Cops target trucks hauling gas drill water

MATT HUGHES

mhughes@timesleader.com

LAKE TWP. – State police targeted tanker trucks hauling water to and from natural gas drilling sites in a three-day enforcement blitz Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

The enforcement effort, called FracNET, was carried out by the state police Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Teams in counties where natural gas drilling has taken hold, including Bradford, Wyoming, Susquehanna and Luzerne.

In Luzerne County, state troopers and a state police motor carrier enforcement officer set up a check point on state Route 118 near the intersection with state Route 29.

“(State route) 118 is heavily used by commercial vehicles, some of them try to elude the waypoints on the interstate,” state police Trooper Tom Kelly said. “We’re letting the drivers in the industry know that we’re everywhere. We’re not just on the interstates. We’re on these rural roads too.”

Traffic was slow between 11 a.m. and noon, when state police invited the media to watch inspections. Only two trucks were stopped, neither hauling waste water, with one citation issued to a driver with a flat tire.

The enforcement effort was concentrated in the coverage areas of five barracks in the region where gas drilling has been most prevalent. Kelly, of Wyoming-based Troop P, said his unit spends much of its time in Bradford County, where gas drilling and hydraulic fracturing has been up and running for several years.

The hydraulic fracturing process requires about 6,800 truck trips to haul water to and from a well site.

Kelly also said the effort sought to educate drivers, as much as to catch offenders.

“A lot of drivers are from out-of-state, and they don’t know all the rules we have in Pennsylvania,” Kelly said, adding that more local drivers have been added as drilling has increased in the region.

Information about how many vehicles were stopped during this week’s effort was not available Wednesday.

During the first FracNET enforcement effort held June 14 through 16, state police inspected 1,137 trucks. Of those, 166 were inspected by state police at Wyoming. Of the 250 vehicles placed out of service during that effort, 131 were trucks hauling waste water from drill sites. Waste water truckers were issued 669 traffic citations and 818 written warnings.

Jim Fowler, director of safety for Pittston-based trucking firm Calex Express Inc., said that, though his company is not involved in hauling for the natural gas industry, he supports the effort.

Fowler said that hauling fluids, like water, adds extra danger because fluids shift and push the truck during braking and cornering, and that the effect of this movement is exacerbated on local roads, where corners are sharper and trucks must stop more frequently and suddenly.