Water Issues Related to Marcellus Gas Drilling Activity

1.  Water Issues Related to Marcellus Gas Drilling Activity Bryan Swistock Water Resources Extension Specialist Penn State Cooperative Extension School of Forest Resources brs@psu.edu 814-863-0194

3. A Summary of State Regulations • Water management plan in gas drilling permit • Earth disturbance permit if > 5 acres • Enforced by DEP BOGM instead of • Conservation Districts • Bonds for water supply replacement (1984 era) • “Presumed responsibility” for contamination of drinking water supplies within 1,000 feet of gas well and six months after drilling • Setbacks (adjustable by DEP or landowner) • 200 feet to drinking water supply • 100 feet to “blue line” streams • 100 feet to wetlands > 1 acre • Outside designated floodplains

4. Freshwater Use for Drilling • Typically 3 to 6 million gallons per well • Access to water = landowner control • Allocation of water = state control • Basin commissions, DEP, Clean Streams Law • Water withdrawals • Purchase water from communities • Large rivers and impoundments • Small streams and groundwater • Incentives – wastewater • Biggest concerns • Withdrawals in western PA • Illegal withdrawals – enforcement • “loss of water” to formation

5. Hydrofracturing • 3 to 6 million gallons of water per well • Average flowback around 10% • EPA starting new study of hydrofracturing

6. Marcellus Gas Drilling Waste Fluids (volume expected to reach 3 million gallons per day this year) • Chemistry is high variable in time and space • Salt (sodium, chloride) • High total dissolved solids (TDS) • Metals (barium, iron, manganese, etc.) • Oil and grease • Organic carbon • Detergents • Sediment • Radionuclides (gross alpha, radon, etc.) • Collected in pits or tanks Photo courtesy – Paul Hart, Hart Resource Technologies, Inc

7. Wastewater Treatment

8. Groundwater Supplies Private Water Wells and Springs • Over one million homes and farms in PA • 45% had never been properly tested (before Marcellus started!) • No regulations in PA! • Pre-existing water quality problems are common (40%) Water Wells drilled 1966-1994

9. Concerns from spills, leaking pits, improper well construction, fracing, etc. • Freshwater protection string installed to protect groundwater from drilling • Many water testing issues (cost, industry data, interpretation of results, etc.) • Most frequent issues • Sediment during initial drilling • Methane migration • Inadequate FPS implicated in several methane gas migration issues - new casing regulations aim to prevent future problems Water Supply Issues Illustration courtesy Range Resources

10. Water Well Studies Some recent western U.S. studies indicate higher contamination rates % Exceeding Drinking Standards Contaminant No pre-drilling problems in NE PA

11. Penn State Water Well Research(Center for Rural Pennsylvania) • Objectives • 1) Determine occurrence of groundwater contamination • 2) Determine factors related to contamination if it occurs • 3) Survey water supply owners to document their experiences • Phase 1 – intensive monitoring • 50 water wells before, during and after gas drilling • Located within ~2,000 feet of a site that will be drilled in 2010 • Detailed testing of ~20 parameters • Continuous TDS measurements • Phase 2 – broad monitoring • 200+ water well after drilling • Within 5,000 feet of Marcellus well • Participants provide pre-drilling data and attend workshop

12. Surface Water Monitoring • No presumed responsibility • Many volunteer networks

13. Additional Actions to Protect Water • Landowner leasing stipulations • Greater setbacks to water • Use of tanks vs. pits for wastewater • Pre + post-drilling testing of ALL water • Water flow measurements (before seismic) • Proper retirement of seismic holes • Access to water (and payment) • No surface lease? • Voluntary water testing and documentation • Reporting obvious problems (sediment, tastes, odors, loss of water, etc.) and report problems to DEP and gas drilling company • Updated regulations • Casing and cementing regulations just updated • Many proposals to increase setbacks, increase testing, restrict hydraulic fracturing, etc.

14. Voluntary Industry Actions • Spill containment systems • Tanks vs. pits • Alternative fluids + additives for fracing • Water recycling • Expanded distance of pre-drilling water testing • Rapid response teams for water supply issues

15. Penn State Cooperative Extension Resources http://extension.psu.edu/water