Water Quality and Hydraulic Fracturing: GIS AnalysisKyra Reumann-MooreREU in Environmental SustainabilityMentor: Joe RyanGraduate Student: Jessica Dehart

Background on Hydraulic Fracturing

•Concern over spills, faulty casing, flawed cementing, or travel through faults

•Evidence of elevated methane within 1 km of producing wells in PA

•Pavillion, WY study: elevated pH, BTEX, Cl–,K+

•COGA Voluntary Baseline Sampling Program•COGCC mandatory groundwater monitoring

▫Only state to require samples after drilling▫One of three to require sampling at all

AirWaterGas SRN• 5 year NSF grant of $12

million • Awarded Fall 2012• CU-Boulder is the lead

institution• My area: Water Quality

▫ Will fracturing fluid contaminate drinking water aquifers?

▫ Focus on the Denver- Julesburg basin

▫ Look at: contamination levels, parameter correlations, oil and gas wells proximity

COGCC Database•Individual water well sample sites•Oil and gas wells shapefile•Looked at parameters based on EPA and

CDPHE drinking water quality standards•627 samples used in analysis•Problems: lack of coordinates, qualifier

codes in data, parameters not reported consistently

COGCC DatabaseThe online database map A typical sample site

page

Wells in the DJ BasinOil and Gas Wells in the DJ Basin

Water Wells in the DJ Basin

As reported by the COGCC

Field Sampling• With Stephen Osborn and

a team from Cal Poly Pomona

• 39 sample sites in Boulder, Adams, and Weld counties

• Helped Jessica Dehart take 6 samples at each site for DOC, VOCs, and pesticide analysis

• Field data: latitude and longitude, pH, specific conductivity

• Also sampled for future analysis: dissolved gases, isotopes, alkalinity, metals

Water Quality Parameters

Spatial Trends

Methane and TDS concentrations

Field Data Locations

Field and COGCC Conductivity

Methane Concentrations Near WellsMy graph based on COGCC data Osborn’s graph from PA

*Please note the difference in scale*

Carbon isotopesMy graph based on COGCC data Osborn’s graph from PA

Delta 13C C1 (per mil)

Met

hane

(mg/

L)

Other Concentrations Near Wells

Water Quality Comparisons

Number of Wells Nearby & Well Depth

Areas for Further Research•What geologic formations the water wells

are in•Further study of carbon isotopes •Fault proximity•Time between oil and gas well activity

and water well sampling•More field sampling, especially at COGCC

sites with high concentrations

Acknowledgments• SRN – Air Water Gas Research Group

▫ Dr. Joe Ryan▫ Jessica Dehart▫ Dr. Stephen Osborn

• National Science Foundation• Dr. Lupita Montoya• COGCC• TestAmerica, Accutest, ALS Environmental