Solving an older environmental problem while also reducing a current environmental concern is a something worth supporting. In addressing acid mine drainage and fracking, Winner Water Services is addressing two problems with one solution.

Orange-colored creeks are the visual reminder of old coal mining techniques and weak regulation that left old mines seeping toxic runoff that has decimated aquatic life in thousands of miles of Pennsylvania streams and rivers. In recent years, there’s been progress in cleaning up some streams so that fish can return.

Hoping to accelerate the clean-up of streams damaged by mine runoff, Sharon-based Winner set up a water filtration demonstration plant in Clinton Township capable of cleaning 100 gallons of acid mine water per minute. The purified water is not drinking-water clean, but it’s useable for fracking. The idea is to decontaminate acid mine drainage water and use it for fracking so the natural gas industry will use less fresh water. Fracking can use anywhere from two million to eight million gallons of water per well.

The science behind Winner’s acid mine treatment process, featured in Sunday’s Butler Eagle, is the result of the company’s partnership with Battelle, a national nonprofit applied science and technology company. Battelle is based in Columnbus, Ohio, but has research facilities and affiliated operations across the country that work on environmental science, national security, energy and health science issues. Its scientists and engineers tackle major challenges for governmental agencies as well as private companies.

Winner’s filtration system uses HydroFlex technology, which was developed by Battelle. The company’s involvement started with the environmental concerns of Jim Winner, founder of the company best known for selling the anti-theft device known as The Club. Winner’s desire to do something to clean up Pennsylvania’s streams polluted by acid mine drainage led to the creation of the water treatment company and the association with Battelle.

Cleaning up the toxic byproduct of old coal mines while at the same time reducing the environmental impact of gas production by cutting fresh water use in fracking shows a creative approach. Battelle has developed other technologies to treat fracking water fluid that flows back after the layers of shale are separated to allow the gas to escape.

Battelle is not alone in working to reduce the environmental impact of fracking. Other companies are developing technologies to recycle used fracking fluids so that most of the water can be reused for additional well frackings. Reducing methane leaks at wells and in pipelines is the focus of some new companies in the field, while others are working to reduce flaring, the burning off of gas produced when fracking shale to release oil, commonly seen in North Dakota’s oil fields. These and other technological efforts can and will make fracking safer while also reducing its impact on the environment. New technologies will make gas prodution safer, just as nuclear energy is being made safer by learning from system or design flaws that were revealed in accidents at Three Mile Island and Fukushima, Japan.

As much as some people would like to simply stop fracking, that’s not going to happen. Market forces, such as lower prices for oil or gas, might slow the industry, but using fracking and horizontal drilling to release oil and gas trapped in shale has been a game changer, turning the United States into a world leader in energy production. Environmentalists might have more impact by pressing for technologies to make fracking safer for human health and the environment. Other efforts should focus on better regulations, as well as effective enforcement, to avoid a repeat of something like acid mine drainage that costs taxpayers to clean up while the companies that did the damage are long gone.