Allegany Co. wants fracking waste tested at landfill

By Darlene M. Donohue, Olean Times Herald | Updated Yesterday

ANGELICA — Lawmakers and an Allegany County community activist group want hydraulic fracking material remnants being brought to Allegany County’s landfill area tested by the State Department of Environmental Conservation.

The Concerned Citizens of Allegany County (CCAC) in a letter to the Times Herald said thousands of tons of potentially radioactive and hazardous waste — remnants from drilling in developing Marcellus shale gas wells in Pennsylvania — was disposed of in the Hyland Landfill in Angelica for the last five years.

The waste, the CCAC said, is currently being treated as Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material (NORM), which is virtually unregulated and allowed to be disposed of in sanitary landfills. However, they added, the waste is actually characteristic of Technologically Enhanced Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material (TENORM), which requires special testing treatment and disposal in order to protect the environment and public health. The community activist group is requesting the waste be handled, transported and disposed of according to its hazardous waste classification.

The drilling process and mixing, settling of sludges and concentration of these radioactive and hazardous wastes makes them TENORM, the group wrote. CCAC strenuously objects to these misclassified and unregulated radioactive wastes coming into Allegany County for improper disposal.

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