Cantlay Tetiana, Bain Daniel J, Dombrowski Christopher, Rykaceski Michael, Bayto Mikayla, Miller Kiley, Stolz John F
Department of Biological Sciences, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA, 15282, USA.
Department of Environmental and Energy Engineering, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA, 15282, USA.
Sci Rep. 2025 Sep 17;15(1):32352. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-16976-5.
The proliferation of unconventional oil and gas development over the last two decades has raised concerns about impacts to surface and ground waters. Contamination associated with hydraulic fracturing introduces hydrocarbons and other harmful pollutants to drinking water sources. In this study, we evaluated the impact of a well communication event (frac-out) that occurred on June 19, 2022, in New Freeport, Pennsylvania. Over two years, 75 residential well and surface water samples were collected from surrounding areas and analyzed for anions, cations, and light hydrocarbons. Each sample was then assigned a Multi-component Contamination Index (MCI) (on a scale of 0-6) based on mass ratio space analysis (Ca/Sr, Br/SO, SO/Cl, Mg/Na, Mg/Li) and presence of light hydrocarbons (i.e., methane, ethane, and propane) to assess the level of impact. Results revealed evidence for oil and gas brine contributions to water chemistries as well as fugitive methane with 62% of the well water samples having an MCI greater than 4. 71% had methane, with 19% above 10 ppm. Geospatial analysis determined the extent of the contamination was wider than initially reported. Our results verify that unintended communication events can result in widespread contamination of subsurface water sources broader than current regulatory specified impact zones.
在过去二十年中，非常规油气开发的激增引发了人们对地表水和地下水影响的担忧。与水力压裂相关的污染会将碳氢化合物和其他有害污染物引入饮用水源。在本研究中，我们评估了2022年6月19日发生在宾夕法尼亚州新弗里波特的一次井间连通事件（压裂液泄漏）的影响。在两年时间里，从周边地区采集了75份住宅井水和地表水样本，分析其中的阴离子、阳离子和轻质烃类。然后根据质量比空间分析（钙/锶、溴/硫酸根、硫酸根/氯离子、镁/钠、镁/锂）以及轻质烃类（即甲烷、乙烷和丙烷）的存在情况，为每个样本分配一个多组分污染指数（MCI）（范围为0至6），以评估影响程度。结果显示了油气卤水对水化学的贡献以及逃逸甲烷的证据，62%的井水样本MCI大于4。71%的样本含有甲烷，其中19%超过10 ppm。地理空间分析确定污染范围比最初报告的更广。我们的结果证实，意外的连通事件会导致地下水源受到比当前监管规定的影响区域更广泛的污染。
