Water Quality and Hydraulic Fracturing: GIS Analysis Kyra Reumann-Moore REU in Environmental Sustainability Mentor: Joe Ryan Graduate 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 Database The online database map A typical sample site page

Wells in the DJ Basin Oil and Gas Wells in the DJ BasinWater 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 Wells My graph based on COGCC dataOsborns graph from PA *Please note the difference in scale*

Carbon isotopes My graph based on COGCC dataOsborns graph from PA Delta 13C C1 (per mil)

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