Eureka Resources, LLC, announced Monday May 21, 2012 that it will construct a world-class centralized wastewater treatment facility in Standing Stone Township, Bradford County, Pa., to treat wastewater generated during development of oil and gas wells in the Marcellus and Utica Shale.

Plans for the facility include installation of Eureka's industry-leading treatment process that allows for recycling of Marcellus and Utica shale water for use at future well sites as well as a concentrated brine crystallizer to allow for beneficial reuse of valuable byproducts that can be extracted from the water.

"Bradford County saw more drilling activity than any other Pennsylvania county last year," said Eureka's Chief Executive Officer Dan Ertel.  "This facility will provide gas producers in this area with a treatment option that is closer to home and helps reduce the number of trucks needed for off-site disposal and their associated costs, noise and pollution."

The facility will be constructed in two phases.  Phase 1, expected to be completed by year-end 2012, will include pretreatment and bulk storage tank systems capable of pretreatment of 10,000 barrels per day of multiple fluids, including drilling muds, flow back water and produced water.  The treated water will be trucked offsite for reuse by gas well developers, temporarily stored onsite for reuse later, or disposed of through Eureka's existing Williamsport, Pa., facility.   

Phase 2 will include construction of a concentrated brine crystallizer that will allow Eureka to provide advanced treatment of the pretreated effluent.  The first such facility to process highly concentrated brine for reuse from Marcellus wastewater in Pennsylvania, the crystallizer unit will generate solid-phase crystallized salt cake, concentrated liquid brine purge stream and distilled water, depending on the needs of the oil and gas operator. Completion of Phase 2 is expected in the third quarter of 2013.

"Not only will this facility provide another reuse option for Marcellus wastewater, it will also reduce the need for the disposal of concentrated brine, which typically has been trucked to injection wells in Ohio," Mr. Ertel said.  "The highly concentrated brine will be reusable in the natural gas and hydro fracturing industry, and the remaining waste after the crystallization process may be disposed of in landfills as solid waste."

The proposed facility will operate 24-hours per day, seven days per week and will employ approximately 16 full-time employees.

Eureka is obtaining the necessary regulatory approvals and permits to construct the facility.  The Company already holds a WMGR123 permit from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection Bureau of Waste Management to treat oil and gas wastewater.

The Company's Williamsport, Pa., wastewater treatment plant has been operating since 2008 and has undergone multiple upgrades to add more capabilities.  It is the only facility treating Marcellus wastewater that meets the Pennsylvania DEP's stringent standards for discharge into the state's rivers or streams.

"Eureka continues to lead the industry in wastewater treatment," Mr. Ertel said.  "Our first centralized treatment plant in Williamsport is a truly world-class facility and is the only plant that meets Pennsylvania DEP's latest upgraded standards that enable Eureka's ultra clean effluent to be stored and transported again as fresh water. In fact, Eureka is the only company that can treat and return water to the customer that is considered dewasted and can be stored and handled as such.  We plan to bring those same high standards to the Standing Stone facility."