Update: DEP report suggests that 8,400 of 11,400 gallons of spilled fracking waste recovered, shares outline for three Eureka facilities cleanup, closure

In a Sept. 11, 2025, inspection report by the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) of the Eureka Services' Second Street facility where an Aug. 17 spill led to fracking wastewater working its way out of a storage container, through a building and eventually into the nearby Susquehanna River's West Branch, the agency claims that 8,424 gallons of fluid has been recovered via cleanup efforts since the incident was reported.

The report suggests that "basically all of the oil that was captured within the building has now been collected and tallied."

Also according to the report, the facility has calculated that 11,430 gallons of fracking waste was released from the N3 tank during the spill, meaning that 3,000 gallons have not been recovered. DEP states in the report that it hasn't reviewed the spill total calculations, so these numbers "should be treated as preliminary estimates."

According to a series of released inspection reports from DEP, the N3 tank sampling port that failed has been replaced with a permanent plug. 

DEP has issued administrative orders to Eureka to remove all waste from all three of its facilities (Second Street, Williamsport, Catawissa Avenue, Williamsport and Standing Stone Township, Bradford County). Fluids must all be removed and disposed of or recycled properly, meeting all necessary regulations. 

Eureka did develop a written plan and timeline to meet this objective from all facilities within 60 days, according to information released by DEP communications manager Megan Lehman on Sept. 12, 2025. The proposed timeline, which was approved by DEP, includes:

​Per information provided from Lehman, Eureka plans "on executing ‘clean closure’ type operations as part of this effort, with the ultimate goal being to execute facility closure in compliance with all pertinent regulatory requirements. No residual waste will be left in place at the three facilities following this process."

Reportedly, closure operations will be conducted with criteria set forth in Section C6 of the WMGR123 Residual Waste General Permit. Eureka "will manage and provide oversight of removal of all residual waste materials associated with the activities authorized under WMGR123 at each of the three facilities."

According to the plans provided from Eureka to DEP (and shared via Lehman in an email on Sept. 12), removal of residual waste materials from storage tanks and/or process vessels with involve use of the following operations:

• "Usage of existing pumps/piping and bulk transfer facilities to transfer liquid waste from interior and exterior storage tanks to permitted, subcontracted truck transports."
• "Usage of existing pumps/piping and bulk transfer facilities to transfer as much of the solids residuals in storage tanks and/or process vessels to permitted, subcontracted truck transports, as possible."
• "For those solids residuals that cannot be pumped, physical removal will be used using mechanical equipment, vacuum trucks, etc. This process may involve removal of tank sidewalls to provide access to tank interiors."

According to the report, following removal of liquid waste and solids residuals, all tanks used for management of residual waste will be cleaned via pressure washing. All wash water will be collected and transported offsite for disposal.

"The ultimate fate of the waste materials removed from the facilities will be a combination of transport of liquid waste for reuse at permitted upstream oil and gas operations, and disposal of the sludge residual materials and/or wash water at permitted landfill facilities. Bulking of may be required at permitted landfill facilities to comply with waste acceptance requirements."

The clean closure documentation from Eureka to DEP as relayed by Lehman can be seen here.

Inspection report of the Second Street facility include:
Sept. 11, 2025
Sept. 9, 2025
Sept. 5, 2025
Sept. 4, 2025
Sept. 2, 2025

Check out previous posts from our association based on updates from DEP and our assessments using the following links:

• Williamsport spill update (9/2): DEP shares new inspection reports, files Administrative Order for Eureka's Bradford County facility
  
• ​Riverkeeper column: Five observations about the Williamsport river spill situation as we continue to monitor things 10 days after the first report (Aug. 27, 2025)
  

• ​Aug. 22, 2025: Regional DEP provides end-of-week statement, inspection reports, other updates on Williamsport spill situation
• August 21, 2025: More than 1.3 million gallons of wastewater stored at Williamsport facility in tanks without required alarms among violations DEP issued 10 days prior to river spill
• August 20, 2025: Riverkeeper update: Initial radioactivity scan shows no elevated levels, but oily residue still prevalent near Williamsport river spill site
• August 19, 2025: Riverkeeper: Play it safe and avoid recreational use of river below Williamsport dam as spill cleanup continues