Dataset Information

Assessing changes in groundwater chemistry in landscapes with more than 100 years of oil and gas development.

ABSTRACT: With recent improvements in high-volume hydraulic fracturing (HVHF, known to the public as fracking), vast new reservoirs of natural gas and oil are now being tapped. As HVHF has expanded into the populous northeastern USA, some residents have become concerned about impacts on water quality. Scientists have addressed this concern by investigating individual case studies or by statistically assessing the rate of problems. In general, however, lack of access to new or historical water quality data hinders the latter assessments. We introduce a new statistical approach to assess water quality datasets - especially sets that differ in data volume and variance - and apply the technique to one region of intense shale gas development in northeastern Pennsylvania (PA) and one with fewer shale gas wells in northwestern PA. The new analysis for the intensely developed region corroborates an earlier analysis based on a different statistical test: in that area, changes in groundwater chemistry show no degradation despite that area's dense development of shale gas. In contrast, in the region with fewer shale gas wells, we observe slight but statistically significant increases in concentrations in some solutes in groundwaters. One potential explanation for the slight changes in groundwater chemistry in that area (northwestern PA) is that it is the regional focus of the earliest commercial development of conventional oil and gas (O&G) in the USA. Alternate explanations include the use of brines from conventional O&G wells as well as other salt mixtures on roads in that area for dust abatement or de-icing, respectively.

SUBMITTER: Wen T

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6384141 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Assessing changes in groundwater chemistry in landscapes with more than 100 years of oil and gas development.

Wen Tao T Agarwal Amal A Xue Lingzhou L Chen Alex A Herman Alison A Li Zhenhui Z Brantley Susan L SL

Environmental science. Processes & impacts 20190201 2

With recent improvements in high-volume hydraulic fracturing (HVHF, known to the public as fracking), vast new reservoirs of natural gas and oil are now being tapped. As HVHF has expanded into the populous northeastern USA, some residents have become concerned about impacts on water quality. Scientists have addressed this concern by investigating individual case studies or by statistically assessing the rate of problems. In general, however, lack of access to new or historical water quality data ...[more]

PMID: 30608109

Similar Datasets

Project description:Recent development in the synthesis and characterization of noble-gas compounds is reviewed, i.e., noble-gas chemistry reported in the last five years with emphasis on the publications issued after 2017. XeF2 is commercially available and has a wider practical application both in the laboratory use and in the industry. As a ligand it can coordinate to metal centers resulting in [M(XeF2)x]n+ salts. With strong Lewis acids, XeF2 acts as a fluoride ion donor forming [XeF]+ or [Xe2F3]+ salts. Latest examples are [Xe2F3][RuF6]·XeF2, [Xe2F3][RuF6] and [Xe2F3][IrF6]. Adducts NgF2·CrOF4 and NgF2·2CrOF4 (Ng = Xe, Kr) were synthesized and structurally characterized at low temperatures. The geometry of XeF6 was studied in solid argon and neon matrices. Xenon hexafluoride is a well-known fluoride ion donor forming various [XeF5]+ and [Xe2F11]+ salts. A large number of crystal structures of previously known or new [XeF5]+ and [Xe2F11]+ salts were reported, i.e., [Xe2F11][SbF6], [XeF5][SbF6], [XeF5][Sb2F11], [XeF5][BF4], [XeF5][TiF5], [XeF5]5[Ti10F45], [XeF5][Ti3F13], [XeF5]2[MnF6], [XeF5][MnF5], [XeF5]4[Mn8F36], [Xe2F11]2[SnF6], [Xe2F11]2[PbF6], [XeF5]4[Sn5F24], [XeF5][Xe2F11][CrVOF5]·2CrVIOF4, [XeF5]2[CrIVF6]·2CrVIOF4, [Xe2F11]2[CrIVF6], [XeF5]2[CrV2O2F8], [XeF5]2[CrV2O2F8]·2HF, [XeF5]2[CrV2O2F8]·2XeOF4, A[XeF5][SbF6]2 (A = Rb, Cs), Cs[XeF5][BixSb1-xF6]2 (x = ~0.37-0.39), NO2XeF5(SbF6)2, XeF5M(SbF6)3 (M = Ni, Mg, Zn, Co, Cu, Mn and Pd) and (XeF5)3[Hg(HF)]2(SbF6)7. Despite its extreme sensitivity, many new XeO3 adducts were synthesized, i.e., the 15-crown adduct of XeO3, adducts of XeO3 with triphenylphosphine oxide, dimethylsulfoxide and pyridine-N-oxide, and adducts between XeO3 and N-bases (pyridine and 4-dimethylaminopyridine). [Hg(KrF2)8][AsF6]2·2HF is a new example of a compound in which KrF2 serves as a ligand. Numerous new charged species of noble gases were reported (ArCH2+, ArOH+, [ArB3O4]+, [ArB3O5]+, [ArB4O6]+, [ArB5O7]+, [B12(CN)11Ne]-). Molecular ion HeH+ was finally detected in interstellar space. The discoveries of Na2He and ArNi at high pressure were reported. Bonding motifs in noble-gas compounds are briefly commented on in the last paragraph of this review.

Project description:The widespread distribution of unconventional oil and gas (UO&G) wells and other facilities in the United States potentially exposes millions of people to air and water pollutants, including known or suspected carcinogens. Childhood leukemia is a particular concern because of the disease severity, vulnerable population, and short disease latency. A comprehensive review of carcinogens and leukemogens associated with UO&G development is not available and could inform future exposure monitoring studies and human health assessments. The objective of this analysis was to assess the evidence of carcinogenicity of water contaminants and air pollutants related to UO&G development. We obtained a list of 1177 chemicals in hydraulic fracturing fluids and wastewater from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and constructed a list of 143 UO&G-related air pollutants through a review of scientific papers published through 2015 using PubMed and ProQuest databases. We assessed carcinogenicity and evidence of increased risk for leukemia/lymphoma of these chemicals using International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) monographs. The majority of compounds (>80%) were not evaluated by IARC and therefore could not be reviewed. Of the 111 potential water contaminants and 29 potential air pollutants evaluated by IARC (119 unique compounds), 49 water and 20 air pollutants were known, probable, or possible human carcinogens (55 unique compounds). A total of 17 water and 11 air pollutants (20 unique compounds) had evidence of increased risk for leukemia/lymphoma, including benzene, 1,3-butadiene, cadmium, diesel exhaust, and several polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Though information on the carcinogenicity of compounds associated with UO&G development was limited, our assessment identified 20 known or suspected carcinogens that could be measured in future studies to advance exposure and risk assessments of cancer-causing agents. Our findings support the need for investigation into the relationship between UO&G development and risk of cancer in general and childhood leukemia in particular.

Project description:The rapid decline of a few Emberiza bunting species is increasing conservation concerns, especially in Asia. However, temporal changes in communities and populations of buntings, ones of the most common migratory songbirds in Korea, have not been quantitatively assessed. To understand how the status of buntings has changed over the past 100 years, we collated abundance data from museum collections and bird-banding records between 1910 and 2019. We also used presence-absence data for buntings collected by a nationwide census scheme between 1997 to 2012. Our analysis showed that bunting communities reconstructed from museum-specimen and bird-banding data were not significantly different; however, community composition differed over time. The Meadow (E. cioides), Yellow-throated (E. elegans), Black-faced (E. spodocephala), Rustic (E. rustica) and Chestnut Buntings (E. rutila), which are still common or were once common species, significantly affected the temporal changes in bunting community composition. There were no recent changes in the presence of Rustic and Chestnut Buntings since 1997, but they caused medium-term changes in the bunting community composition, suggesting that there was a sharp to moderate decline in their numbers in the past. The probability of the presence of six bunting species decreased annually, with the most prominent decline in two common breeders, the Meadow (-2.99%/year) and Yellow-throated Buntings (-1.82%/year). This finding suggests that breeding buntings in Korea are under high pressure, as are the migratory buntings. Moreover, despite its recent population decline, the Yellow-throated Bunting was still a major contributor to the community, suggesting that bunting diversity has also been deteriorating while bunting populations are shrinking. Long-term monitoring schemes across their distribution ranges, international cooperation for identifying major threats and key areas of conservation, and law enforcement against illegal hunting and habitat loss are strongly required to mitigate the on-going decline of buntings in Korea and Asia.

Dataset Information

Assessing changes in groundwater chemistry in landscapes with more than 100 years of oil and gas development.

Publications

Assessing changes in groundwater chemistry in landscapes with more than 100 years of oil and gas development.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets