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.
