Burdick Creek neighbors question company’s wastewater discharge plans

Neighbors to the Burdick Creek in Dimock Twp., Susquehanna County, have begun voicing their concerns over the announced plans of Eureka Resources of Williamsport to apply for a permit to discharge fracking wastewater.

Public comment period on the company’s application to discharge wastewater from its proposed plant at 7305 State Route 29 into Burdick Creek Tributary 29418 began earlier this month.

“This is a new direct surface water discharge of a continuous nature to Burdick Creek Tributary 29418 on the proposed site at 7305 State Route 29 in Dimock,” read a legal notice advertising the application which appeared in local newspapers.

Known technically as a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System, or NPDES permit, the ad serves as official notice of the public’s right to more information about the project and gives it time to post questions and comments about the project.

The Burdick Creek flows through Dimock native Ken Ely’s property.  Like others, Ely has questions for Eureka.

“We need to know how clean this discharged water will be.  We also need to know if the creek’s water will be tested regularly, and by whom.  Will the treated water be clean enough to be potable?  In what volumes and frequency will the water be released to the stream?  The application refers to the release as ‘continuous,’ which implies a constant flow.  Has Eureka undertaken any studies to anticipate the environmental effects of this action?  Have other groups such as Trout Unlimited been consulted or at least informed of the plan?” Ely asked in an e-mail.

As made clear in the advertisement, the permit is “for the discharge of industrial wastes” connected to the “proposed oil and gas wastewater treatment facility.”

An article in The Spring 2021 bulletin of the Clean Air Council on the public’s right to know about such projects authored by attorney Alex Bomstein gives an explanation of the types of wastes residents may expect, there is “produced water,” which refers to a type of brine that comes up and out of the gas well from underground. Although it is naturally occurring, it is noxious and harmful if mixed with surface or groundwater. Next is “flowback,” which is the liquid that comes back up after being injected into the fracked well. This includes a chemical cocktail of fracking fluids and whatever happens to be picked up deep underground. Drilling fluid waste and other oil and gas liquids wastes also need to be dealt with.

Late last month, Eureka announced plans to expand operations in a warehousing and distribution facility in Standing Stone Twp., Bradford County. 

According to a news release on the new project carried by the website NorthcentralPA.com, “This high-tech job creation project will allow Eureka Resources to continue to return fresh water to the hydrological cycle, from the hydraulic fracturing process.”

That project “will streamline and centralize the distribution of extracted valuable minerals such as sodium; calcium, lithium, and chloride from natural gas wastewater from existing operations and a new facility planned in Dimock Township, Susquehanna County, Pa.,” the release said.

“The company reports a history of DEP-monitored clean water discharge since 2014 with no violations of any kind,” the company went on to say in its release.

Last fall, Eureka submitted a $3 million Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program (RACP) grant proposal to the Governor’s Office of the Budget, which helps fund regional economic initiatives.  The project went unfunded but involved the same Route 29 site under consideration in the NPDES permit application.

“This County is one of the largest locations of exploration and drilling for oil and natural gas in the Marcellus Shale zone,” Eureka’s grant application read in part.

“This construction will be located on two parcels of and that Eureka is currently leasing with an option to buy. One parcel is 5 acres and the other 18 acres. The construction will utilize 5 acres from each parcel and occur in two phases, the first is for a transfer station, and the second for a crystallizer system.”

The Independent has submitted two Right to Know requests regarding the Eureka projects and waits a response to both.

While the Independent awaits its answer, Ely still has others.

“My family enjoys the natural, wild nature of this stream as it flows through our forested acreage; children play in the stream and along its banks.  I want to be assured that we can continue to appreciate and interact with Burdick Creek safely in the future, and that the local flora and fauna along this stream will continue in good health,” he said.