Jan 28, 2008 By Patty Yauger 4 min read

CONNELLSVILLE – Two area environmental groups are questioning the ability of the Connellsville Municipal Authority to sufficiently remove contaminants from excess water the agency is considering treating at its plant. The Mountain Watershed Association and Youghiogheny Riverkeeper have requested all correspondence, materials and minutes from authority meetings tied to its “recent acceptance of drilling water from Atlas Energy Inc.”

“We have serious concerns about the authority’s ability to remove contaminants from this water prior to discharging it into the Youghiogheny River as well as the presence of metals in the remaining sludge, which will need to be disposed of,” said Beverly Braverman, association executive director, and Krissy Kasserman, Yough-iogheny Riverkeeper, in the letter directed to authority members, Connellsville City Council members and the city health board of directors. “We believe this issue has a real and substantial possibility of compromising the health of the Youghiogheny River.”

However, said authority board Chairman Jodi Enany, the agency has yet to enter into a formal contract with the Philadelphia-based natural gas drilling company and will not accept any drilling water until an agreement is signed.

“Our solicitor has looked at the (Atlas) proposed contract and we have responded with ours, but nothing has been signed,” she said. “We have also directed him to respond to the (Mountain Watershed Association and Youghiogheny Riverkeeper) letter.”

Several months ago the authority was approached by Atlas to dispose of upwards of 200,000 gallons of water the company uses each day to drill locally for natural gas.

The water acts as a lubricant while the drilling takes place, said Gary Pennington, plant manager.

When the drilling is completed, the water must be disposed of.

Since being contacted by Atlas, Pennington said authority representatives have accompanied him to in-place Atlas operations to see the drilling process and independent testing of the drilling water by the authority has taken place to determine its quality.

Pennington has also visited treatment plants that routinely dispose of drilling water to determine if there have been any adverse effects from the process.

One of the criticisms levied by the environmental groups indicated that the authority would only use an aeration process to treat the water.

Aeration, said Pennington, is one of many processes to be utilized as the drilling water is transferred from the Atlas truck to the treatment plant and then into the Youghiogheny River, if an agreement is reached with the company.

“A lot of the metal contaminants will go into the sludge, which is the final process,” said Pennington. “The sludge is then disposed of at a landfill; that has been in place since 1990.”

Each truck transporting water to the treatment plant will undergo a stringent testing process before it is permitted to transfer the water into the facility. The test will determine contaminants and amounts, said Pennington.

“I’m doing every possible thing to make sure this water is OK,” he said. “There are other municipalities that are interested in taking this water and they are not doing any pre-testing.”

Both Enany and Pennington said that the authority engineer has advised the board the process will cause no harm to the treatment plant or to the river. Also, the state Department of Environmental Protection has been advised that the authority is considering entering into a contract with Atlas and has authorized it to proceed if the board approves the initiative.

“We are doing our homework,” said Enany.

According to officials, the authority could receive upwards of $6,000 per day to transfer the drill water through the authority’s treatment plant and then to the Youghiogheny River.

The generated revenue would help with plant operational costs and ensure customer rates remain at their present level, but the health and safety of the river and the treatment plant itself, are the priority of the authority, said Enany.

“We do not want to jeopardize the plant operation or the quality of the river,” she said. “If for some reason we find that to process this water would cause some harm to the plant or to the river, I would recommend that the authority not enter into a contract with Atlas.

“There is no amount of money worth the risk.”