Canada: The Lafarge cement plant near Brookfield, Nova Scotia has been deemed a 'viable disposal solution' for getting rid of treated hydraulic fracturing wastewater being held in storage ponds at Atlantic Industrial Services (AIS) in Debert, Nova Scotia.
The pilot project, which was approved in April 2013 by the Nova Scotia Department of Environment, permitted the transport of 2ML of treated wastewater from the AIS holding ponds for use as a coolant in the kiln at the Lafarge plant, where it was evaporated at 700°C.
"When I met with the community last April, I said that we would update people on the results of the pilot and making the results available online is a good way to keep everyone informed," said the Environment Minister Randy Delorey. "I'm pleased with the findings from the pilot. The results confirm that evaporation provides Nova Scotians with a viable disposal solution."
Before being evaporated in the kiln, the wastewater had been treated for naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORMS) and put through reverse osmosis. The water was analysed and it meets the Canadian Council of Environment Ministers and Health Canada guidelines for release into a freshwater source. As part of the project, Lafarge did water testing before, during and after evaporation. The tests showed comparable results for cooling water normally used by the plant from the nearby Shortts Lake.
AIS is now requesting approval to remove and treat another five million litres of the waste water at the Lafarge plant. A decision is expected from the department in the near future and, if approved, any terms and conditions would be the same as the pilot project, requiring dual treatment of the wastewater before evaporation.
Approximately 10ML of wastewater remains in two ponds at the AIS site. Triangle Petroleum also has 20ML of wastewater in two holdings ponds in Kennetcook, Nova Scotia. The wastewater at both areas is from high-pressure hydraulic fracturing that took place in 2007 and 2008.
