NYWEA Spring Tech Wastewater Management & Shale Gas Development: What NY should know

about trends in the Marcellus and Elsewhere

Presented by Brian G Rahm, PhD,

Josephine T Bates, Lara R Bertoia, Amy E Galford, Susan J Riha (NYS Water Resources Institute)

& David A Yoxtheimer (Penn State Marcellus Center for Outreach & Research) 06/03/13

wri.eas.cornell.edu

Water Resource Events Framework

Basin-scale (Collective impacts associated

with overall pace & scale of development)

Local-scale (Specific impacts associated with

a reported event)

Planned Unplanned (Deterministic) (Probabilistic)

Surface

Subsurface

Monitoring

2008 2009 2010 2011

Wastewater volumes reported for Marcellus Shale development in PA

= 200,000 m3 (~53 million gallons)

What’s happening

in PA?

Waste Disposal Methods 2008-2011: Trends

Wastewater management as reported to PADEP

Waste Disposal Methods 2008-2011: Trends & Drivers

Price of gas # of wells drilled

Rahm, et al., 2013. Wastewater management and Marcellus Shale gas development: Trends, drivers, and planning implications: Journal of Environmental Management

NOTE: The data base was split into sections labeled “2010-2”, “2010-3”, etc. and the specific time periods for these sections have yet to be identified

2009-2Q: PADEP TDS discharge strategy

2011-2Q: PADEP halt to POTW

2009 – 2011: Reuse displaces POTW (aided by service industry growth)

2011-3Q: $3 low by end of year

2011: Increased use of injection disposal as % of total

Fewer data gaps as operators & regulators adjust

2010-2Q: PA Act 15 waste and production reporting

Waste Disposal Methods 2008-2011: Drivers

PA Regional Waste Disposal Methods 2008-2011

SOUTHWEST (Greene, Washington, Fayette)

NORTHEAST (Tioga, Bradford, Susquehanna)

Rahm, et al., 2013. Wastewater management and Marcellus Shale gas development: Trends, drivers, andplanning implications: Journal of Environmental Management

PA

WV

OH

PA

WV

OH

Wastewater exporting county

Wastewater importing county

A

B

Marcellus Waste Transport

Rahm, et al., 2013. Wastewater management and Marcellus Shale gas development: Trends, drivers, and planning implications: Journal of Environmental Management

PA Regional Waste Disposal Methods 2008-2011

Rahm, et al., 2013. Wastewater management and Marcellus Shale gas development: Trends, drivers, and planning implications: Journal of Environmental Management

What about wastewater management in the conventional gas industry?

What’s happening

in PA?

What’s happening elsewhere?

How much injection disposal well capacity is available in OH?

The answer depends on the price of natural gas, the development of innovative technologies that might reduce

concentrated brine volumes, Ohio’s willingness to accept out-of-state waste in the context of Utica development

What’s happening elsewhere?

Thermal & crystallization tech for

discharge

Electrocoagulation for reuse

Increased H2O tracking and SCADA

Fracturing w/o H2O

Rahm, et al., 2012. Toward strategic management of shale gas development: Regional, collective impacts on water resources: Environmental Science & Policy

What about NY?

Rahm, et al., 2012. Toward strategic management of shale gas development: Regional, collective impacts on water resources: Environmental Science & Policy

What’s happening in PA? (and what might NY expect?)

• Overall wastewater volume increased significantly • Increased reliance on reuse (often via primary treatment

+), industrial and on-site treatment, and injection disposal

• Management trends depend on type and location of infrastructure, proximity of injection wells, regulations related to waste discharge and transport, gas prices (both kinds), and overall pace and scale

• Conventional treatment may be brought more in-line with unconventional

• Activity well beyond the geographic area of actual well drilling

What’s happening elsewhere?

• Analysis of injection well capacity in OH: it depends…

• NGLs for fracturing • Water tracking systems and SCADA platforms • New crystallization technologies - discharge • Produced water quality can vary from site to site • Recycle mix not important for EUR • Drilling schedule fluctuations can lead to

challenges allocating recycled water • Electrocoagulation being used for TSS, Fe,

hydrocarbons (much less waste sludge compared to chem precip) – for reuse

What it means for NY

• Direct treatment via most (read: all but one or two in the state) POTWs will not be politically or technically feasible

• Private/industrial treatment facilities can be established with technologies more suited to handle this type of waste –regulation and monitoring easier

• Injection disposal only a small part of wastewater management

• New technologies depend on reuse and/or discharge strategies

• Should decide what kinds of questions we want our tracking and reporting systems to answer – PA database is a good start, but not always accurate/effective

wri.eas.cornell.edu