The move comes in response to a July 23 letter from the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection establishing a long list of pollutants of concern in oil and gas-related wastewaters.

"The wastewaters from these types of operations contain high levels of chloride, dissolved solid, sulfate and other pollutants," the letter reads. "(Publicly owned treatment works) provide little to no treatment of these pollutants and could potentially lead to water quality issues in the receiving stream."

The DEP listed more than 40 pollutants of concern, including several forms of radiation.

"Those are parameters that they suspect or anticipate are in Marcellus water, and they want to make sure the levels that are in there are at concentrations that we can deal with -- or show that they're at levels we can't deal with," said plant Superintendent Bill Goodwin.

The Clarksburg wastewater treatment plant has been accepting about 37,000 gallons per day of gas well drilling brine from Energy Contractors in a trial that began last fall, according to Goodwin.

After receiving the DEP letter, the sanitary board elected to stop taking the brine until Energy Contractors has the water tested, Goodwin said. Laboratory analysis for all of the pollutants of concern would cost the company about $1,000, he said.

Energy Contractors did not return a call for this story.

If the company does the tests and the sanitary board decides to take steps to accept the brine, the DEP is requiring the board to write appropriate local limits into the city's sewer use ordinance and to issue an industrial pretreatment permit to Energy Contractors.

That permit likely would include a monthly or biweekly sampling regime, Goodwin said.

Accepting 37,000 gallons per day brings in $200,000 to $300,000 a year for the treatment plant, Goodwin said, a significant part of the annual budget.