December 2019 was a busy month for Milestone Environmental Services, which opened its newest slurry injection facility in the prolific Permian Basin. The company also inaugurated its first oilfield waste landfill.
The Big Spring, Texas, slurry injection facility in Howard County serves the northern Midland Basin and is located 8 miles north of Big Spring, near the intersection of US Highway 87 and FM 1584.
The Big Spring facility, Milestone’s eighth slurry injection facility in Texas and fifth in the Permian Basin, is now accepting drilling, completion, and production waste streams, as well as providing full-service truck washouts and frac tank washouts.
The opening of Milestone’s Big Spring facility comes on the heels of a successful opening of its first landfill facility in Orla, Texas earlier in December. Big Spring is the second of three facilities in Milestone’s previously announced 2019 construction plan and is the continuation of a multi-year infrastructure development plan to build the largest, most environmentally conscious oilfield waste disposal network in the Permian Basin.
“Delivering on our promise, Milestone is committed to positioning our facilities nearby our customers in order to provide them with a cost-efficient and environmentally responsible option for their oilfield waste disposal needs,” said Gabriel Rio, Milestone Environmental Services president and chief executive officer. “Our newest facility in Big Spring is conveniently located in close proximity to rig sites in the northern Midland Basin, addressing the demand for waste disposal solutions in this high-producing area.”
Vacuum truckloads of oil-based and water-based muds, flowback, tank bottoms, dirty water, and produced water are now being accepted, and the site is operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
First landfill
Milestone’s new Orla landfill began accepting drill cuttings, contaminated soils, and other RCRA-exempt E&P waste materials approved for landfill disposal on Dec 9, 2019. The Orla facility is in Reeves County on FM-652, 5 miles northeast of the town of Orla, and 12 miles from the New Mexico state line, in the heart of the Delaware Basin. A second oilfield waste landfill in Upton County will open in the first quarter of 2020.
Milestone Environmental officials said they are the first oilfield waste disposal company to offer co-located slurry injection and landfill disposal services. This combination allows the company to dispose of liquid and solid oilfield waste streams in the most efficient and environmentally secure manner available.
“This is an exciting time for both Milestone and our customers in the Permian Basin region,” Rio said. “Our ability to handle all oilfield waste streams allows us to provide a more fulsome service for our customers, while staying true to our commitment of keeping the environment safe and unaffected by the wastes we manage.
“Our new state-of-the-art landfill ensures the highest environmental integrity, delivering peace of mind, as well as a secure, dependable, and long-term waste disposal option for E&P operators. Our expansion into solid waste disposal, a direct response to customer requests, further strengthens Milestone’s portfolio of services. I am proud to say that even while the oilfield has slowed somewhat, Milestone continues to grow.”
Acquisition growth
In mid-2019, Milestone announced the acquisition of an asset package containing three leases and four injection permits located in Howard County, Texas.
This acquisition gave Milestone an additional 155,000 barrels per day of permitted injection capacity, with the ability to interconnect receiving points and injection wells as a single, integrated, production waste management network in the northern Midland Basin. The move provides Milestone an attractive opportunity to focus its advanced injection and development expertise on the production waste streams of the Permian.
“Water disposal infrastructure is a valuable and natural complement to our existing business, which builds on our deep injection experience, superior operating record, and blue chip customer base,” Rio said.
Milestone has been a premium provider of oilfield waste disposal for more than 25 years. The company is headquartered in Houston, Texas, and currently operates seven oilfield waste disposal locations in the Permian Basin, Eagle Ford Shale, and Haynesville Shale.