EPA Settlement With Drilling Company Sets Model For Wastewater Recycling

摘要

EPA's recent Clean Water Act (CWA) settlement with XTO Energy, a subsidiary of oil giant Exxon Mobil, details an expansive program for recycling wastewater generated from the company's natural gas drilling operations in the Northeast's Marcellus Shale region, including setting criteria that could be a national model for managing recycling operations. The terms of the July 18 settlement agreement provide insights into several safeguards EPA may be considering in its oversight of recycling, including how a company can demonstrate it has recycled wastewater "to the maximum extent practicable" and how wastewater awaiting recycling treatment should be stored to protect against spills and accidental releases. Relevant documents are available on Insideepa.com. Seepage 2 for details. (Doc ID: 2441428) The settlement comes as the agency appears to be increasingly looking to encourage recycling of oil and gas waste-water as the practice increases to limit the volume of freshwater used in hydraulic fracturing operations and to avoid disposal and treatment issues.