Chesapeake Appalachia wants to dispose of waste water from the natural gas drilling process in a disposal well within a mile of Keuka Lake, but a lengthy application and review process must be completed first.
The well site, now known as the Bergstresser Brine Disposal Facility, is located near the intersection of Steuben County Route 78 and Armstrong Road. The existing well, which has drawn natural gas from the Trenton Black River formation since 1997, is visible from Armstrong Road.
According to the company’s forms for the DEC’s environmental impact statement, the proposal is to dispose of oilfield brine associated with the exploration and production of oil and gas.
None of the applications give a clear indication of the chemicals that will be in the water. The hydraulic fracturing process that will generate the water includes the use of various chemicals in a variety of combinations.
According to industrial safety information obtained by advocacy group the Yates Progressives last year, many of those chemicals can be toxic.
The brine disposal facility will be constructed from the existing, depleted gas well.
The facility will be constructed by expanding the existing location from the current 100 by 100 feet to about 300 by 400 feet. A new access road will lead from Steuben County Route 78 from the east of the location.
The brine disposal facility will consist of:
• two to four injection pumps
• four to six above ground storage tanks,
• a solids removal vessel,
• concrete pads with spill containment features for unloading up to six trucks simultaneously
• piping and other systems.
The DEC paperwork says brine for disposal will be transported to the facility from various company drilling operations. The company, which is already using the hydraulic fracturing process in Pennsylvania drilling sites, says underground injection of the contaminated water into permitted disposal wells is the most efficient method of disposal.
So far, the company has filed an application with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.
The EPA application includes an analysis of the area around the well that could be affected by fluid migrating upward into underground water supply.
The EPA application also includes plans for well failure and a plan for plugging and abandoning the injection well. Post closure, Chesapeake will retain records of the composition and amount of injected fluid for five years after plugging and abandoning the injection well. The estimated cost to plug and abandon the well is $149,500.
Information about the estimated cost to construct the disposal well is not included in the application, nor is the economic impact of operating the well for up to 10 years.
Applications for any local permits, including the special use permit that will be required by the Town of Pulteney, will follow.
Other methods to handle contaminated water include treatment at municipal or commercial waste water treatment plants, transportation to other existing disposal well operations and recycling, but the company says each of those have drawbacks.
Signs around the area indicate there is a pipeline connected to the well. It’s unclear what will become of the pipeline if the well is converted.
About the Bergstresser well
Found on 5 acres within an agricultural district, it is located less than one mile from Keuka Lake.
Nine landowners possess 10 parcels of property within 1/4 mile of the well, and there are three private water wells, three ponds and four residences within the area.
A Keuka Lake tributary is located about one mile northeast of the well location.
The Bergstresser well was drilled and completed as a Trenton Black River gas well beginning Dec. 5, 1997 to a total depth of 6,691 feet. Drilling was complete Dec. 22, 1997.
The well was plugged back and sidetracked in 1999.
The site will be expanded from approximately 100 x 100 feet to 300 x 400 feet.
There will be facilities to unload up to six trucks at a time on concrete pads with spill containment features.
The EPA application anticipates 10 years of constant injection at the rate of 4,320 bbl/day (one bbl equals 42 gallons).
Information gathered from New York State and federal applications completed by Chesapeake Appalachia’s consultant, ALL Consulting of Tulsa, Okla.
