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Action Requested by:
March 31, 2011

The treatment of wastewater from natural gas hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, operations has recently come under increased scrutiny due to a series of articles appearing in the New York Times and the increased pressure from activist groups concerned about the water quality impacts from fracking activities.  NACWA has been increasingly interested in issues that fall under the umbrella of the “energy-water nexus” and clearly issues arising as a result of fracking exemplify these concerns. That being said, the Association is in need of significantly more information before making any determination as to whether or how it can be of assistance to its members on this issue.

Given these developments, and that the growing federal scrutiny of fracking will continue, NACWA is asking its public agency members to complete a survey by March 31, 2011, to inform the Association as to whether your utility accepts wastewater from fracking operations and, if so, how your agency treats this wastewater.  The survey can be found online and consists of 10 questions.  These questions are in a yes/no format with some requiring a narrative response.

The survey should take Members no longer than 10-15 minutes to complete.   Any information you provide will be kept in confidence at NACWA headquarters and individual utilities will not be identified if NACWA shares the overall survey results.  We ask that all members respond to this survey so that NACWA has a sense of its members’ involvement with wastewater from the fracking process and, if warranted, can serve effectively as an advocate on this issue.

Additional Background on Fracking and Key Federal Activities

The fracking process has become more prevalent in the past several years as techniques have improved and demand for natural gas has increased.  The process involves injecting fluid containing water, sand, and chemicals into wellbores to create or extend rock fractures and increase the rate of natural gas recovery, a portion of which returns to the surface and is recovered for disposal or reuse.  The recent New York Times series and wider use of this process have attracted increased regulatory, legislative and legal attention to this practice and the treatment of fracking wastewater.  Most recently, legislative staff on Capitol Hill made general inquiries to NACWA seeking information on the treatment by publicly owned treatment works (POTWs) of wastewater fracking.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) also continues to examine this practice to determine if it will require regulations relating to fracking and disposal of fracking wastewater.  As part of this effort, EPA is conducting a study on the potential harmful effects of fracking wastewater and recently sent a letter to the Acting Secretary of Environment in Pennsylvania, making a number of statements and asking some key questions regarding the treatment of wastewater from fracking by POTWs, including:

• Encouraging Pennsylvania to re-open POTWs’ and centralized waste treatment facilities’ National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits if they are  currently accepting fracking wastewater for treatment as well as the establishment of monitoring requirements and effluent limits for this activity.

• Urging the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PA DEP) to provide the identities and locations of NPDES facilities accepting Marcellus Shale wastewater, a list of permits they plan to re-open, parameters they intend to use for analysis, and a schedule for completing permit modifications for POTWs accepting these wastes.

• Indicating the Agency will seek information from POTWs in Pennsylvania for compliance determinations and to evaluate adequacy of NPDES permits with regard to the acceptance of fracking wastewater.

Again, the survey can be found online at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/QDDLS8N and we are asking that all responses be submitted by March 31 and NACWA will keep these responses confidential.  If you have any questions regarding this issue or survey, please contact John Krohn, NACWA’s Manager of Legislative Affairs, at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or Cynthia Finley, NACWA’s Director of Regulatory Affairs, at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .