Hydrofracturing: Public Health Issues and Impacts the PA Experience

Transcription

1 Hydrofracturing: Public Health Issues and Impacts the PA Experience 2013 Midwest Environmental Health Summit Trevor M. Penning, Ph.D. Director Center of Excellence in Environmental Toxicology,Perelman School of Medicine

2 What is the Marcellus Shale? Half the land mass of Pennsylvania 22,835 sq miles 84 trillion cubic ft of natural gas Price is $2 - $14 per cubic ft Enough for the entire US population for 4 yrs Shale sedimentary rock Organic rich and porous Contains thermogenic methane 2

3 The Drill Rig Drill head and pad 5-10 acre plot Ideally one per sq mile Saturating drilling 8 per square mile High density drilling in Susquehanna Co, PA Pennsylvania would need 22,000 to 160,000 drill rigs In April 2012 > 12,000 permits 3

4 Permit Sites in PA April 2012 (produced with Harvard World Maps) 4

5 The Fracking Process 5

6 The Holding Ponds for Flow-Back Water Need 5M gallons water per well head Each truck carries 4,000 gallons water 1250 truck loads Proppant: 1.5 M pounds (silica/sand) Requires 40 truck loads X1 to x10 frack episodes per well <30% in the flow back water held in pits 6

7 Diesel Trucking Diesel Trucks Deliver: Drill-Rigs Propant Fracking chemicals Compressor parts Gas line piping Diesel Trucks Remove: Natural gas Waste water 7

8 Night-Time Flaring Well is tested by flaring Release of methane: BETEX (benzene, ethylbenzene, toluene and xylene) Move towards marketing wet-gas a larger portion of methane is burned Release of hydrogen sulfide 8

9 Processing and Transport Dehydration and condensation to remove water and VOCs Liquefy hydrocarbon by-products (propane and butane) Compressor stations to pressurize natural gas for pipe-lines High-pressure gas lines navigate PA countryside Welding exempt from safety regulations in rural areas Pipes join national grid 9

10 Additives in Fracking Fluid Arthur et al., (2008) Hydraulic Fracturing Considerations for Natural gas FracFocus.org Chemical Disclosure Registry- 12,000 disclosures 10

11 Potential for Water Pollution-Fracking Fluid 0.49% of fracking fluid contains a mixture of chemicals 95 tons of chemicals are used per well base Composition is a trade-secret Some chemicals listed by class and not by CAS registry number Classes of chemicals used include: -BETEX -Substituted benzenes -Ethylene glycol -Petroleum distillate -Silica -Sodium and potassium salts -Ammonium salts (Source DEP-PA) 11

12 Possible Health Effects of Chemicals with CAS Registry Solubles (n=206) Volatiles (n =126) Colborn et al., Human & Ecolog Risk Assess. 2011; 17, 1039 Based on MSDS 12

13 Potential for Water Pollution- Flow-Back Fluid MCL = maximum contaminant level ppm 13

14 Potential for Water Pollution- Flow-Back Fluid (NORM = Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material) 14

15 Potential for Air Pollution VOCs and PM 2.5 Photochemistry between VOCs and nitrogen oxides generate ground level ozone Ground level ozone exacerbates underlying asthma and COPD and causes lung injury Diesel Exhaust Transportation and Compressor Stations -VOCs -Butadiene, acrolein, formaldehyde -PM2.5: carbonaecous core adsorbs PAH, nitro-pah and metals -PM2.5: lodge in the deep lung (bronchioles and alveoli) -PM2.5: invoke an inflammatory response exacerbate lung disease -Diesel exhaust: Group 1: carcinogenic in humans (IARC) 15

16 Occupational Exposures -1 NIOSH Concerned about safety of workers Eleven states and five sites visited >150 different occupations involved Hydrogen sulfide exposure at the well-head Movement of sand for propant and silicosis Allamakee Co- Jordan Sandstone (Courtesy of Esswein-NIOSH) 16

17 Occupational Exposures-2 Unfettered access to fracking chemicals Exposure to VOCs in flow-back pits Exposure to diesel exhaust during all activities (Courtesy of Esswein-NIOSH) 17

18 What does the science tell us? CASE 1: -7 residential wells In Leroy Township, Bradford Co -affected by Cheaspeake natural gas drilling ATSDR found: - well 2 had 30 ug/l Arsenic - wells 2-7 elevated Na but not Ba, Ca, Mn, and K - bottled water given to residents using wells 2-4 CASE 2: -11 homes in Dimock, Susquehanna Co PA -Houston Cabot and Gas contaminated aquifer EPA found ( ): -Surveyed 61 households -6/11 homes elevated Na, CH 4, Cr -2/11 homes elevated As -Levels do not present a health hazard 18

19 Methane in Drinking Water Comes From Natural Gas Drilling 51/60 drinking wells tested + ive (Osborn et al., PNAS 2011, 108: 8172) 19

20 Air Quality Monitoring in the Barnett Shale Natural gas drilling in the Barnett Shale since 2002 Barnett Shale close to Dallas-Fort Worth Metropolitan Area Texas Commission on Environmental Quality - Air monitoring Measured NOx, VOCs (benzene) source of ozone Helicopter flyrovers with GasFind IR cameras/ handmonitors for VOC/ mobile GC/ SUMMA-sampling canisters Monitored between ; 560 sites LOC for benzene 180 ppb (acute) and 1.4 ppb (chronic exposure) Field deployed automated GCs for continuous monitoring at 2 sites Only two incidences where LOC was exceeded Results posted on Barnett Shale Geological Area 20

21 Public Health Concerns Hazard ID x Exposure = Margin of Safety & Health Risk Slick-water Fracking chemicals Contaminants in flow back water VOCs and ozone CH 4 and hydrocarbons Diesel exhaust and PM2.5 x Water pollution Migration Aquifers Well water Ground water Surface water Air pollution Drill head proximity Compressor stations Transportation Occupational Vulnerable populations: children, pregnant women 21

22 What research needs to be done? External Dose: air and water quality longitudinal sampling-gis tools (lack of base line data) identify exposures for biomonitoring Internal Dose: biomarkers of exposure: (VOCs/PM2.5/heavy metals/other contaminants) reliable LOC for all chemical contaminants (RfD) and margin of safety biomarkers of effect: (intermediate disease biomarkers) Epidemiological Study Longitudinal (> 5 yrs): will require CBPR approach base line health assessment use of personalized air monitors/biosensors (external dose) serum and urine/biofluids for biomarkers (internal dose) each person their own control Mechanistic Toxicology components of fracking fluids and flow back water complex mixture problem HTS in vitro assays for triage to animal testing 22

23 What research needs to be done? Community Outreach and Dissemination affected communities landowners and leasers municipalities and townships local, state and federal legislators and agencies gas and drilling companies Health Effects and Outcomes Research public health professionals occupational and environmental health physicians stress of rapid industrialization increase in substance abuse and crime noise and sleep deprivation monitor disease registries Health Services Research increase in hospital and mental health services increase in accidents and injury use of emergency medical services are the sources adequate 23

24 Environmental Health Research Agenda Veterinary Medicine Animal Sentinels Environmental Scientists Mechanistic Toxicology Public Health Professionals & Clinicians Epidemiology & Biostatistics Potential Health Hazard Large Population Exposure Science Community Based Participatory Research Translation- Public Health Policy Translation- Targeted Communities Translation- Environmental Law Requires: $$$; Politics?? NY Times Article

25 State of Affairs in Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett (R) elected Jan refuses to invoke an impact fee on gas-drillers PA-DEP Secretary Krancer places moratorium on waste water tmt after US EPA Region III intervenes-may 2011 Delaware Basin Water Commission postpones decision on hydrofracking indefinitely-november 21, 2011 SB1100/HB-1950-Act 13: Impact fee introduced -state takes back zoning authority from townships and municipalities -imposes CDA for health care professionals to treat patients State has primacy for water safety under SDWA and CWA -Hailburton exemption makes flow-back water exempt from acts Tom Corbett: I will direct the DEP to return to its core mission of protecting the environment based on sound science 25

26 Latest Developments Institute of Medicine April 30-May 1, 2012 The Health Impact Assessment of New Energy Sources: Shale Gas Extraction Frac Act Senators: Bob Casey (D-PA) and Chuck Schumer (D-NY) April 17 th Executive Order President Obama Supporting Safe and Responsible Development of Unconventional Domestic Natural Gas Resources Federal Register page and date: 77 FR 23107, April 17, 2012 April 17 th, new EPA regulations to curtail emissions by , EPA Study Potential Impacts of Hydraulic Fracturing on Drinking Water Resources- to be completed by

27 The Precautionary Principle The precautionary principle states that if an action or policy has a suspected risk of causing harm to the public or to the environment, in the absence of scientific consensus that the action or policy is harmful, the burden of proof that it is not harmful falls on those taking the action. 27

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29 Latest Developments 2011, EPA Study Potential Impacts of Hydraulic Fracturing on Drinking Water Resources Hydrofracturing water cycle -water acquistion-destruction of water -chemical mixing and surface spills -well injection -flow back or produced water /ground water contamination -waste water treatment Sources of data -9 companies, 25,000 wells, 12,000 chemical disclosures -toxicological data is being complied -laboratory studies -case studies 70 domestic water wells, 15 monitoring wells 13 surface water sources Completion date

30 Assessing Risk Hazard Identification- what is the chemical? Dose response-what is the shape of the dose-response curve and NOAEL? Exposure assessment-what is the exposure? external and internal dose Risk Characterization-what is the likelihood to cause harm (margin of exposure, ratio of exposure to NOAEL) Risk Communication Risk Management 30