The drilling technique of Hydraulic Fracturing has allowed natural gas producers to extract natural gas economically from deep shale formations. This innovative drilling technique has made enormous quantities of natural gas available in wide areas of the United States from Texas, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, New York, Wyoming, North Carolina, and Colorado. The drilling technique of hydraulic fracturing accounts for roughly a quarter of total natural gas production in the United States as cited by the Energy Information Administration. With the increased emphasis on the use of natural gas in our federal energy policy, there will be new regulations, processes, and resources that will be required to mitigate the risks to human health and the environment from this new drilling technique. The presentation discusses the process of hydraulic fracturing; the threats that are posed to human health and the environment, areas in the USA where the process is used with an emphasis on the Marcellus Shale formation, current and new regulations being put into place, and plaintiff challenges to the process.

1. Michael D. Klein, P.E., CHMM
11/17/11

2.  The method used to make hard shale rock more porous
 Allows gas shale to flow through the fine grained, organic-rich,
sedimentary rock formations to the wellbore

3.  Shale gas is present across much of North America in basins of both
extreme and moderate size. Some of the major shale reserves
include:
 Marcellus (Pennsylvania, New York,
Ohio, West Virginia, Kentucky)
 Bakken (North Dakota, Wyoming)
 Haynesville (Texas, Louisiana)
 Barnett (Texas)
 Eagleford (Texas)
 Fayetteville (Arkansas)
 Antrim (Michigan, Illinois, Ohio)
 Woodford (Oklahoma)

4.  The Marcellus Shale
is known as the
Saudi Arabia of
Natural Gas
 The US Geological
Survey estimates
500 trillion cu ft of
natural gas in
Marcellus alone

5. The Penn State study reported that Marcellus gas
industry generated . . .
 $3.0 billion in total value
added revenue
 more than 44,000 jobs
 $389 million in state and
local revenue

6. For 2011 the Penn State estimate exceeds
 $10 billion in total value
added revenue
 more than 100,000 jobs
 $1 billion in state and local
revenue in Pennsylvania

7.  Until recently shale gas could not be cost
effectively extracted
 Two factors came together in
recent years to make shale gas
production economically viable:
• Advances in horizontal drilling
• Advances in hydraulic fracturing

8. By drilling and casing a well for the extraction of the
natural gas
 producers drill into the earth several thousand feet
until they reach the natural gas reservoir
 steel casings are inserted to a depth of 1,000 to
3,000 ft
 the space between the casing and the drilled hole
is filled with cement to stabilize the well and prevent
any leakage
 the cement sets
 this process is repeated, using a series of s
successively smaller casings until the reservoir
is reached
 depths reach distances of 6,000 to 10,000 feet

9. Once drilling and casing is complete
 3 to 5 million gallons of
water, mixed with sand and
chemical additives, are
pumped into the wellhead
at high pressure, creating
cracks in the rock beds
 the hydraulic fracturing
mixture is 95% water,
4.5% proppant, and
0.5% chemical additives

10. Once drilling and casing is complete
 proppant is a material, such as grains of sand, ceramic,
or other particulates, that prevent the fractures from
closing when the injection is stopped
 fracturing fluid formulas vary slightly among production
sites in accordance with the unique requirements of each
site’s geology
 The fracture width is typically maintained after the
injection by introducing a proppant into the injected fluid

11. In the case of shale gas extraction using hydro
fracking, questions have been raised
 Environmental safety of process
 The management of the volumes of water used
to fracture shale
 Water, water, it’s everywhere!

12. Environmental and human health concerns
associated with hydraulic fracturing include:
 If all goes as intended the many
fissures and fractures in the
surrounding rock are sealed by
the cement
 Depending on the nature of the
gaps and fractures, it can be
extremely difficult to properly
cement the casing
 Contamination of groundwater

13. Environmental and human health concerns
associated with hydraulic fracturing include:
 The migration of gases and hydraulic
fracturing chemicals to the surface
 Risks to air quality
 Industrial strength waste streams
containing high concentrations of
a wide range of substance that have
adverse health and water quality effects

14. Environmental and human health concerns
associated with hydraulic fracturing include:
 Mishandling of waste; chronic and
persistent occurrence of spills and
contamination incidents
 Waste streams are expected to
exceed existing treatment and
assimilative capacities
 Withdrawals of water to support
hydraulic fracturing during dry
periods extending duration of
“drought”

15. Problems with drilling for natural gas is not
necessarily the drilling of the wells and
distribution of the gas . . .
• It is managing the site and
the fate of drilling fluids
• Improper disposal of recoverable
drilling fluids
• Mismanagement of wastes in
“tank farms”

16.  Environmental cleanup
 Loss of land value
 Human and animal health concerns
 Introduction of hundreds of tons of
fracturing chemical into a watershed
over a period of several decades
 The gradual dispersion of low levels
of toxic chemicals into the
environment and water supplies
through multiple pathways

17. Nationally over 40 lawsuits have been filed
Terms of the lease
 Landowners who do not own the
oil or gas rights under their
property are suing for nuisance
 Physical ailments such as
headaches, nosebleeds, nausea,
and open skin sores
 Diminution in the value of their
property as a result of damaged
soil, water, and air

18. The 2005 Energy Act exempted oil and gas companies
from federal environmental laws such as . . .
 Safe Drinking Water Act Underground Injection Control Program
 Did restrict the use of diesel fluids in the fracking process
 Clean Water Act (CWA)
 Onsite Pretreatment
 Publically Owned Treatment
Works (POTW)
 Centralized Waste Treatment
Facilities
 Handling of biosolids from facilities
treating frack water

19. Claims are hampered due to the lack of information concerning the
makeup of the fracking fluid
On 6/9/2009 the Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals
(FRAC) Act was introduced to Congress – Amends the Safe Drinking
Water Act to:
 Repeal the exemption from restrictions
on underground injection of fluids near
drinking water sources granted to hydraulic
fracturing operations under such Act
 Require oil and gas companies to disclose
the chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing
operations

20. Information on the composition of fracking fluid
that has largely been protected as trade secrets
 Methane migration into the ground water and drinking
water supply

21. Several States require the disclosure of the
hydraulic fracturing water composition; they are:
Wyoming
Arkansas
Montana
Louisiana
West Virginia
Colorado (pending)
Texas (pending)
New York (pending)

22.  The operators disclosing information posts to
FracFocus, a website operated by the
Ground Water Protection Council and the
Interstate Oil & Gas Compact Commission
 The websites have become a central
location for the posting on information
regarding the hydraulic fracturing of wells
 Visitors to the website can search for wells
by county, longitude and latitude, or the
name of the operator, as well as by other
criteria

23. Management of flowback fluids

25. Recycling of water for reuse in the fracking
process
 Total Dissolved Solids (TDS)
 Naturally occurring radioactive materials
 EPA is evaluating current and potential new CWA
pretreatment

26.  The Marcellus has sought-after deposits of
natural gas, but has also found large amounts of
highly radioactive radium
 Significant amounts of radiation have ended up
in wastewater, much of it sent to Public
Treatment Plants

27.  However, most municipal wastewater
treatment plants are completely
unequipped to process the levels of
radiation in the wastewater and
cases of leakage and contamination
in waterways have occurred
 The threat has caused enough
concern that the state of New York
recently issued a partial moratorium
on hydrofracking activity to
investigate the issue

28. Gas STAR under the Clean Air Act (CAA)
 Control air emission throughout the natural gas
extraction and production process
 Natural gas development process causes the release
into the atmosphere of a variety of toxic emissions:
o methane o toluene
o ethane o ethylbezene
o n-hexane o xylene
o benzene o sulfur dioxide

29.  These emissions are occurring during the flowback process, where
fracking fluid, ground water, and gas come to the surface before
natural gas is collected for transmission to the processing facility
 New EPA regulations for new frack wells; reuse of existing wells
must separate liquid and gas hydrocarbons during the flowback
process
 Captured gases can be treated
and sold

30.  The new regulations also cover
compressors used to transport natural
gas through pipelines and the
pneumatic controllers used to maintain
liquid levels, pressure and temperature
in processing plants and compressor
stations, condensate and crude oil
storage tanks
 EPA calculates cost recovery in under
a year of compliance with regulations
in tanks

31.  Public comments on the
proposed rules October 24, 2011
with Final rule February 28, 2012
 Estimated 11,400 new fracked
wells and 14,000 re-fracked wells
will be impacted by the new
regulations
 Currently 1.1 million wells are
producing oil and natural gas in
the USA

32.  At the request of Congress, the EPA was
tasked to better understand potential
impacts of hydraulic fracturing on drinking
water resources
 In March 2010, the EPA announced its
intention to conduct the study in response
to a request from Congress
 The EPA has held a series of public
meetings across the nation to receive input
from states, industry, environmental and
public health groups, and individual citizens

33.  The study was reviewed by the
Science Advisory Board (SAB), an
independent panel of scientists, to
ensure the agency conducted the
research using a scientifically sound
approach
 The initial research results and study findings will be
released to the public in 2012
 The final report will be delivered in 2014

34.  The final study plan looks at the full cycle of water in
hydraulic fracturing
 the acquisition of the water
 the mixing of chemicals and actual fracturing
 to the post-fracturing stage, including the management of flowback
and produced or used water as well as its ultimate treatment and
disposal.

35.  Earlier this year, EPA
announced its selection
of locations for five
retrospective and two
prospective case
studies; the two
Pennsylvania sites are:

36.  Well water protection and other water protection:
 No permits would be issued for sites within 500 feet
of a private water well or domestic use spring
 No permits may be issued for a proposed site within
2,000 feet of a public drinking water supply well or
reservoir at least until three years of experience
elsewhere has been evaluated
 No permits will be issued for well pads
sited within a 100-year floodplain

37.  Spill control:
 All new guidelines will require that flowback water
on site must use watertight tanks within a
secondary containment
 No open containment may be used
 A secondary containment will also be required for
all fracturing additive containers, additive staging
areas and flowback tanks to ensure any spills of
wastewater or chemicals at the well pad do not
migrate into water supplies

38.  Regulating Water Withdrawals:
 New Legislation: A special permit would be required to withdraw
large volumes of water for industrial and commercial purposes
to ensure there are not adverse impacts
 Permit Condition: All withdrawals from surface water bodies will
be subject to limits to prevent impacts upon ecosystems and
other water quantity requirements
 Identification of the water source: An applicant intends to use
will be required and an annual report must be issued on the
aggregate amount of water it has withdrawn or purchased

39.  Delaware River Basin Commission
governs natural gas drilling in
northeast Pennsylvania
 The Commission oversees the water supply for
Philadelphia and half the population of New York City
 The Commission imposed a moratorium on all Marcellus
drilling projects in the four-state basin until the rule-
making process is complete
 Recently established rules to allow gas drillers to use
fracking to extract natural gas from the Marcellus
 Rules are designed to protect water quality in the
Delaware River and its tributaries

40. Questions?
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me!