Now What? WV Landfill Won't Take More Shipments Of Mildly Radioactive Fracking Sludge From PA

[hatrack]

Range Resources shipped 12 tons of drilling sludge containing higher than normal radioactivity 100 miles to a West Virginia landfill Tuesday afternoon, but for now won't be able to use it to dispose of similar waste stored on well pads in Washington County.

Kelly Gillenwater, a West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection spokeswoman, said Thursday that Waste Management's Meadowfill Landfill in Bridgeport, just west of Clarksburg, W.Va., has been ordered to stop accepting drilling waste containing radioactivity while the department investigates the shipment.

Range had tried to dispose of the waste at the Arden Landfill, in Chartiers, Washington County, also operated by Waste Management, in early March. But the shipment from the Malinky well pad, in Smith, Washington County, was rejected when it set off alarms at the gate where its radioactivity was measured at 212 microrems, higher than the landfill's 150 microrems limit.

Range Resources spokesmen did not return calls seeking comment. Range spokesman Matt Pitzarella previously said that the radioactivity levels of the waste are not dangerous to workers or residents of the area, and that radiation measurements decline to background levels just feet away from the storage containers. Normal background levels in the area are between six and eight microrems.

EDIT

http://www.post-gazette.com/local/region/2014/05/29/West-Virginia-rejects-drilling-waste-tainted-with-radioactivity/stories/201405290267

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

1. Now what?

I'd guess they'll start using other garbage to 'dilute' their sludge with, mixing 1/3 other stuff with 2/3 sludge to drop drop things down below the limit before they send it to the landfill.

[hatrack]

3. Or just find a ditch at 2:00 AM . . .

It's worked in the past.

[Champion Jack]

2. What about the radioactive drill cuttings from West Virginia sites?

They are still dumping these in our local landfills

[modrepub]

4. WV will eventually ban this material

On Jan 1st this type of waste will not be acceptable. First heard of radioactive drillings from NY's EI. PA landfills have rad meters on their weight scales and generally reject loads that set them off. In most instances the meters are set off by "hot" waste from hospitals and chemo patients. When this stuff comes in to a landfill it can be set aside for several days until the material decays and is no longer "hot". Problem with the radioactive drilling waste is that it has much longer half lives than most material used in medical treatment. My guess is that WV landfills have been taking "hot" materials for some time now.