Concerned about, interested in, or just curious about hydraulic fracturing and its environmental implications?


Join the Society of Petroleum Engineers this Tuesday, April 21 for pizza and a technical talk from Dr. Nathaniel R. Warner of the Earth Sciences Department!


Location: Rocky 003

Time: 5PM on Tuesday, April 21


More details below.


Hydraulic fracturing and water quality

Production of oil and gas from unconventional sources such as impermeable organic-rich shale formations is made possible through the combined use of horizontal drilling and high volume slick water hydraulic fracturing (HVHF).

The widespread use of HVHF in the United States is changing the domestic energy (and geopolitical) landscape but is also leading to debate regarding the possible negative environmental impacts.

This presentation will examine the possible degradation of shallow groundwater and surface water quality associated with HVHF.  Using multiple geochemical isotopic tracers (11B/10B,87Sr/86Sr, and 228Ra/226Ra) we will attempt to examine processes and mechanism of water salinization using these forensic tools and reduce the ambiguity surrounding possible water contamination. In addition, we will examine future research focused on the source of solutes in produced water, shale-gas resource assessment, metal bioavailability, and long-term groundwater monitoring.

Nathaniel Warner is the Joseph B Obering Fellow in the Department of Earth Sciences at Dartmouth College. His research focuses on using boron, strontium, and radium isotope geochemistry to better understand the processes controlling sources of salts in produced waters, shallow groundwater, and surface water. Identifying the source(s) of salinity is vital for assessing the development strategy for both water and hydrocarbon resources under changing climate and/or energy resource development scenarios. Most recently, his worked has helped assess possible environmental impacts associated with high volume slick water hydraulic fracturing (HVHF).

Want to read up beforehand? See his most recent paper here: http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/es405118y