Assessing the Environmental Impacts on Groundwater Quality in Areas of Unconventional Energy Resource Development
Tuesday, April 25, 2017: 1:10 p.m.
Bernhard Mayer, Ph.D.
,
Department of Geosciences, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
To assess potential impacts on shallow aquifers by leakage of fugitive gas or saline water from unconventional energy resource development, it is essential to establish a reliable baseline for shallow groundwater, but also to geochemically “fingerprint” gases and fluids in the intermediate and production zones. Subsequently, the groundwater should be regularly sampled after hydraulic fracturing has occurred to monitor for potential changes or demonstrate the lack thereof. The presentation will review current practices and approaches that have been utilized in Western Canada to assess environmental impacts of unconventional energy resource development and outline their potential and limitations.
Bernhard Mayer, Ph.D., Department of Geosciences, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
Dr. Bernhard Mayer is a Professor of Geochemistry in the Department of Geoscience at the University of Calgary. He received his PhD in Isotope Geochemistry in 1993 from the University of Munich (Germany). After an 18 months stint as postdoctoral fellow at the University of Calgary, he returned to Germany as an Assistant in the Department of Sedimentary and Isotope Geology at the Ruhr-University Bochum (1994-1997). In September 1997, Dr. Mayer accepted a professorial appointment at the University of Calgary, where he currently serves as head of the Department of Geoscience and director of the Applied Geochemistry group.
Dr. Mayer’s Applied Geochemistry research group (AGg) employs chemical and isotopic techniques to trace water, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and sulfur-containing compounds in surface and subsurface environments. His research applies innovative scientific approaches with the goal to reduce environmental impacts of anthropogenic activities including fossil fuel production. Dr. Mayer served as a member of the National Scientific Review Panel on “Harnessing Science and Technology to Understand Environmental Impacts of Shale Gas Extraction” coordinated by the Council of Canadian Academies (CCA) and as assistant scientific director of Carbon Management Canada (CMC) – a Networks of Centers of Excellence (NCE), Canada, hosted at the University of Calgary. Dr. Mayer has (co-)authored more than 140 papers in international peer-reviewed journals and 15 book chapters on a wide variety of geochemical topics including geologic CO2 sequestration, shale gas development, and water sources in the Athabasca oilsands region of northeastern Alberta, Canada.
