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13 - Evaluation of Potential Water Quality Impacts in Unconventional Oil and Gas Extraction

The Application of Elemental Ratio Approaches to Pennsylvania Pre-Drill Data

from Part III - Case Studies

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 July 2022

By
Daniel J. Bain ,
Tetiana Cantlay ,
Rebecca Tisherman  and
John F. Stolz
Edited by
John Stolz ,
Daniel Bain  and
Michael Griffin
John Stolz
Affiliation:
Duquesne University, Pittsburgh
Daniel Bain
Affiliation:
University of Pittsburgh
Michael Griffin
Affiliation:
Carnegie Mellon University, Pennsylvania
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Summary

Historical data can be used to evaluate water impacts from unconventional oil and gas extraction. “Grey” literature measurements of water quality before, during, and after unconventional extraction activities offer a potentially powerful resource for the evaluation of water quality impacts, and these data have rapidly expanded with regulatory response to the unconventional boom. However, historical data are limited in the variety of measured constituents and require substantial effort to reconstruct, revisit, and re-evaluate. Ultimately, available data were limited as data from only a single county (Bradford) included constituents necessary to use the vast majority of these elemental ratio systems. Further, even when data were available, they were often measured with relatively poor sensitivity, precluding their use as early indicators of contamination. This case study accentuates the continued need to establish background conditions, particularly in regions that have accumulated historical impacts, and further, ensure these characterizations incorporate sensitive testing for known chemistries associated with emerging and novel processes.

Keywords

mass ratio analysisbromideproduced watermine drainage
Type
Chapter
Information
Environmental Impacts from the Development of Unconventional Oil and Gas Reserves , pp. 313 - 339
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

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