Tina and Bill Higgins have lived amidst the forested Appalachian hills in Amsterdam, Ohio, for nearly 25 years. They recall the construction of the Apex Sanitary Landfill about a mile from their home shortly after their arrival. “In the summertime, the smell was unbearable at times,” Bill said, while dining at Grammy’s Kitchen.
The couple joined a class action lawsuit due to the odor. After Interstate Waste Services (IWS) acquired the landfill in 2020, they noticed some improvement, but operations continued to expand. Recently, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency approved a significant increase in the landfill’s waste receipt capacity.
Alongside regular trash, the landfill also receives oil and gas drilling waste. From 2014 to 2022, over 3 million tons of such waste were accepted at the site, as per state records. Statewide, over 7.3 million tons have been sent to eight Ohio landfills during this period. This waste includes drill cuttings, filter socks, sludges, and pipe buildup.
(Lack of) Tracking of Solid Drilling Waste
Ohio residents might be unaware their local landfill is handling fracking waste due to a lack of state tracking since 2023. “Facilities are no longer required to report shale drilling waste separately,” said Ohio EPA spokesperson Max Moore, citing inconsistent data as the reason for policy change.
Landfills are not mandated to trace the shale drilling waste source, which could originate from Ohio, Pennsylvania, or elsewhere. “This is the perpetual problem; we don’t know,” stated Melissa Troutman, who authored an analysis of Pennsylvania’s oil and gas waste policy.
Pennsylvania requires drillers to report their waste destinations, with more than 107,000 tons sent to the IWS landfill in Amsterdam last year. Despite regulations, experts like Troutman claim there’s inadequate monitoring of shale gas waste landfill destinations.
The U.S. EPA states shale waste can contain hazardous materials like radium and benzene, yet it isn’t classified as hazardous waste.
Different states have varying regulations. In Pennsylvania, trucks entering landfills are screened for radioactivity. Ohio requires some waste to be tested, but not drill cuttings, defined as naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM), not technologically enhanced (TENORM).
Megan Hunter from Earthjustice argues that even drill cuttings should be tested for radioactivity, as all landfill waste contributes to environmental and health risks.
How Waste Moves From the Landfills to the Waterways
Contamination of waterways is a significant risk. Rainwater seeping through landfill layers creates leachate, which must be treated before release into waterways, explained Duquesne University professor John Stolz. However, Stolz noted that leachate should be monitored for radium and other pollutants indicative of oil and gas waste.
Ohio sends most leachate to municipal sewage plants for treatment. IWS’s Amsterdam landfill sends leachate north to Alliance’s sewage treatment plant, which does not test for radioactivity.
Stolz is concerned about the lack of monitoring, particularly the absence of radioactivity testing in the sewage treatment process. He cited an incident near Pittsburgh where contaminated leachate disrupted treatment, resulting in polluted discharges into the Monongahela River.
The concern is that radiation might contaminate waterways. A study by Stolz and University of Pittsburgh researchers found radioactivity in river sediments downstream from sewage plants processing leachate from landfills accepting frack waste.
A Call for Consistency in State Regulations
Evidence has led environmental groups and radiation safety experts to advocate for uniform regulation of oil and gas waste. William Kennedy from the National Council on Radiation Protection highlights the issues arising from disparate state rules, such as differing regulations between Pennsylvania and Ohio.
Kennedy seeks a dialogue among state regulators to establish a universal regulatory framework. Amy Mall from the Natural Resources Defense Council wants federal rules for tracking and testing frack waste. Currently, Congressional Democrats have introduced legislation to regulate frack waste, including defining it as hazardous, though support is limited.
Original Story at insideclimatenews.org