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Pennsylvania Chapter 95 wastewater treatment standards

Current Status:

Finalized

Final Status:

finalized a rule we support

Jursidiction

Pennsylvania - Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection

Summary

Fracking can produce an extremely briny wastewater, which may also contain toxic heavy metals. Treating all these pollutants -- collectively referred to as total dissolved solids or "TDS" -- is difficult. Pennsylvania is updating its wastewater treatment standards for high TDS waters.

Updates

In August 2010, the new standards were codified.  They will go into force January 2011.

In April 2010, Pennsylvania proposed to finalize its regulations.  The regulations set a 500 mg/l limit on TDS in treated oil and gas wastewater, ban direct discharges from drilling sites, and require dischargers whose waste has more than 30,000 mg/l of TDS to recycle that wastewater in other fracking operations.

Sierra Club and other groups, represented by the Pitt Environmental Law Clinic, filed comments on February 12, 2010.

PA DEP proposed revising its wastewater standards on November 7, 2009.

Keywords

Pennsylvania, wastewater disposal, surface water pollution

Comment Deadline

2010.02.12

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