Hanover officials to consider new site for tank farm

A Marcellus Shale water recycling company is eyeing a new site for a frack water tank farm in Hanover Township.
Unlike Hydro Recovery’s first contentious application for the facility, the company’s second conditional use application was met with no opposition from residents in attendance at Thursday’s public hearing in the municipal building.
The difference was a matter of distance. The Blossburg-based company withdrew its application in February for a 20-acre plot in Florence between Old Steubenville Pike and Route 22 after residents argued it was too close to their homes and the township park.
Now, Hydro Recovery hopes to build the facility on Route 18 across from Pepsi-Cola Roadhouse, which is farther from residents’ homes. Township supervisors plan to vote on the conditional use application at their next regular meeting at 7 p.m. April 17.
Company officials said the new proposed site would allow the company to avoid truck traffic issues that were anticipated for the Florence location. Residents living on Steubenville Pike worried about the potential dangers of 150 trucks traveling their street daily. Trucks would instead access the new proposed site from Route 18.
The proposed facility would include six double-containment storage tanks capable of storing up to 2.2 million gallons of water each. The frack water would be treated, recycled and sent via trucks back to well sites to be used again in the hydraulic fracturing process. No water would be discharged.
During the hearing, residents asked questions about the company’s protocol for rejecting trucks that contain unsuitable levels of radiation. A company official said the facility would not accept water into the facility that exceeded the allowable amount of radiation.
Supervisors said they would likely add a condition to the application that would require Hydro Recovery to notify the state Department of Environmental Protection if that occurred.
If the application is approved, Hydro Recovery must apply for a PennDOT highway occupancy permit and other necessary permits in order to proceed with the facility’s construction.