it to the surface. States like Pennsylvania and North Dakota have undertaken studies to better address the waste stream by looking at how the states’ landfills could handle the increased radiation levels, especially to avoid illegal dumping.
