Has there been talk that a Class II Wastewater Disposal facility is going to be built in your community? Maybe you’ve seen a notice that a public hearing (like the one that went out last year for our Pennsylvania facility) will be held to determine whether an oil and gas company will be issued a permit.
If so, you’re likely hearing all sorts of different things about wastewater disposal and Class II Injection facilities. 
Maybe things like it’s the same thing as fracking. Or that Class II Injection Wells cause earthquakes. Maybe someone’s told you that they will contaminate your community’s water sources.
We hope to answer all these questions – and more – in our posts over the coming months. But in today’s post, we’re going to answer one of the biggest questions you probably have. What is Class II Wastewater Disposal?
What is Class II Wastewater Disposal?
Oil, natural gas, and brine, a very salty mineralized type of water, are found together in the earth’s crust. During oil and natural gas production, brine is brought up from deep within the Earth to its surface. Though brine is naturally-occurring deep within the Earth, it isn’t present in our fresh underground water sources or surface water.
As a result, it can’t simply be dumped into rivers, oceans, or streams. It requires special processing before being introduced into the ecosystem or it can be returned to the parts of the earth from where it came.
Class II Disposal Wells are a special class of EPA regulated wastewater injection wells that allow brine, oil and gas production fluids to be returned to the formations from which they came. Basically, Class II Injection Wells recognize that the best way to handle oil and gas wastewater is to put it back into oil and gas bearing formations – where it occurs naturally.
Class II Injection is the Preferred Way to Safely Dispose of Wastewater
Class II Wastewater Disposal Wells (also referred to as Class II Injection Wells) are the preferred way to dispose of the brine that’s produced from the Earth during oil and gas production. Simply put, Class II Wastewater Disposal returns this production fluid back into the Earth where it originally came from.
Injection wells are drilled deep below the Earth’s surface and constructed using several layers of protective steel and cement sheathing, called casing. They take advantage of the naturally porous rock formations that once held oil and gas to keep it sealed between layers of impermeable rock, protecting our sources of drinking water.
We hope this post shed some light on what Class II Wastewater Disposal is and some of the questions you might have about it. If you’d like more information about Class II Wastewater Disposal, check out our FAQs.
We hope this post shed some light on what Class II Wastewater Disposal is and some of the questions you might have about it. If you’d like more information about Class II Wastewater Disposal, check out our FAQs.
Have a question you’d like answered about Class II Injection Wells?
Let us know in the comments below!