fIt’s no surprise that with a more than 50 percent jump in gas production in southwestern Pennsylvania there is a corresponding spike in flowback water generated from fracking during the first six months of this year, compared with the second half of 2010.
Here’s how the newly-released waste numbers break down for this region.
1.8 million barrels of fracturing fluid, of which 1.1 million is being reused.
That’s about a 64 percent reuse rate. Nearly all of the rest was taken to industrial waste processing plants, which could mean companies treated the liquid and took it back for reuse. There’s no great way to tell if that’s happening unless the companies indicate that in their notes. There were a few other disposal methods. For example, EXCO Resources
is responsible for a small percentage of fracturing fluid either being injected into an underground well or being taken to the Reynoldsville Sewage Authority, a municipal sewage plant.
2.7 million barrels of brine, of which about 10 percent was injected into disposal wells in Ohio and West Virginia.Read More
