Antero Closes Clearwater Facility to Re-evaluate Local Frack Water Processing

Lined storage pond represents an environmental risk

From an Article of WBOY News 12, Clarksburg, September 18, 2019

CLARKSBURG, W.Va. – Antero Resources has idled a $300 million water treatment facility on the Doddridge/Ritchie county line, company officials said Wednesday.

The shutdown of the Antero Clearwater Facility is being done so that Antero can do an evaluation of the facility, which has become necessary due to the current “low commodity price environment,” according to Al Schopp, Antero Chief Administrative Officer. The company will “look at all options to determine its cost effectiveness,” Schopp said.

The evaluation process has just begun, and there is no timeline for how long the idling could last, Schopp said. The shutdown will not affect Antero jobs, but subcontractors would have to make their own staffing decisions, Schopp said. No decisions on the long-term viability of the facility have been made, Schopp stressed.

While the facility is idled, water from the drilling process will either be blended with fresh water and reused or will be sent to injection wells, according to Schopp.

According to Antero’s website, the plant produces more than 41,000 barrels of fresh water per day and supports 25 permanent employees and 25 supply chain employees, while generating “significant” state and local tax revenue.

The facility’s aim is reduce truck traffic and, in turn, greenhouse gas emissions, Antero’s website said.

The Veolia company worked with Antero to build the facility, starting in 2015, and in 2017 announced that it had entered into an up-to-10-year, $70 million contract to operate the facility.

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REFERENCE: Veolia Awarded Significant Contract with Oil and Gas Operator Antero Resources to Showcase Broad Waste Collection, Treatment Expertise — PRESS RELEASE Businesswire, October 11, 2017