Source: The Charleston Gazette (WV), January 14, 2015
Posted on: http://envfpn.advisen.com
In a paper published today, the Duke scientists said they found ammonium and iodide in wastewater from treatment sites in Pennsylvania and from a spill from a storage tank at a site in West Virginia.
“This discovery raises new concerns about the environmental and human health impacts of oil and gas wastewater in areas where it is discharged or leaked directly into the environment,” said Avner Vengosh, professor of geochemistry and water quality at Duke’s Nicholas School of the Environment.
The peer-reviewed study, published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology, is the first to document the presence of high levels of ammonium and iodide in oil and gas wastewater.
When dissolved in water, ammonium can convert to ammonia, which is highly toxic to aquatic life. Elevated iodide in surface water can promote the formation of highly toxic byproducts in drinking water when it mixes with the chlorine used to disinfect the water and municipal treatment plants.
Previous studies have shown that fluids from natural gas production activities — including hydraulic fracturing or “fracking” — contain high levels of salts, barium and radioactive elements, in addition to man-made chemicals added in the process of hydraulic fracturing.
As part of their study, the Duke researchers examined material that was collected after a January 2014 incident in Tyler County, West Virginia, in which a tank at a natural gas site burst and released fluids. These fluids migrated beyond the well pad containment and into the adjacent stream, Big Run Creek.
During the legislative session that starts today, lawmakers are expected to consider proposals that would exempt some or all oil and gas industry above-ground storage tanks from the provisions of a new state tank safety law passed after last year’s Freedom Industries chemical spill.