LWV to present shale gas waste disposal forum
As shale gas development expands in Pennsylvania so does the amount of liquid and solid waste generated, including hazardous and radioactive materials, yet oil and gas waste has exemptions from federal and state regulations. How do we handle the waste, and minimize environmental and public health impact?
From 6 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday at California University of Pennsylvania’s Southpointe campus, the League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania will present a shale waste disposal forum. It is free and open to the public.
Unconventional natural gas drilling produces a greater volume of wastewater and solids than traditional gas operations, but the issue of what to do with the fracking waste has not received as much attention.
The panel of experts at the forum will provide various perspectives on this issue and offer best practices and policy solutions. Panelist Nadia Steinzor, the lead author of the Earthworks’ report, Wasting Away, about shale waste disposal practice and policy in Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia and New York, said that current regulation is “piecemeal” and “scattered among different areas of government.”
Because of regulatory exemptions, “wastes are treated and disposed of using systems not designed to handle them.”
Other panelists include Carl Spadaro, environmental general manager for MAX Environmental, a firm that handles shale waste; Eric Ondrasik, program manager at HRL Compliance, who provides regulatory and technical support on waste management for the natural gas industry; and Bill Hughes, who chaired the Solid Waste Authority in Wetzel County, W.Va. Presentations will be followed by audience questions. Journalist David Singer will moderate.
To RSVP, or for information, email Subject: Shale Forum to lwvwashingtoncounty@gmail.com or call 724-228-9889. Pre-registration is preferred but not necessary.