New Research In
Physical Sciences
Social Sciences
Featured Portals
Articles by Topic
Biological Sciences
Featured Portals
Articles by Topic
- Agricultural Sciences
- Anthropology
- Applied Biological Sciences
- Biochemistry
- Biophysics and Computational Biology
- Cell Biology
- Developmental Biology
- Ecology
- Environmental Sciences
- Evolution
- Genetics
- Immunology and Inflammation
- Medical Sciences
- Microbiology
- Neuroscience
- Pharmacology
- Physiology
- Plant Biology
- Population Biology
- Psychological and Cognitive Sciences
- Sustainability Science
- Systems Biology
Increased stray gas abundance in a subset of drinking water wells near Marcellus shale gas extraction
Edited by Susan E. Trumbore, Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, Jena, Germany, and approved June 3, 2013 (received for review December 17, 2012)
Abstract
Horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing are transforming energy production, but their potential environmental effects remain controversial. We analyzed 141 drinking water wells across the Appalachian Plateaus physiographic province of northeastern Pennsylvania, examining natural gas concentrations and isotopic signatures with proximity to shale gas wells. Methane was detected in 82% of drinking water samples, with average concentrations six times higher for homes <1 km from natural gas wells (P = 0.0006). Ethane was 23 times higher in homes <1 km from gas wells (P = 0.0013); propane was detected in 10 water wells, all within approximately 1 km distance (P = 0.01). Of three factors previously proposed to influence gas concentrations in shallow groundwater (distances to gas wells, valley bottoms, and the Appalachian Structural Front, a proxy for tectonic deformation), distance to gas wells was highly significant for methane concentrations (P = 0.007; multiple regression), whereas distances to valley bottoms and the Appalachian Structural Front were not significant (P = 0.27 and P = 0.11, respectively). Distance to gas wells was also the most significant factor for Pearson and Spearman correlation analyses (P < 0.01). For ethane concentrations, distance to gas wells was the only statistically significant factor (P < 0.005). Isotopic signatures (δ13C-CH4, δ13C-C2H6, and δ2H-CH4), hydrocarbon ratios (methane to ethane and propane), and the ratio of the noble gas 4He to CH4 in groundwater were characteristic of a thermally postmature Marcellus-like source in some cases. Overall, our data suggest that some homeowners living <1 km from gas wells have drinking water contaminated with stray gases.
- carbon, hydrogen, and helium isotopes
- groundwater contamination
- geochemical fingerprinting
- fracking
- hydrology and ecology
Footnotes
- ↵1To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: jackson{at}duke.edu.
Author contributions: R.B.J., A.V., T.H.D., N.R.W., and A.D. designed research; R.B.J., A.V., T.H.D., N.R.W., A.D., R.J.P., S.G.O., K.Z., and J.D.K. performed research; R.B.J., A.V., T.H.D., N.R.W., A.D., R.J.P., K.Z., and J.D.K. analyzed data; and R.B.J., A.V., T.H.D., N.R.W., and A.D. wrote the paper.
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
This article is a PNAS Direct Submission.
This article contains supporting information online at www.pnas.org/lookup/suppl/doi:10.1073/pnas.1221635110/-/DCSupplemental.
Freely available online through the PNAS open access option.
Citation Manager Formats
More Articles of This Classification
Physical Sciences
Environmental Sciences
Related Content
Cited by...
- Impact of an historic underground gas well blowout on the current methane chemistry in a shallow groundwater system
- Differentiating between biogenic and thermogenic sources of natural gas in coalbed methane reservoirs from the Illinois Basin using noble gas and hydrocarbon geochemistry
- Noble gases in conventional and unconventional petroleum systems
- Hydraulic fracturing near domestic groundwater wells
- Identification and characterization of high methane-emitting abandoned oil and gas wells
- Groundwater methane in relation to oil and gas development and shallow coal seams in the Denver-Julesburg Basin of Colorado
- Salinity of deep groundwater in California: Water quantity, quality, and protection
- Temporal variability of methane in domestic groundwater wells, northeastern Pennsylvania
- Dissolved methane in shallow groundwater of the Appalachian Basin: Results from the Chesapeake Energy predrilling geochemical database
- Elevated levels of diesel range organic compounds in groundwater near Marcellus gas operations are derived from surface activities
- Direct measurements of methane emissions from abandoned oil and gas wells in Pennsylvania
- Quantification of potential macroseismic effects of the induced seismicity that might result from hydraulic fracturing for shale gas exploitation in the UK
- Noble gases identify the mechanisms of fugitive gas contamination in drinking-water wells overlying the Marcellus and Barnett Shales
- Assessment and risk analysis of casing and cement impairment in oil and gas wells in Pennsylvania, 2000-2012
- The integrity of oil and gas wells