Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Greening of America?
By Ethan Bellavance, Kaylyn
Hawkes, Justin Grodman, Dan Hale,
Caitlin Shea
What is Shale Gas?
95.5% Methane, 2.5%
Ethane, 0.2% Propane.
Large Domestic Source
of energy
5.4 Tcf/year in 1998 to
8.9 Tcf/year in 2007
http://www.uniongas.com/aboutus/aboutng/composition.asp
Arthur, J Daniel. (2008). An Overview of Modern Shale Gas Development in the United
States. AllConsulting. http://www.all
llc.com/publicdownloads/ALLShaleOverviewFINAL.pdf
USGS
Natural Gas Production
Arthur, J Daniel. (2008). An Overview of Modern Shale Gas Development in the United States.
AllConsulting. http://www.all llc.com/publicdownloads/ALLShaleOverviewFINAL.pdf
Types of Unconventional Natural
Gas
Tight Gas Sands
Coal Bed Methane
Gas Shale’s- Most Expansive Growth,
Comprise 50-60% of countries reserves
growth by 2011
Arthur, J Daniel. (2008). An Overview of Modern Shale Gas Development in the United States. AllConsulting.
http://www.all llc.com/publicdownloads/ALLShaleOverviewFINAL.pdf
Three factors that have created
the unconventional natural gas
industry.
Directional Drilling
Hydraulic Fracturing Quic kTime™ and a
TIFF (Unc ompres sed) decompress or
are needed to see this picture.
http://www.theoildrum.com/files/perforating3_0.jpg
Marcellus Shale
Deposited over
350 Million years
ago.
USGS
Area and Depth of Marcellus
Shale
USGS
Objectives
Assess whether water release from acid fracturing is
detrimental to surface water and aquifers?
Determine if the amount of water necessary for acid
fracturing can be sustainably extracted from existing
watershed aquifers.
Observe how the process of acid fracturing effects
local ecosystems.
Analyze the national and local socioeconomic impact
of acid fracturing in regard to potential job creation,
US energy profile, social values, and land use.
Hydraulic Fracturing
Three treatments available
Foam
Gel
Slickwater
Slickwater Treatments
Introduction of “rock acid” - cleans out well
Slickwater plug- formed with water, sand
and additives. Friction reducing chemicals
to allow faster pumping.
Fracturing- over a million gallons of water,
sand and chemicals.
Flush- recovery of water in pumps to allow
collection of gases.
QuickTime™ and a
TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
http://www.propublica.org/special/hydraulic-fracturing-
national
Acid Fracturing
Each Fracture is unique
Based on local stress conditions.
Typically contains 98% water and sand, and
2% chemicals
Currently 197 products used in slickwater
process, 152 products known
(Arthur 2008)
Chemical Additives
No “one size fits all” percentage that are added
to fracture fluid
Additives in a single hydrofrac job result in
approximately 15,000 gallons of chemical
waste
Most are proprietary
All are necessary in order to ensure the success
of the drilling process
Risk to human and environmental health is low
(Soeder 2009), (Arthur 2008), (NYSDEC 2009)
Threats to Drinking Water
Drilling must pass through shallow drinking
water aquifers
Well casings made of steel and concrete can
become defective or damaged
Potential chemical spills
Road/construction activity
(Soeder 2009)
Additional Treatment Methods
Re-inject produced water into the ground at
a shallow depth
Re-inject produced water into the ground at
a depth below the Marcellus Shale
Allow wastewater to evaporate from open
pits or tanks
Dilute produced water and reuse it in future
fracturing operations
New technology… (NYSDEC 2009), (Soeder 2009)
Habitat Fragmentation
Inevitable consequence of all mining
practices
Occurs through construction of unpaved
roads, pipelines and infrastructure:
Well pads drilling rigs, storage facilities, heavy
machinery
necessary to mine natural gas and eventually
transport it off site
Roads
Generally includes removing large rocks and vegetation,
and replacing them with crushed gravel or stone
Each well-site must have an access road
According to NY DEC every 150ft of 30ft access road
adds 1/10 acre to the total disturbed surface area
attributed to the well site
Highly used fragments, such as access roads,
significantly increase impact
Edge sensitive species affected most
Increased erosion contributes to habitat and water-
quality degradation
Sedimentation and Erosion
Overflow off roads and impervious drilling pads alters
slopes and soils and further ↑ surface water quality issues
Plants rooting is disrupted
Aquatic receptors are affected by increased
sedimentation increasing TSS in the water column
Velocity and volume of runoff ↑ with reciprocal ↓ in
infiltration (impermeable surfaces)
Chemicals and pollutants are present on impermeable surfaces
Pollutants adhere to eroded sediment particles
Ecological Receptor- Trout
Rising Stake-holder concern
Chesapeake Bay Association PA and NY trout association, land
owners, fishermen
Marcellus Shale spans under the Appalachian basin which
provides headwaters for numerous streams valued for trout
habitat
Salinity, acidity, and toxicity in mine runoff are of concern for
trout health and ability to reproduce
Increased impervious surfaces and increase acidity have been
shown to negatively affect Brook Trout populations in the
NorthEast (Conservation Strategy Work Group, 2005)
Mine drainage in has historically in PA and WV has
drastically decreased stream ecological health
USGS records over 3,400 miles of streams and GW contaminated in
PA alone due to mining practices (USEPA, 2001)
Edge-related Stress
Increased edge will affect some species more
drastically than others
Life history traits, population numbers, physical size,
physical size and amount of area needed per individual
Golden-winged and prairie warbler have shown
increase abundance in early succession edge areas
Results NOT shown when fragmentation is maintained by
constant use and traffic
Cerulean warbler – Edge sensitive species inhabitaing
areas along Marcellus Shale territory
Largely impacted by habitat fragmentation due to mining
Soil Compaction & Reclamation
Overburden must be removed to gain access to
bedrock
Stockpiling of this material is essential for
reclamation efforts
Where overburden is not removed, continuous
use of heavy machinery compacts soils
Increased bulk density rates
Creates difficult habitat for plant rooting
Lower water infiltration rates
Contributes to ↑ surface runoff
Reclamation Techniques
Open pits must be backfilled
Soils must be tested for salinity, acidity and
toxicity in order to prepare restoration plan
Salinity acidity and toxicity will likely all
contribute to Shale gas sites due to:
salts, hydroflouric acid, heavy metal leaching and a
variety of chemicals used in the fracking liquid
Grading and scraping to loosen soils and adding
Lime and fertilizer are recommended
Many mine Reclamation sites fail due to soil toxicity
Recommendations for Water Management
Ensuring that the withdrawal of every water source used will not
significantly nor permanently deplete that source.
Ensuring the safe and effective disposal of produced water from the
acid fracturing process.