Evaluating a groundwater supply contamination incident attributed to Marcellus Shale gas development

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

Volumn 112, Issue 20, 2015, Pages 6325-6330

  Llewellyn, Garth T ^a   Dorman, Frank ^b   Westland, J L ^b   Yoxtheimer, D ^b   Grieve, Paul ^b   Sowers, Todd ^b   Humston Fulmer, E ^c   Brantley, Susan L ^b  

^a Appalachia Hydrogeologic and Environmental Consulting LLC   (United States)

^b PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY   (United States)

^c LECO CORPORATION   (United States)

Author keywords

High volume hydraulic fracturing; Marcellus Shale; Natural gas; Shale gas; Water quality

Indexed keywords

2 BUTOXYETHANOL; DRINKING WATER; GROUND WATER; NATURAL GAS; ORGANIC COMPOUND; WATER POLLUTANT;

AQUIFER; ARTICLE; FOAM; GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY; HOUSEHOLD; PRIORITY JOURNAL; TIME OF FLIGHT MASS SPECTROMETRY; UNITED STATES; WASTE WATER; WATER CONTAMINATION; WATER QUALITY; ANALYSIS; CHEMISTRY; GEOGRAPHIC AND GEOLOGICAL PHENOMENA; MASS FRAGMENTOGRAPHY; MINING; PENNSYLVANIA; PROCEDURES; WATER FLOW; WATER POLLUTANT; WATER SUPPLY;

EXTRACTION AND PROCESSING INDUSTRY; GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY-MASS SPECTROMETRY; GEOLOGICAL PHENOMENA; GROUNDWATER; NATURAL GAS; PENNSYLVANIA; WATER MOVEMENTS; WATER POLLUTANTS, CHEMICAL; WATER SUPPLY;

EID: 84929439273     PISSN: 00278424     EISSN: 10916490     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1420279112     Document Type: Article

References (33)

1. MIT (2011) The Future of Natural Gas (MIT, Cambridge, MA).
2. Engelder T (2011) Should fracking stop? No, it's too valuable. Nature 477:272-275.
3. Arthur MA, Cole DR (2014) Unconventional hydrocarbon resources: Prospects and problems. Elements 10(4):257-264.
4. Blumsack S (2014) Dash for gas, 21st-century style! Elements 10(4):265-270.
5. King GE (2012) Hydraulic Fracturing 101: What Every Representative, Environmentalist, Regulator, Reporter, Investor, University Researcher, Neighbor and Engineer Should Know About Estimating Frac Risk and Improving Frac Performance in Unconventional Gas and Oil Wells (Soc Petrol Eng, Richardson, TX), Pap 152596.
6. Vidic RD, Brantley SL, Vandenbossche JM, Yoxtheimer D, Abad JD (2013) Impact of shale gas development on regional water quality. Science 340(6134):1235009.
7. Entrekin S, Evans-White M, Johnson B, Hagenbuch E (2011) Rapid expansion of natural gas development poses a threat to surface waters. Front Ecol Environ 9(9):503-511.
8. Wilson JM, VanBriesen JM (2012) Oil and gas produced water management and surface drinking water sources in Pennsylvania. Environ Pract 14(4):288-300.
9. Osborn SG, Vengosh A, Warner NR, Jackson RB (2011) Methane contamination of drinking water accompanying gas-well drilling and hydraulic fracturing. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 108(20):8172-8176.
10. Brantley SL, et al. (2014) Water resource impacts during unconventional shale gas development: The Pennsylvania experience. Int J Coal Geol 126:140-156.
11. Darrah TH, Vengosh A, Jackson RB, Warner NR, Poreda RJ (2014) Noble gases identify the mechanisms of fugitive gas contamination in drinking-water wells overlying the Marcellus and Barnett Shales. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 111(39):14076-14081.
12. Jackson RB, et al. (2014) The environmental costs and benefits of fracking. Annu Rev Environ Resour 12(18):327-362.
13. Breen KJ, Revesz K, Baldassare FJ, McAuley SD (2007) Natural Gases in Ground Water near Tioga Junction, Tioga County, North-Central Pennsylvania-Occurrence and Use of Isotopes to Determine Origins, 2005 (US Geol Surv, Reston, VA) Sci Invest Rep 2007-5085.
14. Revesz KM, Breen KJ, Baldassare FJ, Burruss RC (2010) Carbon and hydrogen isotopic evidence for the origin of combustible gases in water-supply wells in north-central Pennsylvania. Appl Geochem 25:1845-1859.
15. Molofsky LJ, Connor JA, Farhat SK, Wylie AS, Jr, Wagner T (2011) Methane in Pennsylvania water wells unrelated to Marcellus shale fracturing Oil Gas Dev 109(19):54-67.
16. Baldassare FJ, McCaffrey MA, Harper JA (2014) A geochemical context for stray gas investigations in the northern Appalachian Basin: Implications of analyses of natural gases from Neogene-through Devonian-age strata. AAPG Bull 98(2):341-372.
17. General provision for well construction and operation, The Pennsylvania Code, Chapter 25, Sect. 78.73(c) (1989).
18. Llewellyn G (2014) Evidence and mechanisms for Appalachian Basin brine migration into shallow aquifers in NE Pennsylvania, U.S.A. Hydrogeol J 22(5):1055-1066.
19. Warner NR, et al. (2012) Geochemical evidence for possible natural migration of Marcellus Formation brine to shallow aquifers in Pennsylvania. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 109(30):11961-11966.
20. Poth CW (1962) The occurrence of brine in western Pennsylvania. Pa Geol Surv Bull M47:1-53.
21. Dresel E (1985) The geochemistry of oilfield brines from western Pennsylvania, MSc thesis (Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA).
22. Osborn SG, McIntosh JC (2010) Chemical and isotopic tracers of the contributions of microbial gas in Devonian organic-rich shales and reservoir sandstones, northern Appalachian Basin. Appl Geochem 25(20):456-471.
23. Hayes TD (2009) Sampling and Analysis of Water Streams Associated with the Development of Marcellus Shale Gas. Final Report Prepared for the Marcellus Shale Coaliton (Gas Technol Inst, Des Plaines, IL).
24. Kelley D, DeBor D, Malanchak J, Anderson D (1973) Subsurface brine analyses of Pennsylvania from deep formations, OFR 73-02 (Pa Bur Topogr Geol Surv, Harrisburg, PA).
25. Haluszcak LO, Rose AW, Kump LR (2013) Geochemical evaluation of flowback brine from Marcellus gas wells in Pennsylvania, USA. Applied Geochemistry 28(2013):55-61.
26. Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (2010) Frac and flowback water analyses (Pa Dep Environ Prot, Harrisburg, PA). Available at www.shalenetwork.org.
27. Molofsky LJ, Connor JA, Wylie AS, Wagner T, Farhat SK (2013) Evaluation of methane sources in groundwater in northeastern Pennsylvania. Ground Water 51(3):333-349.
28. Lea JF, Nickens HV, Wells M (2008) Gas Well Deliquification (Elsevier, New York).
29. US Environmental Protection Agency (2012) Study of the Potential Impacts of Hydraulic Fracturing on Drinking Water Resources: Progress Report (US Environ Prot Agency, Washington, DC), EPA 601/R-12/011.
30. Leenheer JA, Noyes TI, Stuber HA (1982) Determination of polar organic solutes in oilshale retort water. Environ Sci Technol 16(10):714-723.
31. Engelder T (2012) Capillary tension and imbibition sequester frack fluid in Marcellus gas shale. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 109(52):E3625, and author reply (2012) 109(52):E3626.
32. Gorody AW (2012) Factors affecting the variability of stray gas concentration and composition in groundwater. Environ Geosci 19(1):17-31.
33. U.S. House of Representatives Committee of Energy and Commerce Minority Staff (2011) Chemicals Used in Hydraulic Fracturing (US House Rep, Washington, DC).