Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Underground Injection Wells topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Committee considers bill to allow commercial hazardous-waste underground injection wells; in-state-use amendment adopted
Summary
A Mississippi committee heard testimony that the bill would let commercial operators use underground injection technology to dispose of certain industrial liquid waste locally; lawmakers adopted an amendment limiting use to waste generated by facilities located in Mississippi.
The committee considered legislation to permit commercial underground injection wells for certain liquid industrial wastes, with proponents saying the change would prevent small businesses from paying to ship the same waste out of state.
The chair opened the presentation saying Mississippi currently prohibits commercial hazardous-waste injection wells but allows captive, on-site injection, and that the bill’s purpose is to reduce the costs that force businesses to ship waste to Alabama, Louisiana, Arkansas and Texas. “Currently, Mississippi prohibits commercial hazardous waste underground injection wells. It allows companies to inject the same wastewater on their own property using that same technology,” the chair said.
Retired DEQ engineer Richard Harrell, testifying as a regional engineering consultant, told the panel the bill seeks to ‘‘clean up some old legislation and a court case against Mississippi’’ and would not permit radioactive or nuclear waste. He said the target streams include industrial liquid wastes such as metal‑finishing and phosphating operations that now must ship out of state. “This would not be allowed (nuclear/radioactive),” Harrell said.
Committee members pressed on capacity, permitting and safety. Witnesses and proponents noted there are many existing class 2 oil-and-gas disposal wells in the state (1,243, per testimony), four class 1 nonhazardous wells and four class 1 hazardous wells, and that any facility taking commercial hazardous waste would require permitting changes by the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ).
A committee amendment from Senator Williams that would limit use of the wells to waste generated by facilities located in Mississippi passed by voice vote. Williams framed the amendment as an effort to ‘‘take our own garbage’’ rather than open the state to out‑of‑state waste. The chair moved to report the bill with that amendment.
The committee did not adopt a detailed numeric permitting change on the record; proponents noted permitting remains required and that site selection would be restricted by geology and the long permitting timeline.
