A GROUNDWATER MODELING FRAMEWORK FOR ELUCIDATING DRINKING-WATER VULNERABILITY TO CONTAMINATION BY WASTEWATER SPILLS FROM OIL AND GAS DEVELOPMENT

Nearly 20,000 unconventional oil and gas wells have been drilled and hydraulically fractured in the Marcellus and Utica/Point Pleasant shale region since 2004. While unconventional oil and gas development (UOGD) has made natural gas plentiful, created jobs, and increased economic activity, it has been accompanied by persistent concerns over its role in contamination of drinking water. Spills of hydraulic fracturing fluids, drilling fluids, and wastewaters have been implicated as sources of well-water impairment in households proximal to UOGD extraction. Our overarching goal is to develop and apply a hydrologic-based modeling framework for quantifying the risks posed by UOGD spills on the chemical quality of domestic well waters of the Marcellus region. Application of this modeling framework will enable novel inferences on the ways that hydrologic conditions and spill characteristics interact to shape contamination risks. This information should be valuable in supporting exposure assessment for health studies, planning interventions, designing water-quality monitoring programs, and illuminating relationships between sociodemographic factors and areas at high risk from UOGD-sourced contamination.