The shale gas boom in Northeast Ohio has created a demand for seamless steel pipes, re-opening the door for Youngstown, Ohio's steel industry, which has been defunct for 34 years, says an article in Bloomberg Business Week ("Gas Boom Has Youngstown Making Steel Again"). V&M Star will open a brand new, $65 Million steel mill in order to meet the growing demand, creating 350 new jobs.

The article also cited a study that calculated a potential for 200,000 new jobs and $22 billion economic output in Ohio by 2015 due to increasing steel demand. Meanwhile, states across the country are working to increase the number of jobs related to hydraulic fracturing in order to maximize the potential of the shale gas economic boom. For example, government officials in Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia are courting Royal Dutch Shell, who is planning to construct a new processing plant in one of the three states, which would create more business and more jobs.

This news follows the announcement that regulators have placed a moratorium on injection wells near Youngstown used to dispose of frac-water due to recent earthquakes. It seems likely that, for the shale gas boom to continue its regional growth, frac-water recycling will become a priority.  

PWAbsorbents, Inc. is actively working on shale gas sites in the region to recycle frac-flowback water, and we would welcome the opportunity to work with other companies who are joining in the local shale gas industry's growth. Read more about PWA's water recycling solutions.