By Rob Moritz
Arkansas News Bureau
LITTLE ROCK — Evidence of environmental contamination has been discovered at 11 permitted “land farms” where water used in natural gas drilling is stored, the state Department of Environmental Quality said Monday.
At each of the sites, ADEQ found that contaminated fluids had run off into nearby creeks or streams and chloride concentrations in surrounding soil were abnormally high, according to a release.
Four of the 11 sites are in the Fayetteville Shale formation in north and central Arkansas where natural gas drilling has increased substantially in the past few years. The other seven are in the older Arkoma Basin in western Arkansas.
ADEQ Director Teresa Marks said Monday the permit revocation process has begun on land farms in White and Lonoke counties — both are in the in Fayetteville Shale play area and are owned by Fayetteville Shale Land Farm. Other revocations could be forthcoming at other locations.
Marks, who stopped the awarding of new permits for drill-water storage facilities and ordered the study in November after repeated permit violations at some of the sites, said Monday that changes have already been made to all existing and new permits.
Some of the changes include adding fencing around all on-site ponds to protect wildlife from getting into the water, and requiring that routine soil and water sampling be conducted at specified locations in the presence of an ADEQ inspector.
Until now, owners of the land farms conducted their own sampling and then sent the water and soil to certified labs for testing, Marks said, adding that the department plans to hire four inspectors, a supervisor and enforcement administrator to help with the testing.
The ADEQ director said she hopes the new regulations don’t slow natural gas drilling, which has been an economic boon to the state.
“The bottom line is we’re concerned about the environmental effects of these operations and we have to put those environmental effects first,” she said. “We want to make sure that when the drilling is over that there is not any damage to our environment.”
“The results of the study have caused us to put additional measures in place to ensure that these facilities are complying with the terms of their permits and are not causing harm to the soils and waters of the state,” said Marks.
Gov. Mike Beebe spokesman Matt DeCample said Monday that the governor was comfortable with the way that ADEQ was handling the problem.
“The governor feels we need to do these land farms the right way or not do them at all,” DeCample said. “He thinks we’re on the right path with the study, stronger enforcement and the potential strengthening of regulations.”
The two other land farms located within the Fayetteville Shale play area where contaminated water was discovered are in Conway and Yell counties.
The land farms in the Arkoma Basin where environmental problems were found include four in Sebastian County, two in Franklin County and one in Johnson County.
