{"id":2310142,"date":"2024-07-27T11:15:54","date_gmt":"2024-07-27T15:15:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2310142"},"modified":"2024-07-27T11:24:44","modified_gmt":"2024-07-27T15:24:44","slug":"the-fight-over-brine-spreading-is-a-rural-urban-tension-washington-examiner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-fight-over-brine-spreading-is-a-rural-urban-tension-washington-examiner\/","title":{"rendered":"The fight over brine spreading is a rural-urban tension &#8211; Washington Examiner"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fthe-fight-over-brine-spreading-is-a-rural-urban-tension-washington-examiner%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2310142&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The article\u2063 discusses the ongoing debate between rural\u200d and urban lawmakers \u200bin Pennsylvania regarding the practice of\u200b spreading oil \u2062and gas wastewater, known as brine, on roads to manage dust. Rural officials argue that this practice\u2064 is economically beneficial \u200cand necessary\u200d for maintaining safe road\u2064 conditions, as it can be provided at no cost to townships. They express frustration\u2062 over \u2062the moratorium on brine \u200cspreading implemented by the Department of Environmental \u2064Protection three years ago, which \u2064they claim has exacerbated dust issues on unpaved roads.<\/p>\n<p>Critics of brine spreading point to environmental risks and propose a bill \u2062to formally ban\u2062 the practice, arguing that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/illegal-aliens-cuban-national-accused-of-running-massive-amazon-theft-ring\/\" title=\"Illegal Aliens, Cuban National Accused of Running &#039;Massive Amazon Theft Ring&#039;\">illegal dumping<\/a> of wastewater remains a \u2063significant problem. Rural leaders have \u200dsought funding for\u200b <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/dragon-springs-paves-part-of-galley-hill-road-in-town-of-deerpark\/\" title=\"Dragon Springs has paved a section of Galley Hill Road in Deerpark.\">paving projects<\/a> to\u2063 address dust problems but have faced\u200d obstacles in securing grants. They believe that state officials, removed from the \u200crealities of rural \u2062road maintenance, are\u200c making decisions without a full\u2062 understanding of the local context and \u200dits \u200cunique challenges. Meanwhile, neighboring states have programs in\u200d place to\u200d assist with rural road paving, leaving rural Pennsylvania officials \u200bfeeling unsupported. the article highlights a complex clash of interests between\u2063 environmental concerns and rural road\u200b maintenance needs.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">The fight over brine spreading is a rural-urban tension<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_1714758\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>(The Center Square) &mdash; Rural-urban tensions split lawmakers on whether to reinstate spreading oil and gas wastewater on roads to suppress dust.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;It all comes down to risk assessment. Are the impacts to the environment outweighed by the benefits created?&rdquo; Burt Waite, a retired geologist and hydrologist, said during a House Republican Policy Committee hearing on brine spreading. &ldquo;Most of us would agree that some environmental impact is inevitable and acceptable to have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/whitmer-proposes-taxpayer-funded-community-college-preschool\/\" title=\"Whitmer suggests free community college and preschool funded by taxpayers\">safe roads<\/a> to drive on.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The hearing follows a June debate in the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee where&nbsp;<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thecentersquare.com\/pennsylvania\/article_782d6212-276e-11ef-abb4-c3268f2680c1.html\">brining roads for dust suppression<\/a><\/strong>&nbsp;was called into question. The commonwealth had allowed the use of brine on dirt roads for decades, but the Department of Environmental Protection ended the practice three years ago. Other states like Ohio and Michigan have also used brine to minimize dust and ice on rural roads.<\/p>\n<p>A bill proposed by Rep. Greg Vitali, D-Havertown, would codify the end of wastewater. Almost 4 million gallons of brine have been used on roadways since 2018, and critics argue that illegal dumping continues as&nbsp;<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fastcompany.com\/91162311\/pennsylvanias-oil-gas-industry-dump-wastewater\">an &ldquo;open secret.&rdquo;<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Rural officials don&rsquo;t support the end of brine spreading because, they argue, it&rsquo;s economic and not more harmful than other dust and ice control methods.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Brine is often donated to townships on a no-cost basis, making it a win-win for the producer of the brine and the townships that need to take care of their roads in a proper manner,&rdquo; Waite said.<\/p>\n<p>Without its use, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/navy-deploying-new-tech-to-help-avoid-maintenance-problems\/\" title=\"Navy Deploying New Tech to Help Avoid Maintenance Problems\">problems arise<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Since the moratorium on brine spreading came into effect, the dust issue has been difficult to deal with,&rdquo; said Jim Trussell, chairman of the board of supervisors in McKean County&rsquo;s Hamlin Township. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve applied for grants to (the Department of Community and Economic Development) and PennDOT for paving of these roads for four years, but so far, we have been denied.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Paving dirt roads would fix the dust issue, but Pennsylvania hasn&rsquo;t followed the lead of neighboring states.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Our government in Harrisburg, they just don&rsquo;t understand the dust that we have in this part of the state. We live in a clay-based environment and there&rsquo;s more dirt roads than there is paved roads; we have a lot of residents that dislike dust,&rdquo; Steve Goodwill, the roadmaster in Warren County&rsquo;s Columbus Township, said. &ldquo;We just don&rsquo;t have a huge budget to do all this.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>New York has a&nbsp;<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dot.ny.gov\/programs\/chips\">rural road paving program<\/a><\/strong>&nbsp;funded by the state budget to convert dirt roads, unlike the commonwealth.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Pennsylvania don&rsquo;t give us anything,&rdquo; Goodwill said.<\/p>\n<p>Harrisburg, in the view of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/late-night-restaurant-owners-want-to-play-fair-so-far-they-say-newsom-hasnt\/\" title=\"Late-night restaurant owners want to play fair. So far, they say, Newsom hasn&#039;t\">local officials<\/a>, was a stumbling block more than a partner.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Frankly, this is one more example of a policy that was made by a bunch of people that don&rsquo;t have any dirt roads, don&rsquo;t have this issue at all &mdash; but the idea of spreading something that&rsquo;s a byproduct of the oil and gas industry on roads just sounds icky to them,&rdquo; Venango County Commissioner Sam Breene said.<\/p>\n<p>Environmental concerns raised by some studies were dismissed as lacking transparency and rigor.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;This was a study that needed to happen out in the field, to actually see what is happening,&rdquo; Rep. Martin Causer, R-Bradford, said. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s a lot of secrecy around this (Penn State) study, and a lot of questions &hellip; what I circle back to is: they got what they paid for.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>David Hess, a former DEP secretary, argued in June that a ban on brine spreading was the only way to prevent wastewater from polluting the environment.<\/p>\n<p>But legislators were skeptical that brine caused much harm.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;After many, many years of spreading this conventional brine on our roads, this is the most environmentally clean area of the state,&rdquo; Sen. Scott Hutchinson, R-Oil City, said. &ldquo;We have high-quality trout streams, water you can drink out of the creek if you had to. People come here because we have a beautiful environment.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Others saw a brine ban as part of a broader strategy.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We have a group in Pennsylvania who basically wants to get rid of natural gas, oil, and coal,&rdquo; Rep. Mike Armanini, R-DuBois, said. &ldquo;This is another ploy in their scheme to attack the natural gas and oil industry. If we would leave these three industries alone, we would be one of the booming states in our country. But we&rsquo;re at the bottom because we&rsquo;re not taking advantage of that.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_1714758\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"1714758\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The debate surrounding brine spreading highlights a conflict between rural and urban interests (The Center Square) \u2014 Lawmakers are divided on the issue of whether to allow the application of oil and gas wastewater on roads for dust control. Burt Waite, a retired geologist and hydrologist, stated during a House Republican Policy Committee hearing that it ultimately hinges on risk assessment: &#8220;Are the environmental impacts justified by the benefits?&#8221; He noted that many agree some environmental effects are unavoidable if it means safer roads. This discussion follows a June meeting of the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee where concerns about using brine for dust suppression were raised. The practice had been permitted for decades until the Department of Environmental Protection halted it three years ago. States like Ohio and Michigan have also utilized brine to reduce dust and ice on rural roads. A bill introduced by Rep. Greg Vitali, D-Havertown, aims to formalize this ban on wastewater use. Since 2018, nearly 4 million gallons of brine have been applied to roadways, with critics alleging ongoing illegal dumping as an &#8220;open secret.&#8221; Rural leaders oppose ending brine spreading because they believe it&#8217;s economically beneficial and no more harmful than other methods for controlling dust and ice. Waite explained that towns often receive brine at no cost, benefiting both producers and municipalities needing effective road maintenance. Without this option, issues persist; Jim Trussell from McKean County&#8217;s Hamlin Township mentioned difficulties in managing dust since the moratorium began despite applying for grants to pave roads over four years without success. While paving would resolve dust problems, Pennsylvania has not adopted similar initiatives as neighboring states like New York which has state-funded programs for converting dirt roads into paved ones\u2014something Goodwill pointed out is lacking in Pennsylvania&#8217;s support.<\/p>\n<p>Local officials feel Harrisburg is more of an obstacle than an ally in addressing these issues: \u201cThis policy seems crafted by those unfamiliar with dirt road challenges,\u201d said Venango County Commissioner Sam Breene regarding perceptions about using oil industry byproducts on roads being unappealing to urban lawmakers. Some studies raising environmental concerns were criticized as lacking transparency; Rep. Martin Causer emphasized that field studies are necessary to understand real impacts better while questioning Penn State\u2019s study credibility.<\/p>\n<p>David Hess, former DEP secretary, argued in June that banning brine spreading was essential to prevent environmental pollution from wastewater; however legislators expressed skepticism about its harmfulness based on long-term usage data showing minimal negative effects in their regions\u2014Senator Scott Hutchinson remarked how their area boasts clean water sources despite past practices.<\/p>\n<p>Others view calls for a ban as part of broader anti-fossil fuel agendas: \u201cThere\u2019s a faction aiming to eliminate natural gas, oil &amp; coal,\u201d stated Rep Mike Armanini who believes such actions hinder Pennsylvania&#8217;s economic potential compared with states capitalizing effectively upon these resources<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2310146,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/AP24037853666052.jpg.optimal.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[15721,36449,36450,36451,36448],"class_list":["post-2310142","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner","tag-agriculture","tag-brine-spreading","tag-environmental-issues","tag-local-governance","tag-rural-urban-tension"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/AP24037853666052.jpg.optimal.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2310142","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2310142"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2310142\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2310146"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2310142"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2310142"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2310142"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}