RE: RE: NY Frac Water ProblemsLike I was saying earlier. The environmental issues should not be a factor. Now if they will only issue a News Release and update us with the results
https://www.watertowndailytimes.com/article/20100120/NEWS03/301209938
Limits put on outside water
HYDRO-FRACKING: Plant operator says city wouldn't treat out-of-state fluids
By ROBERT BRAUCHLE
TIMES STAFF WRITER
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2010
ARTICLE OPTIONS
The city of Watertown sewage treatment plant will not treat flowback fluid from out-of-state mine operators using the controversial hydraulic fracturing extraction process, the plant's chief operator said Tuesday night.
Treatment Plant Supervisor Michael J. Sligar said he has received calls from numerous mine operators requesting that the city treat the briny fluid since it became public that the city accepted 35,000 gallons of flowback fluid from the Ross No. 1 mine in the town of Maryland.
While environmental groups have said that large amounts of flowback water can harm the environment and damage treatment plants if not treated property, Mr. Sligar said analysis of the Ross No. 1 water revealed that it can be treated at the city's plant and poses no threat to the environment.
"They found that the bugs weren't even knowledgeable of something that hit them other than what they were already feeding on," Mr. Sligar said of an independent lab in Syracuse that tested the fluid before it was introduced into the city's digesters.
Those tests found a large number of chlorides in the water, but not to the extent that the plant can't treat them, he said.
The plant treats an average of 12 million gallons of sewage each day. The city, however, may be the only municipality in the state to accept flowback fluid from a vertical well that taps into the Utica shale rock formation using the hydro-fracking process.
Hydro-fracking involves injecting large amounts of water, sand and chemicals into shale formations thousands of feet underground. The pressure created by the process fractures the shale, releasing natural gas, which is then collected and used as a source of fuel.
Orville R. Cole, president of Gastem Inc., Quebec, which developed the Ross No. 1 well, has said the company plans to ask the city to treat flowback fluid created by future wells the company develops in New York. Each well is expected to produce about 35,000 to 40,000 gallons. The state Department of Environmental Conservation also must approve the process.
Mr. Sligar said Tuesday that he is willing to work with in-state well operators to help the state explore the permitting process.
City Council members had mixed feelings about the plant operator's willingness to treat the fluid. They did, however, agree that if the city is going to perform the service, it should be done at a premium rate.
"I think if we can treat the water safely and effectively, and the byproduct is not harmful, then we should be treating it, and I think we need to talk more about the rate structure," Councilman Jeffrey M. Smith said.
Also at the meeting, the City Council approved the site plan for a 4,095-square-foot Friendly's Restaurant at 1233 Arsenal St. Representatives from the restaurant's franchiser, Kessler Family LLC, said the building will be razed in early March and the new building is scheduled to open in June. Some current employees will be "absorbed" into other restaurants owned by the company during construction.