As a Niagara Falls water agency considers accepting hydraulic fracturing slurry -- waste fluid -- for treatment, other New York communities should pay attention. The debate illustrates how communities that aren't on top of the Marcellus Shale could still be affected by the drilling.
The Niagara Falls Water Board is considering a plan to accept and treat the slurry, says a story in the Buffalo News. It would be hauled in by truck or train from areas where the drilling is occurring. The treated water wouldbe stored in wells. The leftover solids - the News calls it brine - would be disposed of at a toxic-waste site.
The water board's director told the News that the Niagara Falls plant and one in neighboring North Tonawanda are the only public water-treatment plants in the state that may be able to handle fracking waste fluid. Even that depends on what treatment the state requires.
State officials seem intent on allowing high-volume hydraulic fracturing to proceed, and it's a problem that only two plants in New York may be able to treat the waste water. Drillers say they plan to reuse much of that fluid, but the state should still have adequate capacity to treat it if need be.
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