Environmental groups concerned about possible hazards created through oil and gas exploration want state rules changed to keep low-level radioactive drilling wastes out of Ohio’s landfills and also want an increase in state oversight of such wastes.
The Ohio Environmental Council, the Sierra Club, the Buckeye Forest Council and Citizens for Health Environment and Justice made their request to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources in a 10-page letter dated Dec. 23.
No one knows how much radioactive waste from so-called drill cuttings — the rock and earth from below ground contaminated with often-toxic drilling lubricants — might be going into the state’s landfills. Four Ohio landfills, including American Landfill in southeastern Stark County, are accepting such wastes.
The Tunnel Hill Landfill in Perry County (southeastern Ohio) is taking up to a thousand tons per day of drill cuttings. Those solid wastes also are being shipped to landfills in New York, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
The issue is expected to get bigger as the Utica shale drilling boom grows in eastern Ohio. It could produce thousands of tons of the solid wastes.
The ODNR, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and the Ohio Department of Health all say the threat of radiation is minimal from drill cuttings from below-ground materials.
“The material is mostly rock and dirt with very low levels of radiation,” said David Lipp of the state health department. “We’ve looked at it, measured and sampled it, and what we’re finding is background radiation levels. There is nothing of concern at all.”
EPA spokesman Mike Settles said his office doesn’t see drill cuttings as an environmental concern — if they are handled the way they should be and if they are sent to a solid-waste landfill. “Contaminated soils can go into landfills under state rules, and we don’t see it as a problem,” he said.
Radiation concerns
The biggest fear is that the naturally occurring radiation from the drill cuttings could expose drillers and landfill workers to unsafe radiation levels, said Julie Weatherington-Rice, a senior scientist with Bennett & Williams Environmental Consultants in the Columbus suburb of Westerville and an adjunct professor at Ohio State University
The radiation also could end up in landfill liquids, or leachate, that typically is shipped to local sewage-treatment plants for processing before being discharged to Ohio’s streams, she said. Weatherington-Rice said that means Ohio’s streams could end up with troublesome levels of radiation. She said the threat to the general public probably is limited.
State agencies do not regularly screen drill cuttings for radiation. Lipp said the state health department intends to take a closer look at drill cuttings and plans additional testing. That will be done in collaboration with Chesapeake Energy Corp., the most-active Ohio driller, and could start in January, he said. Samples will be collected and studied for radiation.
Rick Simmers of ODNR’s Division of Oil & Gas Resources Management, said the state could further revise its rules on drill cuttings, based on the state health department’s testing. “We want to make sure that [radiation] is not a problem,” he said.
The state has plans in place to deal with radiation problems once they are discovered, Simmers said.
In the drilling process, muds or fluids that are used to lubricate the drill and help remove cuttings from the wellbore often contain acids, caustics, corrosion inhibitors and other toxic chemicals.
At present, drill cuttings get little attention from ODNR or the state health department. Drill cuttings deemed clean can be buried on site.
The cuttings have not been classified as man-made radioactive waste that would require tighter management. The EPA gets involved only if the cuttings are contaminated with drilling lubricants; then they must be shipped to landfills.
Weatherington-Rice said she is troubled by the lack of state oversight in Ohio.
“I think there is a significant hole in the system big enough to drive a very large truck through,” she said. “I’ve also not found anyone raising their hand to take responsibility for drill cuttings.”
The low-level radiation might be a threat to haulers and first responders if hauling trucks are involved in accidents or spills, Weathington-Rice said.
Lipp said he was unfamiliar with the specifics of Weatherington-Rice’s concerns and declined further comment.
Landfill responds
American Landfill, a 1,072-acre site that Waste Managment Inc. operates north of Waynesburg, defended its accepting drill cuttings.
“We’ve been told by three state agencies that the wastes are safe to accept,” spokeswoman Beth Schmucker said. “We’ve been told that what we are doing is managing it correctly and safely.”
The landfill began accepting such waste about six months ago, she said. The waste gets mixed with the thousands of tons of household garbage that go into the landfill every day.
Schmucker said she was unable to provide the volume of drill cuttings going into American Landfill. She said most of the drill cuttings come from Ohio wells, with little coming from Pennsylvania.
Waste Management has signed a contract with Chesapeake Energy Corp. to take its drill cuttings at American Landfill. That deal is expected to produce a steady stream for perhaps six years.
Chesapeake must characterize the drill cuttings before they can be shipped to American. The landfill might undertake technical evaluations and inspections. No man-made radioactive waste can go into the landfill.
The drill cuttings are shipped to American in vacuum boxes that don’t allow moisture in or out, Schmucker said.
Settles, of the EPA, said the state is aware of two other landfills accepting drill cuttings: Apex Sanitary Landfill in Jefferson County and Mahoning Landfill in Mahoning County.
Landfills looking into taking drill cuttings include Countywide Recycling & Disposal Facility in southern Stark County, Carbon Limestone Landfill in Mahoning County and Pine Grove Landfill in Fairfield County, he said.
Bob Downing can be reached at 330-996-3745 or bdowning@thebeaconjournal.com.
