Allegheny River Headwaters Watershed Conservation Plan

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Allegheny River Headwaters Conservation Plan Chapter 2. Land Resources important forests serving as critical habitats. Forest fragmentation affects wildlife through habitat loss and increasing susceptibility to predators. Contaminated groundwater from insufficient case piping, leaking or flooded waste fluid holding pits, or drilling site spills can penetrate into private water well aquifers. Another potential contaminate of private water wells from gas wells is the migration of methane gas, which in hard to detect and poses an explosive hazard. Marcellus Shale The Marcellus shale is the second largest shale formation in the U.S. and is among the top natural gas shales in the world. Found in the Appalachian Region it extends 575 miles through West Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York. It received its name from the discovery of the first outcrop in Marcellus, New York in 1839. Formed during the Devonian period, the black shale is slightly radioactive with a low density and is organically rich. These naturally occurring organic carbons may include methane, ethane, propane butane, and other hydrocarbons (petroleum). Naturally occurring radioactive materials, or NORM, found in Marcellus shales may include elements, such as uranium, radium, thorium, and radon (Bishop, 2009). In 2002, it was believed that 1.9 trillion cubic feet of natural gas was available for development within the Marcellus Shale formation in Pennsylvania (National Park Service, 2009). Since then, additional studies have been conducted, and now the Marcellus Shale formation is believed to have the potential to produce nearly 500 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. It is believed that the amount of natural gas produced from the Marcellus Shale formation could support the entire U.S. for more than 20 years (Engelder, 2009). Natural gas recovery within the Marcellus shale formation is a relatively new industry in Pennsylvania. The number of permits issued within Pennsylvania for Marcellus shale gas wells increased from 475 permits in 2008 to 3,314 permits issued in 2010 (DEP, 2011). Natural gas within the Marcellus shale formation occurs within pore spaces, fractures, or breaks in the shale. It can also be absorbed in mineral grains and organic material. The Marcellus gas is an unconventional gas, meaning that it requires stimulation and work in order to recover it. The majority of the gas is located within pore spaces, which are fine and poorly connected, making it difficult for the gas to escape. Gas that is naturally discharged escapes very slowly. Utilizing hydrofracturing techniques—blasting large amounts of water, sand, and other chemicals at the shale causing it to fracture—can establish a network for the natural gas to easily flow through the created cracks and into wells (DEP, 2010c). When drilling for natural gas, a vertical well is bored into the ground. In order to increase permeability and recover the gas from the Marcellus formation, horizontal drilling and hydrofracturing are used. When horizontal What’s in the Slick Water? Friction Reducer: An organic polymer or potassium chloride Wetting agent: A non-ionic surfactant or soap Biocide: Toxic compound to control micro-organism growth Scale inhibitor: An organic polymer or phosphonate drilling techniques are used, the cost can more than double, but productivity can increase by 15–20 times. Hydrofracturing techniques work well in recovering the gas; however, it requires a large volume of water, up to 300,000 gallons per day per well, which becomes contaminated during the process. Initially hydrofracturing one horizontal Marcellus well may use from two to nine million gallons of water, and additional hydrofracturing may occur over the productive life of the well (five to 25 years or more) (The Pennsylvania State University, 2009b). 2-12
Allegheny River Headwaters Conservation Plan Chapter 2. Land Resources In addition to the millions of gallons of water, chemicals—including a friction reducer, wetting agent, biocide, and scale inhibitor—are added to create slick water. The slick water mixes with water naturally found in the formation to create the fracturing solution, termed “frac” water. Each drilling company is required by law to provide the DEP with the material safety data sheet for the slick water. Appendix T provides a summary of hydraulic fracture solutions used within the Marcellus shale formation. The necessary use of this volume of water and the resulting contamination has caused drilling for gas in the Marcellus Shale to be met with resistance. One of the main concerns is that only 5–10 percent of the injected water is recovered, leaving the majority of water and chemicals underground where they have the potential to cause additional problems. The development of a method for fracturing the formation without contaminating millions of gallons of water and efforts to increase recovery rate are imperative. Even before the addition of injected water, Marcellus shale has been shown to contain radioactive materials. The evidence of high radionuclide content in the shale is present in geochemical studies and in gamma-ray logs from wells drilled into the Marcellus formation. In a study of trace elements and uranium in the Devonian shale of the Appalachian Basin, 17 cores were analyzed from wells in Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Illinois (Leventhal, 1981). The radioactivity in the Marcellus was found to be more than 20 times higher than background. Gamma ray detectors have also been used historically to detect Marcellus formations by producing a chart of radioactivity versus depth. This was portrayed when radioactivity of rock cuttings from two wells in Lebanon and Bath, NY were found to be far higher than background concentrations in New York State (NYSDEC, 2009). Wastewater production from Marcellus shale gas extraction efforts in Pennsylvania is estimated to be well above current treatment capacity. Currently three types of treatments are being used—pretreatment and discharged at publicly owned treatment works, evaporation with and without pretreatment, and chemical precipitation followed by discharge, recycle, or evaporation. Efforts to recycle frac water are currently being explored and implemented. Before the frac water can be reused it needs to be filtered and treated. The reuse of the recycled water can decrease cost to the drilling companies and reduce the amount of water being withdrawn from area streams. Further studies are needed to increase frac water recovery, recycling opportunities, and wastewater treatment to ensure that the discharged water meets the standards of the receiving waters where it will be discharged (Abdalla et al., 2011b). In 2009, 14 Marcellus shale wells were drilled within the municipalities of the Allegheny River Headwaters watershed. Of these 14 Marcellus shale wells 71 percent utilized horizontal drilling techniques. Withdrawals for hydraulic fracturing for the year utilize the same amount of water that is withdrawn for power production in three days. However, less than 50-70 percent of the water used is recovered and what is recovered is categorized as a waste product. For more information about potential impairments to water resulting from Marcellus shale gas extraction, see the Chapter 3. Water Resources Impairments section. For more information about Marcellus shale and gas well drilling, visit Penn State Cooperative Extension’s website at http://naturalgas.extension.psu.edu/publications.htm. Land Ownership Within Pennsylvania, surface land can be owned by one person or entity, while the sub-surface rights or mineral rights can be owned by different entities based on the mineral. For example, natural gas, oil, and coal for a property can each have a different sub-surface owner. A property purchased in “fee simple” means the surface and subsurface rights of a property are owned by one owner (DEP, 2007a). 2-13
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Allegheny River Headwaters Watershed Conservation Plan

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