PA Bureau of Forestry. Water Monitoring i for Evaluation of Potential Effects of Shale-Gas Development on State Forest Lands. Presented by: Ryan Szuch

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1 PA Bureau of Forestry Water Monitoring i for Evaluation of Potential Effects of Shale-Gas Development on State Forest Lands Presented by: Ryan Szuch Outline Overview of PA s State Forest System Gas Development on State Forest Land Water Monitoring Work completed or in progress Planned studies Pennsylvania State Section of the 2012 Annual Conference 1 of 27

2 State Forest System Established in Million Acres 48 of 67 Counties 20 districts state-wide 7 gas districts: Elk, Moshannon, Sproul, Tiadaghton, Loyalsock, Tioga, Susquehannock Pennsylvania State Section of the 2012 Annual Conference 2 of 27

3 Mission: Bureau of Forestry Ensure the long-term health, viability and productivity of the Commonwealth s forest and to conserve native wild plants. Working towards a balance of Contiguous Forests Timber Production Wildlife & Plants Wild Character Aesthetic Value Recreation Water Quality while utilizing minerals Pennsylvania State Section of the 2012 Annual Conference 3 of 27

4 Natural Gas Development on State Forest Lands Oil and Gas on State Forests Significant historical use in some areas Milestones: 1947: First lease sale 1955: Oil and Gas Lease Fund Established 1956: First gas storage lease Shale-Gas 2008: First Marcellus lease Drastically increased scale and pace Pennsylvania State Section of the 2012 Annual Conference 4 of 27

5 Marcellus Development 1.5 million acres of state forest in the main fairway Approx. 675,000 acres available for development 290,000 acres of severed rights 385,400 acres under Commonwealth-issued leases 18 operators on state forest 85% owned fee simple Pennsylvania State Section of the 2012 Annual Conference 5 of 27

6 Well Development = Marcellus Well Pads Constructed to date Gas Activities on SF Lands Well pads Seismic surveys Water storage Pipelines Roads Compressor stations Pennsylvania State Section of the 2012 Annual Conference 6 of 27

7 Avoid, Minimize, Mitigate, Monitor Two approaches Lease compliance E&S issues, forest impacts, invasive species, pollution events Buffers & Setbacks ft for streams (HQ/EV) ft for wetlands (T&E) Developing monitoring program Multi-disciplinary Plants Wildlife Water and soil Social/Recreation Adaptive Management Water Monitoring Program Timeline Summer-Fall 2011 Basic field chemistry survey by Monitoring Foresters SRBC installs sondes Nov 2011: Water and soil specialist hired Jan 2012-present: planning, budgeting, and protocol development Aug 2012-present: pilot-testing testing protocols ~April 2013: first annual report 2013: first full field-season Pennsylvania State Section of the 2012 Annual Conference 7 of 27

8 SRBC Sondes 10 installed for DCNR 8 others overlap our land Analyze for: Temperature ph Specific Conductance Turbidity Dissolved Oxygen Co-located sampling: Chemistry Flow Macros Pennsylvania State Section of the 2012 Annual Conference 8 of 27

9 DCNR Sonde Watershed Characteristics Drainage Areas 3 to 385 square miles (Avg = 80 sq mi) (Med = 33 sq mi) Percent Forest Cover 71% to 99% (Avg = 86%) Development Intensity (pads / sq mi) 0 to 0.5 (Avg = 0.25) One gas pad can drain 1 2 sq mi Elk Run Sonde data NTU ms/cm Turbidity Spec. Cond Jun-10 Aug-10 Sep-10 Nov-10 Jan-11 Feb-11 Apr-11 Jun-11 Month-Year Pennsylvania State Section of the 2012 Annual Conference 9 of 27

10 Sample of Chemistry & Macro Data from DCNR Sonde Stations (2011) Parameter Max. Avg. Min. TDS (mg/l) nd MCL=500 Barium < (mg/l) MCL=2 Strontium (mg/l) <0.011 Chloride <2.0 (mg/l) DEP IBI scores TDS and Barium (sampled every other month) Strontium (sampled quarterly) DEP IBI Scores (performed once in 2011) NRWQC=230 (chronic) 2011 Widespread Field Chem. Points Pennsylvania State Section of the 2012 Annual Conference 10 of 27

11 Widespread Field Chemistry Measurements Histogram - Specific Conductance Number of Sites or less or more Specific Conductance (us/cm) 9 Widespread Field Chemistry Measurements ph vs Spec. Cond ph Specific Conductance (us/cm) Pennsylvania State Section of the 2012 Annual Conference 11 of 27

12 Paired Watersheds HUC 12s in Tiadaghton S.F. -Slate Run - Pine Creek-Little Pine Creek Paired Watersheds Plan Continuous Monitoring Devices Multi-parameter sondes (YSI or Eureka/Manta) 1 per watershed along mainstem or major tributary Conductivity-Temperature probes (Hobo-U24) 4 per watershed distributed randomly Pennsylvania State Section of the 2012 Annual Conference 12 of 27

13 Paired Watersheds Plan Co-located with Sonde/Probe Stations Grab Sampling Parameters Monthly: Spec Cond, ph, TDS, TSS, Cl, Ba, Mn, Sr Subset quarterly for full suite: nutrients, organic compounds, dissolved metals Equipment: DH-48 sediment sampler, churn splitter Field Chemistry and Flow Measurements Parameters: Spec. Cond., DO, ph, Temp., Flow Equipment: YSI Pro Plus, Hach FH 950 Flowmeter Paired Watersheds Plan Co-located with Sondes/Probes + Other Locations Benthic Macroinvertebrate Sampling Timing: i Fall and Spring Methodology Semi-quantitative, D-frame kicknet shared by DEP and SRBC Contracted to SRBC for Pebble Counts Methodology DEP Instream Comprehensive Evaluation (ICE), Bevenger & King 1995 Pennsylvania State Section of the 2012 Annual Conference 13 of 27

14 Pipeline-Stream Crossing Protocol ~ 38 crossings from Marcellus development Multi-disciplinary Physical characteristics (slope of pipeline, etc) Photo-documentation Vegetation establishment Bank condition (BEHI) Type and condition of E&S controls Presently in pilot-testing Stream Crossing Method Study Trenching vs Underboring Trenching Certain direct impact on stream, but controlled Cleared riparian zone Underboring Potential for inadvertent returns (blowouts), even in nearby wetlands or down/upstream Clearing back from riparian zone Pennsylvania State Section of the 2012 Annual Conference 14 of 27

15 Browns Run Trenching Ryan Szuch Bureau of Forestry Pennsylvania State Section of the 2012 Annual Conference 15 of 27

16 Pennsylvania State Section of the 2012 Annual Conference 16 of 27

17 Management Approach Staffing Gas Management Team Gas Foresters Monitoring Team Leases and surface use agreements Guidelines and BMPs Monitoring Outreach Guidelines: Buffers & Setbacks Stream Buffers 200 ft 300 ft EV/HQ Wetlands, seeps and vernal pools 200 ft 300 ft with T&E in it Pennsylvania State Section of the 2012 Annual Conference 17 of 27

18 Management Challenges Surface disturbance Forest fragmentation ti Habitat loss & species impacts Invasive plants Loss of wild character Recreation conflicts Widespread Field Chemistry Measurements. Histogram - ph Number of Sites or less or more ph Pennsylvania State Section of the 2012 Annual Conference 18 of 27

19 SFL Marcellus shale statistics Through August, 2012 # Well Activity 844 Well locations approved by BOF 486 Wells Drilled on SFL 208 Well pads constructed Pennsylvania State Section of the 2012 Annual Conference 19 of 27

20 SRBC Partner Collaboration Continued funding for new sondes and fish/macro studies in DEP Collaboration on methods and sonde placement PSU Other monitoring disciplines (soils, wildlife) Planned Work Paired Watersheds Study Before-After-Control Impact Study Special Projects Partner Collaboration Pennsylvania State Section of the 2012 Annual Conference 20 of 27

21 Before-After-Control-Impact (BACI) Study Opportunity for assessing pre- development conditions over large area where development is eventually expected Presently searching for candidate areas State Forest values Clean water over 5,000 miles of streams on SFL Pennsylvania State Section of the 2012 Annual Conference 21 of 27

22 State Forest values Wood products 14,000 acres harvested annually producing nearly 80 million board feet of lumber and pulpwood State Forest values Recreation & tourism over 5,000 miles of trails open for public use Pennsylvania State Section of the 2012 Annual Conference 22 of 27

23 State Forest values Habitat for thousands of plants and animals State Forest values Scenic and aesthetic beauty Pennsylvania State Section of the 2012 Annual Conference 23 of 27

24 State Forest values Energy natural gas, biomass, firewood First Annual Report GIS Characterization and Data Summary 1. Characterize water resources in gas districts Miles of total stream, EV/HQ, trout waters 2. Report on broad-scale water quality data Water quality and benthic data from SRBC Water quality and benthic data from DEP WQN 2011 BOF Field Chemistry Survey 3. Summarize spills and pollution events 4. Summarize direct water impacts Stream crossings: pipelines, roads Stream buffer waivers Pennsylvania State Section of the 2012 Annual Conference 24 of 27

25 Paired Watersheds Plan Field Chemistry and Flow Measurement Questions: What is the physical signature of our streams? Are probes/sondes functioning properly? How do field chemistry measurements vary up/downstream? Implementation Locations Co-located with sondes/probes Longitudinal transects along sample reaches Parameters DO, ph, Specific Conductance, Temp, Flow Instrumentation YSI Pro Plus Hach FH 950 Flowmeter Paired Watersheds Plan Continuous Monitoring Devices Questions: How do field chemistry parameters vary in time and space? Have any pollution plumes passed by? Equipment and Deployment Multi-parameter sondes (YSI or Eureka/Manta) 1 per watershed along mainstem or major tributary t Conductivity-Temperature probes (Hobo-U24) 4 per watershed distributed randomly (4 held for spill response) Pennsylvania State Section of the 2012 Annual Conference 25 of 27

26 Paired Watersheds Plan Grab Sampling Questions: What is the chemical signature of our streams? Have any nasties been detected? Implementation Co-located with sondes and probes Parameters Monthly for customized indicator Standard Analysis Code (SAC): Spec Cond, ph, TDS, TSS, Cl, Ba, Mn, Sr Subset quarterly for full suite: SAC 46, organics, dissolved d metals Methodology DH-48 sediment sampler Churn splitter Paired Watersheds Plan Field Chemistry and Flow Measurement Questions: What is the physical signature of our streams? Are probes/sondes functioning properly? Implementation Locations Co-located with sondes/probes Parameters DO, ph, Specific Conductance, Temp, Flow Instrumentation YSI Pro Plus Hach FH 950 Flowmeter Pennsylvania State Section of the 2012 Annual Conference 26 of 27

27 Paired Watersheds Plan Benthic Macroinvertebrate Sampling Questions: What is the quality of aquatic habitat t in our streams? How might this habitat quality be affected by development? Might some streams need new designations by DEP? Implementation Locations: co-located with sondes/probes Timing: both in fall and spring Methodology: same as used by DEP and SRBC Work likely to be contracted to SRBC in 2012 and 2013 Paired Watersheds Plan Pebble Counts Questions: What is the streambed substrate profile in our streams? How might this be changing, long-term, due to sedimentation from pad or pipeline development? Implementation Locations: reaches near sondes/probes, plus other locations Methodology: DEP and Bevenger & King 1995 Each site sampled in triplicate Pennsylvania State Section of the 2012 Annual Conference 27 of 27