EPA ANNOUNCES PROPOSED RULE FOR PRETREATMENT OF WASTEWATER FROM FRACKING OPERATIONS

By TONI ELLINGTON

On Monday, April 6, 2015, the EPA announced a proposed rule that would require oil and gas companies to pretreat wastewater from their exploration operations before the water is sent to publicly-owned wastewater treatment facilities.  This would include wastewater from hydraulic fracturing operations.

The EPA claims that oil and gas operations such as fracking generate large quantities of wastewater which contain harmful substances.  In 2012, fracking operations produced over 280 billion gallons of wastewater.

In response to the growth of fracking operations in the U.S., the EPA and the White House have been considering imposing pretreatment standards on wastewater since at least 2011.  The EPA sent a national pretreatment standard to the White House Office of Management and Budget in late 2014.

The proposed pretreatment standards would not apply to wastewater stored in disposal or injection wells.

For the full text of the proposed rule, see 80 F.R. 18557-18580.  For questions, contact Toni Ellington at (504) 599-8500.