Increased stray gas abundance in a subset of drinking water wells near Marcellus shale gas extraction
Robert B. Jackson,Avner Vengosh,Thomas H. Darrah,Nathaniel R. Warner,Adrian Down,Robert J. Poreda,Stephen G. Osborn,Kaiguang Zhao,Jonathan D. Karr +8 more
TLDR
Overall, the data suggest that some homeowners living <1 km from gas wells have drinking water contaminated with stray gases, and distances to gas wells was the most significant factor for Pearson and Spearman correlation analyses.Abstract:
Horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing are transforming energy production, but their potential environmental effects remain controversial. We analyzed 141 drinking water wells across the Appalachian Plateaus physiographic province of northeastern Pennsylvania, examining natural gas concentrations and isotopic signatures with proximity to shale gas wells. Methane was detected in 82% of drinking water samples, with average concentrations six times higher for homes <1 km from natural gas wells (P = 0.0006). Ethane was 23 times higher in homes <1 km from gas wells (P = 0.0013); propane was detected in 10 water wells, all within approximately 1 km distance (P = 0.01). Of three factors previously proposed to influence gas concentrations in shallow groundwater (distances to gas wells, valley bottoms, and the Appalachian Structural Front, a proxy for tectonic deformation), distance to gas wells was highly significant for methane concentrations (P = 0.007; multiple regression), whereas distances to valley bottoms and the Appalachian Structural Front were not significant (P = 0.27 and P = 0.11, respectively). Distance to gas wells was also the most significant factor for Pearson and Spearman correlation analyses (P < 0.01). For ethane concentrations, distance to gas wells was the only statistically significant factor (P < 0.005). Isotopic signatures (δ13C-CH4, δ13C-C2H6, and δ2H-CH4), hydrocarbon ratios (methane to ethane and propane), and the ratio of the noble gas 4He to CH4 in groundwater were characteristic of a thermally postmature Marcellus-like source in some cases. Overall, our data suggest that some homeowners living <1 km from gas wells have drinking water contaminated with stray gases.read more
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
A Critical Review of the Risks to Water Resources from Unconventional Shale Gas Development and Hydraulic Fracturing in the United States
Avner Vengosh,Robert B. Jackson,Robert B. Jackson,Nathaniel R. Warner,Thomas H. Darrah,Andrew J. Kondash +5 more
TL;DR: Analysis of published data reveals evidence for stray gas contamination, surface water impacts in areas of intensive shale gas development, and the accumulation of radium isotopes in some disposal and spill sites.
Journal ArticleDOI
Desalination and reuse of high-salinity shale gas produced water: drivers, technologies, and future directions
Devin L. Shaffer,Laura H. Arias Chavez,Moshe Ben-Sasson,Santiago Romero-Vargas Castrillón,Ngai Yin Yip,Menachem Elimelech +5 more
TL;DR: It is found that desalination for reuse of produced water is technically feasible and can be economically relevant, however, because produced water management is primarily an economic decision, expanding desalinated for reuse is dependent on process and material improvements to reduce capital and operating costs.
Journal ArticleDOI
Natural gas from shale formation – The evolution, evidences and challenges of shale gas revolution in United States
TL;DR: The history of US shale gas in this article is divided into three periods and based on the change of oil price (i.e., the period before the 1970s oil crisis, the period from 1970s to 2000, and the period since 2000), the US has moved from being one of the world's biggest importers of gas to being selfsufficient in less than a decade, with the shale gas production increasing 12fold (from 2000 to 2010).
Journal ArticleDOI
Shale gas and non-aqueous fracturing fluids: Opportunities and challenges for supercritical CO2
Richard S. Middleton,J. William Carey,Robert P. Currier,Jeffrey D. Hyman,Qinjun Kang,Satish Karra,Joaquin Jimenez-Martinez,Mark L. Porter,Hari S. Viswanathan +8 more
TL;DR: In this paper, the benefits and drawbacks of using CO2 as a working fluid for shale gas production were analyzed using a combination of new experimental and modeling data at multiple scales, and the potential advantages of CO2 including enhanced fracturing and fracture propagation, reduction of flow blocking mechanisms, increased desorption of methane adsorbed in organic-rich parts of the shale, and a reduction or elimination of the deep re-injection of flow-back water that has been linked to induced seismicity and other environmental concerns.
Journal ArticleDOI
Potential Public Health Hazards, Exposures and Health Effects from Unconventional Natural Gas Development
TL;DR: Risks to public health from chemical and nonchemical stressors associated with UNG are evaluated, likely exposure pathways and potential health effects are described, and major uncertainties to address are identified.
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