WorldWide Drilling Resource

The Permian Basin Receives Two New Waste Facilities Adapted from Information by Petro Waste Environmental LP Petro Waste Environmental LP started construction on its Deep Six and Big Lake landfills in the Permian Basin. The Deep Six landfill facility is a joint venture with Trinity Environmental Services I, LLC, while the Big Lake facility is wholly owned by Petro Waste. When the facilities open this year, Petro Waste will have more landfills operating in the Permian Basin than any other gas and oil waste disposal company. The Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sets strict regulations for processing and disposing of various forms of waste created by the exploration and production of gas and oil. Companies have been able to extract hydrocarbons more efficiently because of technological advance- ments, but these new techniques have increased the volume of nonhazardous solid wastes and high-solids-content waste fluids. These wastes consist primarily of oil- based drilling muds and cuttings, as well as high-solids-content frack flowback water. Because of minimal infrastructure near drilling sites with the capability of efficiently processing and disposing of these wastes, large quantities must be trucked over long distances to the few existing facili- ties capable of accepting the materials. Petro Waste is addressing this infra- structure shortage. By constructing highly advanced, RRC-permitted waste pro- cessing and disposal facilities, and strate- gically locating them throughout the Permian Basin and the Eagle Ford Shale Formation, the company hopes to reach its goal of having one of their facilities within 30 miles of any drilling activity in those plays. The Deep Six landfill facility will be bui lt in Reeves County, Texas. It wi l l accept oil-based mud, water-based mud, oil-based drill cuttings, water-based drill cuttings, contaminated soil, and RCRA- exempt nonhazardous exploration and production waste, as wel l as provide washouts and other ancillary services. The Big Lake facility, located in Reagan County, Texas, will offer the same serv- ices as the Deep Six facility, while also selling freshwater and high-quality aggre- gate. “We are strategically positioning our facilities to enable oil and gas producers throughout the Permian Basin to operate more cost-efficiently, while keeping envi- ronmental impacts to a minimum,” said Petro Waste Founder and CEO George Wommack. “The Deep Six and Reagan (Big Lake) landfills are a big step forward toward realizing our company’s mission.” 45 WorldWide Drilling Resource ® JANUARY 2019 ENV