Pennsylvania: "Trio charged with illegal frack water dumping"

[Brendan OConnor]

See also "Clark Trucking fills gas industry need" (December 1, 2010 Williamsport Sun-Gazette)- http://www.sungazette.com/page/content.detail/id/557385/Clark-Trucking-fills-gas-industry-need.html (Pasted below) See also "November 15, 2012 WGRC News"- http://www.wgrc.com/news/2012-11-15-november-15-2012 (Pasted here:) "...MUNCY - The owner of a Lycoming County trucking company, along with two of his employees, has been charged with dumping thousands of gallons of gas drilling waste water onto the company's grounds without first getting the required state permits. The facility is part of the Muncy Industrial Park complex. 55-year-old James Stolte, the owner of Clark Trucking and Excavating, in Muncy Creek Township; along with 38-year-old Andrew Miller, the company's manager; and company dispatcher 30-year-old James Kinnard, have been charged with three misdemeanor counts of violating the state's solid waste management act. The charges were filed by officials with the Environmental Crimes Section of the state attorney general's office. Former employees tell the Sun Gazette on at least a dozen times, Kinnard was seen empting frack water storage tanks by opening rear valves "so that when waste water was put into the tanks, it flowed out onto the ground." Tanks were also dumped out along rural roadways. Most of the alleged incidents occurred between June 2010 and June 2011. (WGRC)..." http://www.sungazette.com/page/content.detail/id/585805/Trio-charged-with-illegal-frack----.html Trio charged with illegal frack water dumping November 15, 2012 By PHILIP A. HOLMES (pho...@sungazette.com) , Williamsport Sun-Gazette MUNCY - The owner of an area trucking company, along with two of his employees, has been charged with dumping thousands of gallons of gas drilling waste water onto the company's grounds without first getting the required state permits, according to the state attorney general's office. James K. Stolte, 55, the owner of Clark Trucking and Excavating, 657 Industrial Parkway in Muncy Creek Township; along with Andrew W. Miller, 38, the company's manager; and company dispatcher James Daniel Kinnard, 30, have been charged with three misdemeanor counts of violating the state's solid waste management act. The charges were filed by Paul A. Zimmerer, a supervisory special agent with the Environmental Crimes Section of the state attorney general's office. Article Photos It is alleged that Stolte, Kinnard and Miller were involved in "transporting drilling mud and gas well waste water, as well as reclaimed water, to its business property and illegally dumping it," Zimmerer wrote in an eight-page affidavit. In response to the growth of the Marcellus Shale industry in the area, Stolte started the trucking company in May 2010 "to haul fresh water, gas well waste water, landfill leachate and drilling mud," Zimmerer said, adding that the company "grew to 100 employees and 27 tanker trucks." The facility is part of the Muncy Industrial Park complex. As part of his investigation, Zimmerer interviewed former company truck drivers who reported seeing waste water being dumped on the company's grounds. One former driver, Alan Van Pelt, told Zimmerer that he saw Kinnard "emptying a 5,500-gallon tanker truck containing truck wash waste water onto the ground. Kinnard told Van Pelt he was draining the waste water onto the ground because the truck was needed to haul fresh water." Another former employee, Michael Snyder, reported that truck drivers would return to the company with tanker trucks "loaded with fresh water, gas well waste water and truck wash waste water. (Employees would then) transfer the water into frack tanks and half round tanks for storage," Zimmerman wrote in the affidavit. On at least a dozen times, Snyder saw Kinnard empty the storage tanks by opening rear valves "so that when truck wash waste water was put into the tanks, it flowed out onto the ground," Zimmerer said. Most of the alleged incidents occurred between June 2010 and June 2011, Zimmerman said. Daniel Hiemer, employed as a truck driver in the summer of 2010, told Zimmerer of an incident when he was transporting a tanker truck containing gas well waste water back to the company. Stolte, the company's owner, told Hiemer "to back the truck up to a ditch beside a cornfield. Stolte then opened a valve and drained the contents into the ground. Hiemer saw about six such tanker trucks containing gas well waste water being drained into the ground," Zimmerer said. Another trucker employed that summer, Chris Zacher, told Zimmerman he once saw Stolte allegedly "open a valve on a tanker truck and drain about 2,000 gallons of waste water" onto the company's property. Former employees also reported that when tanker and vacuum trucks were cleaned out at the company, "residual contents of the trucks flowed into the ground," Zimmerer said. The state Department of Environmental Protection collected soil and water samples from where the dumping is alleged to have occurred and tests results revealed there were "elevated levels of barium, strontium and chloride, which are consistent with gas well waste water," Zimmerer said. Stolte, of Lenzburg, Ill.; Kinnard, of Greenville, Mo.; and Miller, of 536 S. Market St., were sent summonses to appear before District Judge Jon E. Kemp. & http://www.sungazette.com/page/content.detail/id/557385/Clark-Trucking-fills-gas-industry-need.html Clark Trucking fills gas industry need December 1, 2010 By AMANDA ALEXANDER aalex...@sungazette.com When Jim Stolte heard about the natural gas boom in the area, he saw a business opportunity. He had no experience in the oil and gas industry, so he decided to stick with what he knew: Trucks. "I've been in the trucking business for 35 years," he said. Stolte opened the northeast division of Clark Trucking, located on Industrial Parkway in Muncy, on April 1, and the business has already taken off. Stolte joined forces with Andy Miller, operations manager, who holds extensive experience in the oil and gas industry, and began offering truck services to gas companies. Clark Trucking specializes in vacuum tankers, which are a crucial part of the gas drilling process. "When gas companies want to drill, they need millions of gallons of water," Stolte said. Vacuum tankers are used to withdraw water from creeks and public water supplies and transport the water to drilling sites, where several million gallons of water are needed to frac each well. The tanks of Clark's trucks hold about 5,500 gallons of water and several trucks are used for each drilling operation, Stolte said. The business has only been in place for seven months, and is already growing in leaps and bounds. Clark Trucking opened with three trucks and has since grown to 18 trucks and 37 employees, 22 of whom are drivers. "We're working for 11 different oil companies," Stolte said. "On an average day, we're running 50 trucks." Clark Trucking offers an advantage over many other companies offering vacuum tankers because of its location. Companies don't have to wait for trucks to arrive from out of state. Joan Gardner, assistant office manager, said trucks are typically delivered to a site within hours of a request. "We have a good relationship with our customers," she added. Stolte hopes to see the company continue to grow in its number of contracts, employees and trucks. The business also offers a number of additional services including waste treatment, water disposal, soil remediation and disposal, testing, permitting, site work, dust control, power washing and transfer pumps. "We're steadily buying trucks," Stolte said. The company is also on the lookout for drivers. Stolte said he sees a bright future in store for Clark Trucking. "The sky's the limit," he said. "We've got to supply the people we work for with what they want." For more information, call 940-0070 or visit www.clarktrucking-northeast.com.