Highlights:
- Mining companies in Kansas are having trouble finding ways to dispose of sludge generated during the fracturing mining. Truckloads are traveling the county looking for a place to dispose of the mud.
- Issues are not related to chemicals used in the fracturing process. Sludge is being rejected for a much simpler problem - it is too wet. Local landfills refuse to take liquids.
- Mining companies will either have to dry out mud or dispose of it by spreading it across local fields.
From the article:
Truckloads of mud from oil well fracturing are on an odyssey to find an unloading location.
The companies hauling the mud are trying to dispose of the product and are looking at landfills as a potential dumping area, but most landfills, including the Pratt County Landfill, are saying ‘no’ to the mud.
The problem with the mud is moisture. Fracking produces lots of mud with high water content. A drier mud might be accepted, but fracking byproducts are very wet.
“That’s just one of the rules of the landfill. We just don’t take liquid,” said Dean Staab, director of Environmental Services for Pratt County.
A rule of thumb for the landfill is if material is placed in a paint filter and fluid runs out it is too wet to put into the landfill, Staab said...
