Treated coal-mining water could be used for hydraulic fracturing in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf signed into law a bill intended to encourage more natural gas producers to use treated coal mine wastewater for hydraulic fracturing. The law becomes effective in December.

Consol Energy operates coal mines in southwestern Pennsylvania where it also develops and produces gas from the Marcellus and Utica shale plays. Consol already used mine wastewater to develop its own gas wells and supplies treated mine water to some other gas producers.

"By utilizing our treated mine water on completion activities and through current and future agreements with peer producers to utilize these assets, we are driving innovation in terms of preserving fresh water resources and more closely aligning the economic and environmental benefits of shale development," wrote Brain D. Aiello, Consol Energy spokesman, in an e-mail to UOGR.

The use of mine water for fracturing was among recommendations made by former Gov. Tom Corbett's Marcellus Shale Advisory Commission. In 2013, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection issued a white paper to promote the practice.

Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection officials supported the legislation. Previously, oil and gas companies were reluctant to use treated mine water to complete wells because of liability concerns with the state's existing Clean Stream Law.

Act 47 clarified the liability issues, said Sen. Camera Bartolotta (R-Greene County), who was among the bill's 15 cosponsors. She noted the legislation did not address drainage problems from abandoned coal mines, which have tainted some Pennsylvania streams orange.

Groups sought veto

More than 20 groups wrote a joint letter to Wolf urging him to veto the measure. Tracy Carluccio, of the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, said the bill could lead to high demand for drawing treated coal-mining water from watersheds.

Carluccio says Delaware Riverkeeper Network attorneys believe the new law could be interpreted to mean fracturing crews also use untreated mine water. But Sen. Bartolotta contradicted that, saying it was incorrect.

Bartolotta said a fracturing job can use 4.4 million gal of water for a single well, and her intention was that the new law would encourage fracturing crews to use less water from clean rivers and streams. "The use of treated mine water by natural gas companies is an innovative approach that will help preserve millions of gallons of fresh water," Bartolotta said, calling that a positive development.