Table Of ContentWASTEWATER AND SHALE
FORMATION DEVELOPMENT
Risks, Mitigation, and Regulation
© 2016 by Apple Academic Press, Inc.
© 2016 by Apple Academic Press, Inc.
WASTEWATER AND SHALE
FORMATION DEVELOPMENT
Risks, Mitigation, and Regulation
Edited by
Sheila Olmstead, PhD
© 2016 by Apple Academic Press, Inc.
CRC Press Apple Academic Press, Inc
Taylor & Francis Group 3333 Mistwell Crescent
6000 Broken Sound Parkway NW, Suite 300 Oakville, ON L6L 0A2
Boca Raton, FL 33487-2742 Canada
© 2016 by Apple Academic Press, Inc.
Exclusive worldwide distribution by CRC Press an imprint of Taylor & Francis Group, an Informa
business
No claim to original U.S. Government works
Version Date: 20150611
International Standard Book Number-13: 978-1-77188-161-6 (eBook - PDF)
This book contains information obtained from authentic and highly regarded sources. Reason-
able efforts have been made to publish reliable data and information, but the author and publisher
cannot assume responsibility for the validity of all materials or the consequences of their use. The
authors and publishers have attempted to trace the copyright holders of all material reproduced in
this publication and apologize to copyright holders if permission to publish in this form has not
been obtained. If any copyright material has not been acknowledged please write and let us know so
we may rectify in any future reprint.
Except as permitted under U.S. Copyright Law, no part of this book may be reprinted, reproduced,
transmitted, or utilized in any form by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or
hereafter invented, including photocopying, microfilming, and recording, or in any information
storage or retrieval system, without written permission from the publishers.
For permission to photocopy or use material electronically from this work, please access www.
copyright.com (http://www.copyright.com/) or contact the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc.
(CCC), 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, 978-750-8400. CCC is a not-for-profit organiza-
tion that provides licenses and registration for a variety of users. For organizations that have been
granted a photocopy license by the CCC, a separate system of payment has been arranged.
Trademark Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and
are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
Visit the Taylor & Francis Web site at
http://www.taylorandfrancis.com
and the CRC Press Web site at
http://www.crcpress.com
For information about Apple Academic Press product
http://www.appleacademicpress.com
© 2016 by Apple Academic Press, Inc.
About the Editor
SHEILA OLMSTEAD, PhD
Sheila Olmstead, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Public Affairs at the
LBJ School. Before joining the LBJ School, Dr. Olmstead was a Fellow
(2010-2013) and Senior Fellow (2013) at Resources for the Future in
Washington, DC, as well as an Associate Professor (2007–2010) and As-
sistant Professor (2002–2007) of Environmental Economics at the Yale
University School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, where she
was the recipient of three teaching awards. Olmstead is an environmental
economist whose current research projects examine the environmental ex-
ternalities associated with shale gas development in the United States, reg-
ulatory avoidance under the U.S. Safe Drinking Water Act, the influence
of federal fire suppression policy on land development in the American
West, and free-riding in dam placement and water withdrawals in trans-
boundary river basins. She has worked extensively on the economics of
water resource management, focusing on water demand estimation, water
conservation policy, and access to drinking water services among low-
income communities. Climate and energy policy are additional topics of
her research, especially with regard to the application of market-based en-
vironmental policy instruments. Her research has been published in lead-
ing journals such as the Journal of Economic Perspectives, Proceedings
of the National Academy of Sciences, Journal of Business and Economic
Statistics, Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Jour-
nal of Urban Economics, and Water Resources Research. With Nathaniel
Keohane, she is the author of the 2007 book Markets and the Environ-
ment. Her research has been funded by the National Science Foundation,
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Department of the Interior,
World Bank, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, U.S. Department of Energy,
and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Dr. Olmstead is a
former member of the Board of Directors of the Association of Environ-
mental and Resource Economists, and a member of the Advisory Board of
the International Water Resource Economics Consortium.
© 2016 by Apple Academic Press, Inc.
© 2016 by Apple Academic Press, Inc.
Contents
Acknowledgment and How to Cite ..............................................................ix
List of Contributors .....................................................................................xi
Introduction .................................................................................................xv
Part I: Water Use and Wastewater Production
in Shale Gas Development
1. Source and Fate of Hydraulic Fracturing Water
in the Barnett Shale: A Historical Perspective .........................................3
Jean-Philippe Nicot, Bridget R. Scanlon, Robert C. Reedy,
and Ruth A. Costley
2. The Fate of Injected Water in Shale Formations ...................................27
Hongtao Jia, John McLennan, and Milind Deo
3. Spatial and Temporal Correlation of Water Quality Parameters
of Produced Waters from Devonian-Age Shale Following
Hydraulic Fracturing ...............................................................................41
Elise Barbot, Natasa S. Vidic, Kelvin B. Gregory, and Radisav D. Vidic
Part II: Potential Environmental Effects of Fracking Wastewater
4. Shale Gas Development Impacts on Surface Water Quality
in Pennsylvania .........................................................................................63
Sheila M. Olmstead, Lucija A. Muehlenbachs, Jhih-Shyang Shih,
Ziyan Chu, and Alan J. Krupnick
5. Geochemical and Isotopic Variations in Shallow Groundwater
in Areas of the Fayetteville Shale Development,
North-Central Arkansas ..........................................................................81
Nathaniel R. Warner, Timothy M. Kresse, Phillip D. Hays, Adrian Down,
Jonathan D. Karr, Robert B. Jackson, and Avner Vengosh
6. Radionuclides in Fracking Wastewater: Managing a Toxic Blend ....115
Valerie J. Brown
© 2016 by Apple Academic Press, Inc.
viii Contents
Part III: The Quest for Mitigation
7. Optimal Well Design for Enhanced Stimulation Fluids Recovery
and Flowback Treatment in the Marcellus Shale Gas Development
using Integrated Technologies ...............................................................129
Richard Olawoyin, Christian Madu, and Khaled Enab
8. Co-Precipitation of Radium with Barium and Strontium Sulfate
and Its Impact on the Fate of Radium during Treatment of
Produced Water from Unconventional Gas Extraction ......................159
Tieyuan Zhang, Kelvin Gregory, Richard W. Hammack,
and Radisav D. Vidic
Part IV: Fracking Wastewater Regulations
9. Regulation of Water Pollution from Hydraulic Fracturing in
Horizontally-Drilled Wells in the Marcellus Shale Region, USA .......183
Heather Hatzenbuhler and Terence J. Centner
10. Excerpt from: Refl ecting Risk: Chemical Disclosure
and Hydraulic Fracturing ......................................................................199
Sara Gosman
11. Hydraulic Fracturing: Paving the Way for a Sustainable Future? ...235
Jiangang Chen, Mohammed H. Al-Wadei, Rebekah C. M. Kennedy,
and Paul D. Terry
Author Notes ....................................................................................................259
Index .................................................................................................................261
© 2016 by Apple Academic Press, Inc.
Acknowledgment and How to Cite
The editor and publisher thank each of the authors who contributed to this
book. The chapters in this book were previously published elsewhere in
various formats. To cite the work contained in this book and to view the
individual permissions, please refer to the citation at the beginning of each
chapter. Each chapter was read individually and carefully selected by the
editor; the result is a book that provides a nuanced look at the wastewater
issues associated with shale gas development. The chapters included are
divided into four sections, which describe the following topics:
• In Part 1, chapters 1, 2, and 3 were selected for their focus on water use
and the fate of injected water. The articles consider two very different shale
plays (the Marcellus in chapters 1 and 3, and the Barnett, in chapter 2),
with completely different water sourcing and wastewater disposal options,
which offers the reader a more comprehensive summary of the state-of-the-
science.
• In Part 2, which focuses on the environmental impact of hydrofacturing
wastewater, chapters 4 and 5 were selected to give research-based analysis
from objective sources on the impact of fracking wastewater on surface and
ground water. Chapter 6 defines the problem of naturally occurring radioac-
tive material in shale wastewater, which will be discussed further in Part 3’s
discussion of mitigation techniques.
• In Part 3, chapters 7 and 8 provide research on methodologies and tech-
nologies that offer solutions to the problems of fluid recovery in terms of
flowback treatment, as well as treatments to deal with radioactivity in shale
wastewater.
• In Part 4, chapters 9 and 10 discuss the legal issues and their connections
to scientific research, as well as their implications for future environmental
and economic consequences. Chapter 10 provides important information on
U.S. states’ individual regulations, since the states are such key players in
oil and gas regulation.
• Chapter 11 is useful as a summary conclusion, restating factors discussed
throughout the book at a simplified level and connecting the scientific, en-
vironmental, and regulatory issues at stake.
© 2016 by Apple Academic Press, Inc.
© 2016 by Apple Academic Press, Inc.
