Methane contamination of drinking water accompanying gas-well drilling and hydraulic fracturing

TLDR

Directional drilling and hydraulic fracturing are rapidly expanding natural‑gas extraction. The study documents systematic evidence of methane contamination in drinking water above the Marcellus and Utica shales and calls for greater stewardship and regulation. Methane concentrations in drinking water rise with proximity to gas wells, reaching up to 64 mg CH₄ L⁻¹, and isotopic signatures indicate a thermogenic source from the Marcellus and Utica shales, while no evidence of brine or fracturing fluid contamination was found.

Abstract

Directional drilling and hydraulic-fracturing technologies are dramatically increasing natural-gas extraction. In aquifers overlying the Marcellus and Utica shale formations of northeastern Pennsylvania and upstate New York, we document systematic evidence for methane contamination of drinking water associated with shale-gas extraction. In active gas-extraction areas (one or more gas wells within 1 km), average and maximum methane concentrations in drinking-water wells increased with proximity to the nearest gas well and were 19.2 and 64 mg CH 4 L -1 ( n = 26), a potential explosion hazard; in contrast, dissolved methane samples in neighboring nonextraction sites (no gas wells within 1 km) within similar geologic formations and hydrogeologic regimes averaged only 1.1 mg L -1 ( P < 0.05; n = 34). Average δ 13 C-CH 4 values of dissolved methane in shallow groundwater were significantly less negative for active than for nonactive sites (-37 ± 7‰ and -54 ± 11‰, respectively; P < 0.0001). These δ 13 C-CH 4 data, coupled with the ratios of methane-to-higher-chain hydrocarbons, and δ 2 H-CH 4 values, are consistent with deeper thermogenic methane sources such as the Marcellus and Utica shales at the active sites and matched gas geochemistry from gas wells nearby. In contrast, lower-concentration samples from shallow groundwater at nonactive sites had isotopic signatures reflecting a more biogenic or mixed biogenic/thermogenic methane source. We found no evidence for contamination of drinking-water samples with deep saline brines or fracturing fluids. We conclude that greater stewardship, data, and—possibly—regulation are needed to ensure the sustainable future of shale-gas extraction and to improve public confidence in its use.