Water Wells in Proximity to Oil and Gas Development: What You Need to Know

Transcription

1 Water Wells in Proximity to Oil and Gas Development: What You Need to Know An information service from the Ground Water Protection Council and the National Ground Water Association

2 Target Audiences Private water well owners concerned about properly testing their groundwater for contamination from hydraulic fracturing activity. State regulatory agencies being contacted by private water well owners concerned about properly testing their groundwater for contamination from hydraulic fracturing activity.

3 Timeline December, 2011: Dialogue begins between GWPC and NGWA about an objective informational tool state regulatory agencies could use when receiving calls from private water well owners concerned about the quality of their groundwater in areas of hydraulic fracturing. January-June, 2012: Draft developed and refined by work group GWPC Mike Nickolaus and Mary Musick NGWA Cliff Treyens and David R. Wunsch, Ph.D., PG. July, 2012: Two versions of a brochure were finalized: a stand-alone version for the public without any specific reference to a state regulatory agency, and a customizable version to which a state regulatory agency can affix its specific agency name, logo, and contact information. April, 2013: Slight modifications made to brochure regarding testing frequency with regard to the potential for naturally occurring variability of levels of dissolved methane in groundwater.

4 Approach Because of the complexity and cost of testing groundwater for evidence of hydraulic fracturing-related contamination, the brochure is designed to give private well owners: Simple steps to follow, and A relatively affordable approach to follow-up testing by checking a handful of constituents that are effective indicators of hydraulic fracturingrelated contamination.

5 Source Information Brochure content derived largely from NGWA s information brief, Water Wells in Proximity to Natural Gas or Oil Development

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8 Importance of Testing The National Ground Water Association (NGWA) and Ground Water Protection Council (GWPC) remind water well owners of the importance of testing the water quality in their water wells prior to oil and gas drilling and completion activities, including hydraulic fracturing. If you suspect a problem after oil and gas drilling activities take place, this predevelopment testing can provide a baseline for water quality comparison.

9 Suggested Options for Water Well Owners If you own a water well in an area where oil and gas drilling and completion activities will soon take place, you should consider some special watertesting procedures (go to click on the Media Center tab, then on Information briefs ). This testing will be more expensive than the more common water quality tests, such as for bacteria and nitrates. However, in the rare case where regulatory or legal action is necessary, a comprehensive analysis is often needed.

10 Step 1 of 3 Steps to Take Before and After Oil & Gas Drilling Prior to oil and gas drilling, the well owner should establish a baseline water quality. First, a water sample should be collected by a professional who knows proper sampling protocols. Then the professional either an employee of a testing lab or some other qualified professional delivers the sample to a laboratory certified to test drinking water using proper analytical methods.

11 Step 1 of 3 Steps to Take Before and After Oil & Gas Drilling Next, the lab tests the sample for appropriate constituents (see Step 2) to establish a baseline water quality. This approach, designed to ensure the integrity of testing, is referred to as third-party or chain-of-custody testing each individual who handles the water is qualified to do so, is unbiased, and their handling of the sample is recorded on a chain-of-custody form.

12 Step 1 of 3 Steps to Take Before and After Oil & Gas Drilling A water well systems professional or county health department may be able to refer you to a certified drinking water testing lab. You also can locate a certified lab by contacting your state certification officer (water.epa.gov/scitech/drinkingwater/labcert/statecert ification.cfm) If local labs do not test for the substances you wish to check, there are national water testing labs that may be able to help, such as National Testing Labs, Inc. ( and Underwriters Laboratories, Inc. (

13 Step 2 of 3 Steps to Take Before and After Oil & Gas Drilling Step 2: The following list from NGWA and GWPC is a general overview of the basic constituents that should be considered for water quality analysis before oil and gas operations begin. Please note that you should check with the appropriate state agency to see if it has a specific list of suggested chemical, physical, or organic constituents to test for in your area. Major ions: alkalinity, calcium, chloride, magnesium, potassium, sodium, and sulfate Minor and trace elements: arsenic, barium, boron, bromide, chromium, iron, manganese, selenium, and uranium Water quality parameters: ph, specific conductance, total dissolved solids (TDS), and turbidity Organic chemicals: benzene, toluene, ethyl benzene, xylene (BTEX); diesel range organics (DRO); dissolved methane; gasoline range organics (GRO); total petroleum hydrocarbons or oil and grease (HEM). When testing for the presence of dissolved methane, multiple analyses conducted over time may be needed to properly establish a baseline.

14 Step 3 of 3 Steps to Take Before and After Oil & Gas Drilling Step 3: Once drilling and completion activities have taken place, water well owners should consider retesting their water quality and, if hydraulic fracturing was used, comparing the results to any hydraulic fracturing fluid chemicals that have been disclosed by the operator for wells nearby. Some companies engaged in hydraulic fracturing may have voluntarily disclosed the chemicals used to the GWPC and the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission (IOGCC). Such voluntarily disclosed information is made available at under the Find a Well tab.

15 Step 3 of 3 Steps to Take Before and After Oil & Gas Drilling Post-drilling water quality testing should be done within six months of completion of drilling and hydraulic fracturing. Continued sampling should be done at least annually as long as practicable and necessary. Subsequent screening using the ph and specific conductance, or total dissolved solids measurements and dissolved methane, can be less expensive ways to see if changes have occurred. If there is a change in the concentration or occurrence of these constituents, further, more sophisticated water quality testing should be done.

16 What to Do if Groundwater Quality Changes If there is a change in water quality between the time of pre- and post-oil and gas development activities, the well owner should discuss it with the lab, or with local or state health, environmental protection, or natural resource authorities.

17 What to Do if Groundwater Quality Changes If you have additional questions regarding the safety of the water for your use, you should contact a qualified public health official. Most constituents in water can be treated to safe levels by in-home systems.

18 What to Do if Groundwater Quality Changes When considering a water treatment device, make sure its specifications match the substances and concentrations to be treated. You may want to check with the Water Quality Association at and NSF International at to determine if the treatment technology being considered has been performance tested.

19 Where to Get More Information The National Ground Water Association (NGWA) and Ground Water Protection Council (GWPC) remind water well owners of the importance of testing the water quality in their water wells prior to oil and gas drilling For more information on your private water well, contact your local water well system professional. Also visit NGWA s Web site at and its site for water well owners at For more information on regulation of oil and gas and water quality, contact the state oil and gas agency or the state environmental protection agency listed on the GWPC Web site at Also visit the GWPC/IOGCC FracFocus Web site at

20 Key Guidance Do baseline water testing prior to oil and gas drilling In lieu of specific state or local testing recommendations, use the list provided by NGWA- GWPC Do follow-up testing after drilling and completion activities have taken place What to do if water test results indicate a problematic change in water quality. Sources of additional information including

21 Utilization of the Brochure In just about one year, more than 1,100 visitors have viewed or downloaded the brochure from NGWA s WellOwner.org Web site. Distributed to GWPC membership Designed to allow state agencies to customize and distribute the brochure

22 How to Gain Access to the Brochure NGWA (via Association s consumer information Website) GWPC

23 Additional Information Resources for Water Well Owners Oil & Gas Production GWPC s FracFocus Web site at NGWA s Information Brief at mity_info_brief_2012.pdf Water well stewardship in general

24 For More Information on Brochure Ground Water Protection Council N. MacArthur Blvd. Oklahoma City, OK / National Ground Water Association 601 Dempsey Road Westerville, Ohio / and