Advocacy groups threaten to sue
Two environmental advocacy organizations said on Thursday that they intend to sue the Franklin Township Sewer Authority in Greene County and a sewage treatment plant in McKeesport for discharging Marcellus shale gas drilling wastewater into the Monongahela River without a permit
Clean Water Action, which has offices across the country, and Homestead-based Three Rivers Waterkeeper said they served legal notices of their intent to sue, alleging that the sewer authorities have been discharging the drilling wastewater without a permit in violation of the federal Clean Water Act since 2008.
The Franklin authority discharges as much as 50,000 gallons a day into Ten Mile Creek, according to the advocates.
The creek is a tributary to the river and the river is a source of drinking water for about 500,000 people.
The McKeesport Municipal Authority discharges as much as 100,000 gallons a day directly into the river, the advocate said, adding that the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) were notified about the pending federal suit.
“We cannot wait any longer to rely on the state and EPA to act,” said Myron Arnowitt of Clean Water Action’s office in Pittsburgh. “These sewage plants have been illegally discharging gas drilling wastewater into out rivers since 2008 without a permit as required by the Clean Water Act. They should immediately stop accepting gas drilling wastewater and if they want to accept it, they should apply for a permit to do so.”
The DEP has issued consent orders that reportedly allow the plants to accept and discharge the wastewater, he said.
“The DEP’s consent orders are private deals that are negotiated without public input. The public is not notified and there are no public hearings as there would be if they applied for a Clean Water Act permit to discharge appropriately treated Marcellus wastewater. If this wastewater is as safe as the gas industry says it is, let’s have a public process so we can see what the impact really is,” Arnowitt said.
Three Rivers Waterkeeper executive director Ned Mulcahy said clean water laws helped area rivers recover from industrial pollution, and the DEP and EPA should protect the rivers from illegal discharges.
“Our rivers have made a miraculous recovery over the past few decades thanks in large part to laws that protect the public’s right to clean rivers and safe drinking water,” Mulcahy said.
The DEP issued strict treatment standards for most oil and gas wastewater sources in 2010, but the rule exempted existing plants that discharge Marcellus wastewater and no plant that discharges Marcellus wastewater is capable of meeting those standards, the advocates said.
EPA regional administrator Shawn Garvin sent a letter this week to DEP Secretary Michael Krancer saying, Marcellus wastewater discharge permits issued by the DEP do not require effective processing and treatment, the advocates said.