Fracking water and waste: treating flowback is mandatory

Neuquén regulates the water cycle and the waste of unconventional activity with three chained rules. (1) Decreto 1483/12 (Annex XVI, regulating the environmental Ley 1875) requires a prior Environmental License for every project (art. 3); prohibits using groundwater fit for human consumption or irrigation in drilling and completion (art. 9); requires treating the return water (flowback) in its entirety until it meets the discharge parameters, with three possible destinations: reuse in the oil industry, reuse in irrigation tied to a productive or environmental recomposition project approved by the authority, or final disposal in a sink well (art. 10); prohibits discharging it into surface water bodies under any condition and storing it in open-air containers (art. 11), and requires waterproofed pits for completion water (art. 13). Its recitals add that every flowback-treatment methodology must be approved by the Environmental Authority before being applied verif. (2) Decreto 2263/15 classifies as special waste the flowback (Y9), drilling cuttings (Y13 and Y14), frac sand (Y10) and drilling muds (Y20); requires permanent treatment and final-disposal plants to be located outside the municipal district, 8 km or more from urban areas (art. 39), and requires their projects to be signed by professionals registered in the Provincial Registry of Environmental Service Providers (REPPSA) (art. 40) verif. (3) Disposición 585/22 of the Environmental Undersecretariat closes the circuit: its art. 1 establishes that «every reuse and disposal alternative for the output of treating Special Waste identified as Y8 (water with hydrocarbons) and Y9 (return/flowback water) must be authorized by the Competent Authority», and its art. 2 that this authorization is requested by the generator of the waste and is issued «upon prior accreditation of compliance with the parameters established in the Applicable Rules for the intended use»; its recitals repeat the three destinations of art. 10 of Decreto 1483/12 verif. That is, case-by-case authorization, with the burden of proof on the generator and tied to the intended use, not a generic clearance of the technology thesis. verif · 2012-2022 ↗

Decreto 1483/12 in force since 2012 (90 days after its publication); Decreto 2263/15 since November 2015; Provision SSA 585/22 since May 2022. verif · Aug 17, 2012 ↗

Shale and tight operators and concessionaires, who must treat all flowback and request case-by-case authorization to reuse or dispose of it; and, above all, the providers of water treatment, flowback management, cuttings disposal and environmental services: their permanent plants must be outside the municipal district and 8 km or more from urban areas, their projects must be signed by professionals registered in the provincial registry of environmental service providers, and their treatment methods need the environmental authority's approval prob. The rule generates forced and recurring demand, but with concrete authorization barriers thesis. prob · 2015-2026 ↗