Title: | A Comprehensive Analysis of Groundwater Quality in The Barnett Shale Region |
Author(s): | Hildenbrand ZL; Carlton DD; Fontenot BE; Meik JM; Walton JL; Taylor JT; Thacker JB; Korlie S; Shelor CP; Henderson D; Kadjo AF; Roelke CE; Hudak PF; Burton T; Rifai HS; Schug KA; |
Address: | "daggerInform Environmental, LLC, Dallas Texas 75206, United States. double daggerAffiliate of the Collaborative Laboratories for Environmental Analysis and Remediation, The University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington Texas 76019, United States. section signDepartment of Chemistry and Biochemistry, The University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington Texas 76019, United States. parallelDepartment of Biological Sciences, Tarleton State University, Stephenville Texas 76401, United States. #Department of Biology, The University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington Texas 76019, United States. nablaDepartment of Geography, University of North Texas, Denton, Texas 76203, United States. paragraph signDepartment of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Houston, Houston, Texas 77204, United States" |
ISSN/ISBN: | 1520-5851 (Electronic) 0013-936X (Linking) |
Abstract: | "The exploration of unconventional shale energy reserves and the extensive use of hydraulic fracturing during well stimulation have raised concerns about the potential effects of unconventional oil and gas extraction (UOG) on the environment. Most accounts of groundwater contamination have focused primarily on the compositional analysis of dissolved gases to address whether UOG activities have had deleterious effects on overlying aquifers. Here, we present an analysis of 550 groundwater samples collected from private and public supply water wells drawing from aquifers overlying the Barnett shale formation of Texas. We detected multiple volatile organic carbon compounds throughout the region, including various alcohols, the BTEX family of compounds, and several chlorinated compounds. These data do not necessarily identify UOG activities as the source of contamination; however, they do provide a strong impetus for further monitoring and analysis of groundwater quality in this region as many of the compounds we detected are known to be associated with UOG techniques" |
Keywords: | "Anions/analysis Bromides/analysis Chlorides/analysis Chromatography, Gas Geologic Sediments/*chemistry Groundwater/*chemistry Metals/analysis Methylene Chloride/analysis Oil and Gas Fields/chemistry Texas Water Pollutants, Chemical/analysis *Water Quality;" |
Notes: | "MedlineHildenbrand, Zacariah L Carlton, Doug D Jr Fontenot, Brian E Meik, Jesse M Walton, Jayme L Taylor, Josh T Thacker, Jonathan B Korlie, Stephanie Shelor, C Phillip Henderson, Drew Kadjo, Akinde F Roelke, Corey E Hudak, Paul F Burton, Taylour Rifai, Hanadi S Schug, Kevin A eng Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't 2015/06/17 Environ Sci Technol. 2015 Jul 7; 49(13):8254-62. doi: 10.1021/acs.est.5b01526. Epub 2015 Jun 26" |