Watershed-Scale Impacts from Surface Water Disposal of Oil and Gas Wastewater in Western Pennsylvania.

Autor: Burgos WD; Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University , 212 Sackett Building, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, United States., Castillo-Meza L; Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University , 212 Sackett Building, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, United States., Tasker TL; Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University , 212 Sackett Building, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, United States., Geeza TJ; Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University , 212 Sackett Building, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, United States., Drohan PJ; Department of Ecosystem Science and Management, The Pennsylvania State University , 116 Agricultural Sciences and Industries Building, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, United States., Liu X; Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University , 212 Sackett Building, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, United States., Landis JD; Department of Earth Sciences, Dartmouth College , 6105 Fairchild Hall, Hanover, New Hampshire 03755, United States., Blotevogel J; Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Colorado State University , 1320 Campus Delivery, Fort Collins, Colorado 80523, United States., McLaughlin M; Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Colorado State University , 1320 Campus Delivery, Fort Collins, Colorado 80523, United States., Borch T; Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, Colorado State University , 1170 Campus Delivery, Fort Collins, Colorado 80523, United States., Warner NR; Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University , 212 Sackett Building, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, United States.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Environmental science & technology [Environ Sci Technol] 2017 Aug 01; Vol. 51 (15), pp. 8851-8860. Date of Electronic Publication: 2017 Jul 12.
DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.7b01696
Abstrakt: Combining horizontal drilling with high volume hydraulic fracturing has increased extraction of hydrocarbons from low-permeability oil and gas (O&G) formations across the United States; accompanied by increased wastewater production. Surface water discharges of O&G wastewater by centralized waste treatment (CWT) plants pose risks to aquatic and human health. We evaluated the impact of surface water disposal of O&G wastewater from CWT plants upstream of the Conemaugh River Lake (dam controlled reservoir) in western Pennsylvania. Regulatory compliance data were collected to calculate annual contaminant loads (Ba, Cl, total dissolved solids (TDS)) to document historical industrial activity. In this study, two CWT plants 10 and 19 km upstream of a reservoir left geochemical signatures in sediments and porewaters corresponding to peak industrial activity that occurred 5 to 10 years earlier. Sediment cores were sectioned for the collection of paired samples of sediment and porewater, and analyzed for analytes to identify unconventional O&G wastewater disposal. Sediment layers corresponding to the years of maximum O&G wastewater disposal contained higher concentrations of salts, alkaline earth metals, and organic chemicals. Isotopic ratios of 226 Ra /228 Ra and 87 Sr /86 Sr identified that peak concentrations of Ra and Sr were likely sourced from wastewaters that originated from the Marcellus Shale formation.
Databáze: MEDLINE
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