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The
Discharge Monitoring Report
Berry
Energy filed a well report and a Discharge Monitoring Report
with the state for the B800 well drilled in the Fernow Experimental
Forest April and May 2008. The well's API number is 47-093-00107.
According
to the well report filed with the state the well was drilled
to 7,882 feet with two producing formations, Oriskany sand
and Hunterville chert. Because the well was drilled beyond
the Onondaga limestone formation it is a deep well according
to state law (Marcellus is above the Onondaga).
Berry
drilled through three caves, open caves at 92 and 149 feet
and a mud-filled cave at 164 feet. (The Forest's caves are
used by the endangered Indiana bat.) Fresh water was found
395 feet below the surface but there is no indication in the
report of encountering brine.
The
well report includes information about fracturing and that
will be discussed in later chapters.
Berry
also filed the required Discharge Monitoring Report (DMR)
with the state's Office of Oil and Gas and this chapter will
focus on that. The DMR deals with the company's discharge
(landspraying pit fluids) during June and July of 2008. Other
options available to operators, not used by Berry, include
disposal by underground injection or at a centralized facility,
off site disposal (landspraying at another well site), or
reuse (e.g., closed loop drilling).
There
are four categories of pits and the Berry well had an expedited
category 4 pit (which requires permission from an inspector
or the chief of the Office of Oil and Gas). No indication
is given why the pit was a category 4 pit.
Pit
categories are: 1) chlorides below 5,000 mg/l; 2) chlorides
below 12,500 mg/l; 3) chlorides below 12,500 mg/l and dissolved
oxygen below 2.5 mg/l; and 4) chlorides below 12,500 mg/l
and special permission. Pit categories 2, 3 and 4 can contain
fracturing fluid or flowback and, with inspector's approval,
can have chloride levels up to 25,000 mg/l.
Berry's
sampling results for the Fernow drill waste pit were as follows.
We've highlighted items that we consider most important.
| Parameter |
Predischarge |
Discharge |
| Limit |
Reported |
Limit |
Reported |
| pH |
6-10 |
7.8 |
6-10 |
7.5 |
| Settling
time |
1
day |
2
days |
|
|
| Iron |
monitor |
<1
mg/l |
monitor |
<0.36
mg/l |
| Dissolved
oxygen |
monitor |
4
mg/l |
monitor |
4
mg/l |
| Settleable
solids |
monitor |
<0.1
mg/l |
monitor |
<0.1
mg/l |
| Chlorides |
12,500
mg/l |
7,500
mg/l |
12,500
mg/l |
6,210
mg/l |
| Oil |
Trace |
none |
Trace |
none
|
| Total
organic carbon |
|
|
monitor |
110
mg/l
|
| Total
suspended solids |
|
|
monitor |
31
mg/l |
| Oil
& grease |
|
|
monitor |
5.5
mg/l |
| Manganese |
monitor |
<1
mg/l |
monitor |
0.36
mg/l |
| Volume |
|
|
monitor |
100,000
gallons |
| Flow |
|
|
monitor |
100
gallons |
| Activated
carbon |
0.175
lb/barrel |
150
pounds |
|
|
| Disposal
area |
|
|
monitor |
2
acres |
Category
4 pits, in addition to typical pit treatment by aeration,
liming and settling, also receive an additional treatment
of 0.175 pounds of powdered activated carbon per barrel of
waste.
The
pit volume was 100,000 gallons or 2,381 barrels. Multiplying
2,381 by 0.175 pounds of activated carbon per barrel is 417
pounds of carbon required for treatment, not 150 pounds as
the company reported using. The purpose of activated carbon
is to absorb toxic elements in the pit waste.
Something
to keep in mind is that the state doesn't independently monitor
pits and a company's figures in the DMR are usually all one
has to go by. And despite the fact that there were problems
in the landspraying at this site we've received no indication
that the state will investigate what happened.
The
next chapter will deal with chloride load and future chapters
will discuss SAR and liming.
Go
on the Chloride Load chapter.
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