Texas frack treatment co. sets up in Canonsburg, Eighty-Four
Neptune Solutions Co. President Alex Gonzalez stands in front of one of the trailers that houses the equipment that treats water used in hydraulic fracturing from oil and natural gas drilling. Neptune Solutions Co. recently opened its doors in Eighty Four.
Alex Gonzalez stands in the pump room that uses chlorine dioxide for a biocide that treats water. Neptune Solutions Co. started in Texas, but the headquarters is now in Eighty Four.
Alex Gonzalez started a water solutions company in West Texas – where nature provides few water solutions. It’s arid with minimal rain.
While relocating the Neptune Solutions Co. headquarters to Eighty Four in recent months, he and a number of employees have gained a keen appreciation for what Western Pennsylvania has over the region from whence they came: hills, precip, greenery and a distinct lack of dust.
“We’re all West Texans, but we love your area,” Neptune’s president said with a grin. “We love everything that’s green. It’s beautiful, and the fall is fantastic.”
Then the extent of that affection came out.
“In fact, we love your winters.”
A number of locals despise winter, of course, but Gonzalez is thrilled to be operating on 84 Drive in South Strabane Township, in the belly of the Marcellus beast. His year-old company treats water that oil and natural gas drilling companies use for hydraulic fracturing.
For now, Neptune is partnering with one company, Pittsburgh-based EQT Corp., which likewise is emphasizing green. But Gonzalez’s firm is on the lookout for other clients.
“We came here to work only with EQT, but we’re now reaching out to other companies,” said Gonzalez, a fifth-generation Texan and new Canonsburg resident.
“Our goal for now is to provide a reliable and safe green technology to treat water before fracks and after fracks – at a reasonable price. We also want to help Pennsylvania reduce truck traffic (due to transportation of frack water) and to work with the (state Department of Environmental Protection) on finding alternatives to disposing of water.”
His firm is global, but with an American accent, operating currently in the United States, Canada and South America. Expansion is part of its blueprint, though.
“Everyone wants to grow – grow and diversify,” said Gonzalez, who worked in renewable energy for four years before going out on his own with Neptune in 2014. He has been treating and recycling water for five years.
Neptune – named after the Roman god of fresh water and the sea – was established in Fort Stockton, Texas. It has 36 employees, down from 50 because of the declining price of natural gas and the accompanying decrease in production.
“We’ve made adjustments,” Gonzalez said, acknowledging that when prices rise, so may the number on the payroll.
Four of Alex and Carol Gonzalez’s eight children are on that payroll. The other four are at colleges in the Lone Star State.
The company is leasing six-plus acres at its new site, an industrial complex across Route 136 from North Strabane and about three-quarters of a mile east of SpringHouse Country Market and Restaurant. It moved in less than two months ago, affording little time to establish visibility. Signage, featuring the pitchfork-like Neptune symbol, is sparse.
For now, Neptune has two buildings, including a house that serves as the corporate offices, and a gazebo. There also are eight mobile units, trailer-like structures that hold the equipment that is used to treat water.
They are large and cost $300,000 to $400,000 apiece, Gonzalez said. Each has a lab, a clean environment with air coniditioning and heat where staffers work, and a pump room where, the firm’s president said, “water comes in, chemicals are mixed and biocide goes out.”
Neptune treats water with a biocide made with chlorine dioxide.
“That biocide, once made, is the best biocide to kill bacteria in the world today,” said Gonzalez, a Texas A&M grad who turned 54 last week. “It’s being used in 40 percent of the U.S. water supply. It’s used in wineries, breweries, hospitals. It is incredibly safe when used correctly. We use the same technology that’s used to treat water for New York City.”
Though he is no longer back home, Gonzalez has his company working there. He said Neptune has done 1,000 fracks in the Permian Basin, a bountiful energy formation in West Texas and southeastern New Mexico. The process there, he added, is not as challenging as it is Southwestern Pennsylvania.
“It’s easier to work in West Texas. Actually, it’s a cakewalk,” Gonzalez said. “There, the highways are straight. There are no hills.”
He pointed to another pronounced difference in fracking the two regions. “In West Texas, nothing is under containment. Here, everything is under containment.”
Then there is that other stark contrast – the winters. Which Alex Gonzalez prefers in his new hometown.
For more information, visit neptunesc.com. The phone is 1-855-672-6700.