City isn't seeing extra shale waste

The city of Watertown has not seen any movement this summer from the state Department of Environmental Conservation that would allow a Quebec-based natural gas company to tap into the state’s Utica shale formation using the much-criticized hydraulic fracturing technique.

With the state’s approval, the city accepted and treated 35,000 gallons of wastewater from a well drilled in Otsego County by Gastem Inc. in January. Sewage treatment plant Supervisor Michael J. Sligar has said that any wastewater created by future wells drilled by Gastem would likely be shipped the two-plus hours to Watertown as long as tests showed the plant could handle the material.

Earlier this week, Mr. Sligar said a second well proposed by Gastem has not received approvals from the DEC. A message left with Gastem’s president, Orville Cole, has not been returned.

The city blipped on the radar of environmental groups in January when it received approval for the DEC to treat the wastewater from the well.

Environmental watchdogs argue the content of the fluid and the sheer amount of waste produced by the hydro-fracking process can overwhelm municipal treatment plants and kill wildlife in rivers where the water is discharged.

Mr. Sligar has responded that the vertical well drilled by Gastem produces far well waste than similar horizontal wells that tap in to the Marcellus shale formation. The 35,000 gallons treated by the city in January, Mr. Sligar said, was only a small percentage of the total heavy solids and salts the city’s treatment plant takes in on a daily basis.