Upper Burrell considers injection well rules

Upper Burrell officials don’t want their township to become an attractive site for drilling companies looking to dispose of waste fluids.

With between 100 and 200 abandoned gas or oil wells in the township, according to supervisors Chairman Ross G. Walker III, township officials want stricter rules for using those wells to get rid of contaminated fracking fluids produced by newer wells in other areas.

“They can’t use Upper Burrell as a garbage place to dump bad water,” Walker said.

Supervisors instructed solicitor Stephen Yakopec to draft an ordinance with stricter rules for the use of abandoned wells in the township.

The issue has come up in towns across Pennsylvania. Between 300,000 and 760,000 oil and gas wells have been drilled statewide since the birth of the industry in 1859, according to the state Department of Environmental Protection.

About injection wells

Upper Burrell has approved five fracking wells in the township within the past seven years.

When companies frack, millions of gallons of water are pushed at high pressure into the ground. Some drillers convert an abandoned conventional gas well into an injection well site and dispose of that wastewater there.

The rules Upper Burrell is considering would regulate where these injection wells could be placed and how they could be operated.

Yakopec believes prohibiting dumping outright in abandoned wells would not survive a legal challenge, so implementing and enforcing steps to do so would be a better route.

Nothing exists in current township ordinances.

“You have to permit all kinds of uses. By law, you can’t prohibit any lawful activity … any lawful use must be able to be permitted,” said Jim Cirilano, a community advocate with environmental nonprofit ProtectPT. “But what you can do is regulate how and where these kinds of activities can occur.”

In Penn Township, officials approved an ordinance that establishes a 1,380-foot setback from “any protected structure,” or buildings where people would be in them, Cirilano said. The minimum site requirement for an injunction well is 25 acres.

The ordinance also requires a traffic impact study, environmental impact analysis and air quality, geological and hydrological studies.

ProtectPT also helped to develop an ordinance in Clara Township, Potter County, an area Cirilano described as very rural but also pristine with high-value trout streams. Those rules outline what can’t be injected, such as radioactive materials and certain other chemicals.

Ben Wallace, chief operating officer of Penneco Environmental Solutions, said he was unaware of what Upper Burrell was considering.

He said the oil and gas industry has to follow local, state and federal regulations and that those entities should be cognizant of the lane they operate in. Much injection well activity already is regulated by the DEP and EPA.

Officials with the DEP and EPA, unlike municipal officials, have the technical background on injection activities to regulate them, Wallace said.

“The system to protect the environment is already in place,” Wallace said. “When townships get in trouble is when they try to overreach … and exceed authority.”

About abandoned oil and gas wells

Upper Burrell officials requested information from the DEP this week regarding abandoned oil and gas wells. In its letter, DEP officials said abandoned wells that were not plugged, or inadequately plugged, have caused public health and safety concerns as the wells are encountered by newer development.

In addition, unplugged or improperly plugged abandoned wells can lead to groundwater contamination or explosive levels of methane migrating into dwellings, the DEP’s letter said.

The state’s 2012 oil and gas act, in addition to other legislation, authorizes the state to remediate or plug orphan wells to address environmental, health and safety concerns. The DEP also recently developed a grant program to provide funding to a qualified well plugger to plug an eligible orphan well.

The township still is looking into what the rules could look like. Walker anticipates something being drafted in three to four months.

Walker said he was unaware of any current problems with abandoned wells in the township but he has heard of issues in other municipalities. He said he favors local regulations over state or federal rules on the wells.

“That’s a commonsense approach to the problem,” he said.