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Some Eye Financial Windfall In Treating Fracking Wastewater

 

The council majority, led by then- Chairman Sam Fruscione, in 2012, passed an ordinance that made the treatment of fracking waste water in Niagara Falls illegal.
Paul Drof.
Mayor Paul Dyster has never flatly  said he opposes treating fracking waste water in Niagara Falls.

The Cuomo Administration recently took the drama out of the New York State fracking deliberations by announcing that the governor will step back and take a year or two to reassess the feasibility of allowing hydraulic fracturing in the state. (Editor's Note: Position Subject to Change)

What does that delay mean as far as the possibility of Niagara Falls becoming a frack wastewater treatment center?

Nothing.

That's because the city's wastewater facility could accept frack wastewater from Ohio and Pennsylvania if the state DEC allows it.

When the City Council passed the ordinance last March against accepting, handling or treating frack wastewater, the Water Board immediately threatened to sue the council. That threat remains very much alive because in order to make fracking wastewater treatment a reality in the city, the Water Board would have to defeat the current city ordinance prohibiting it.

There is a definite belief among some members of the Water Board that treating fracking water will be immensely profitable, and that they can discharge the treated fracking waste water with minimal pollution into the Niagara River.

Last year, former board member Mike McNally said that fracking waste water has less poisonous chemicals than some of the out-of-state waste they are already treating and discharging into the river.

Water Board Executive Director Paul Drof told the Reporter that while treating industrial waste never eliminates all poisonous chemicals, it eliminates enough to meet DEC regulations before going into the river where people in Niagara Falls get their drinking water.

Does Dyster Want Frack Wastewater Treated in the Falls?

The Niagara Falls Water Board has members that are obviously interested in treating frack wastewater.
In fact they threatened to sue the council for banning the idea

Is their support altruistic? Do they think that it will be good financially for the city?

Or is it because, behind the scenes, there are those who stand to make a fortune from it and have offered the members something of value to get it accomplished?

Will the residents of Niagara Falls reap the profits from treating frack wastewater or just get to drink the added poisonous chemicals?

Meanwhile, informed sources tell us that Paul Dyster and Water Board Executive Director Drof meet privately and on a regular basis at the Water Board. While it may be innocent enough, these sources tell us that they cannot think of any reasonable explanation as to why the mayor and Drof would have a need to meet so often and at such length.

Suspicious persons might adopt a notion that Dyster and Drof are talking about something Drof is clearly interested in: pushing for the treatment of hydraulic fracturing wastewater.

Is it possible that Dyster's anonymous Buffalo handlers are giving him his marching orders on fracking?

 

 

Niagara Falls Reporter - Publisher Frank Parlato Jr. www.niagarafallsreporter.com

Mar19 , 2013