Approaches for High Resolution Monitoring for Groundwater Impacts from Shale Gas Development

Parker, Beth

Approaches for High Resolution Monitoring for Groundwater Impacts from Shale Gas Development

Tuesday, April 25, 2017: 9:55 a.m.

Beth Parker, PhD , University of Guelph, College of Physical and Engineering Science, G360 Institute for Groundwater Research, Guelph, Ontario, ON, Canada

Little is known about the migration and impacts of fugitive gas potentially associated with shale gas development because nearly all the monitoring has relied on sampling of domestic and farm wells without the installation of purpose-focused monitoring systems. Prior to shale gas development, the occurrence/abundance of methane and other gases along with groundwater chemistry and flow regime (e.g. fracture flow) need to be established as background so that impacts of hydraulic fracturing, if any, can be discerned. This presentation outlines an approach being developed using geochemical and isotope analyses on gases obtained from continuous core taken during drilling holes in which depth-discrete, multilevel monitoring systems (MLSs) are installed. The emphasis is on the upper freshwater and underlying intermediate zone to investigate baseline methane occurrence and potential migration in layered sedimentary bedrock. Existing commercially available MLSs are useful and new systems are being developed in combination with fiber optic cables. This project has two components, one based at the Field Research Station being established by the Containment and Monitoring Institute (CaMI) and the University of Calgary near Brooks, Alberta, for multidisciplinary research (CaMI.FRS). Initially there will be injections of CO₂ beneath caprock strata at as depth of 300 m below surface as part of a carbon capture and storage monitoring technology research program that later may include methane injection. Groundwater at this site is rich in natural biogenic methane. A farm well has been installed and conventional monitor well clusters are planned so that nearly all approaches to groundwater monitoring can be assessed. The other part of the project is planned for a site in the Yukon where extensive shale gas development is planned and background monitoring is needed. Experience at the CaMI.FRS will guide this endeavour.

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Beth Parker, PhD, University of Guelph, College of Physical and Engineering Science, G360 Institute for Groundwater Research, Guelph, Ontario, ON, Canada

Beth L. Parker has her bachelors degree in environmental science and economics, Masters in environmental engineering and PhD in hydrogeology She is Professor in the School of Engineering and Director of G360 - The Centre for Applied Groundwater Research at the University of Guelph. She has more than 25 years of experience as a groundwater professional investigating subsurface contamination issues at industrial sites around the world. Her current research activities emphasize field and laboratory studies of DNAPLs in sedimentary rocks, clayey deposits, and heterogeneous sandy aquifers, and focus on the effects of diffusion into and out of low permeability zones and on DNAPL fate, plume attenuation, and controls on remediation. She is currently involved in research and technology demonstration projects at Superfund and RCRA facilities in the United States and similar sites in Canada, Europe and Brazil. In July 2007, she was awarded an NSERC Canada Industrial Research Chair in Fractured Rock Contaminant Hydrology. In December 2009, she received the John Hem Award from the Association of Groundwater Scientists and Engineers of the United States National Groundwater Association.