CITIZEN POWER ALLIANCE

The city of Auburn is banning natural gas-drilling wastewater from its treatment plant.
City councilors voted Thursday to stop the city’s practice of accepting the chemical-laced wastewater from hydraulic fracturing of gas wells. The city has been under pressure from the Cayuga Anti-Fracking Alliance to enact the ban.

Environmental groups say the wastewater poses a threat to water supplies. They say it contains high concentrations of salt and cancer-causing petroleum agents that the city’s treatment plant isn’t equipped to remove.

The city had projected to receive $600,000 over the next year by accepting the waste at its treatment plant. Federal and state regulators permit the city plant to accept and process water from natural gas wells.

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