T30 No Well Left Behind: Quantifying Impacts and Improving Management of Active, Abandoned, and Orphaned Oil and Gas Wells to Safeguard Air, Water, and Land Resources (Posters)

Sunday, 15 October 2023
8:00 AM - 5:30 PM
Hall B

SHALE GAS DEVELOPMENT AND WASTEWATER SPILLS AS A DRIVER FOR BIOLOGICAL CHANGES IN SECOND-ORDER STREAMS OF NORTHCENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA

Paper number: T30-3
Program: Technical Sessions
Time: 8:00 AM – 5:30 PM

Authors

Abstract

Shale gas development, which targets unconventional formations using horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, has sparked controversy over its environmental impacts. Concerns surrounding water resources have developed over potential releases of saline wastewater or fracking fluids into early order streams via wellpad spills or poorly constructed impoundments. This study seeks to elucidate how spills of shale gas wastewater in addition to shale gas development may alter stream chemistry and biological communities of fish and macroinvertebrates in the northcentral region of Pennsylvania. Northcentral Pennsylvania was selected to isolate effects of drilling since it has minimal confounding land uses like agriculture and major roads. Second-order streams within HUC-12 watersheds were selected for water sampling based on whether upstream conditions contained: i) unconventional drilling including impoundment and spill violations; ii) unconventional drilling with impoundment violations only; iii) unconventional drilling with no documented violations; or iv) no history of drilling or violations. Water samples were analyzed for major cations and anions, including species indicative of shale gas wastewater (Br, Cl, Ba, Sr). Strontium isotopic compositions (87Sr/86Sr) were used to seek evidence for the presence of wastewater brines unique to the Marcellus formation. Current directions involve identifying more recent wastewater spills in the watershed as well as beginning macroinvertebrate and fish sampling protocol. Comparing assessments of biological integrity to ion concentrations and geochemical tracers of potential shale gas-related impacts can inform how shale gas development and shale gas wastewaters may be impacting the ecosystem dynamics of early order streams.

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 55, No. 6

doi: 10.1130/abs/2023AM-394849

© Copyright 2023 The Geological Society of America (GSA), all rights reserved. Permission is hereby granted to the author(s) of this abstract to reproduce and distribute it freely, for noncommercial purposes. Permission is hereby granted to any individual scientist to download a single copy of this electronic file and reproduce up to 20 paper copies for noncommercial purposes advancing science and education, including classroom use, providing all reproductions include the complete content shown here, including the author information. All other forms of reproduction and/or transmittal are prohibited without written permission from GSA Copyright Permissions.