1. Kathy Metropulos Division of Drinking and Ground Waters Protecting your aquifer: What to consider when drilling oil and gas wells.

2. What If?

3. Goal of SWAP Program To protect the drinking water source from future contamination through planning and implementing strategies designed to protect the well field

4. What is SWAP? Source Water Assessment and Protection Program  Wellhead Protection developed in 1986  Required by 1996 Amendments to the Safe Drinking Water Act  Requires that all 5,800 Public Water Systems in Ohio take Steps to Protect their Source of Drinking Water

5. The SWAP Process Develop and Implement Drinking Water Source Protection Strategies  Define Protection Areas for Wells/Intakes  Inventory Potential Contaminant Sources  Determine Susceptibility The Assessment - Completed by Ohio EPA The Protection Plan - Completed by Water System

6. 3 rd Largest pumper in NE Ohio >6 MGD Pop. >50,000 >19,000 Service Connections 18 Large-Diameter Wells Complex Lagoon System Next to Cuyahoga River

7. Potential Contaminant Sources

9. Susceptibility Analysis How susceptible is the source of drinking water (aquifer) to contamination?  High, Moderate or Low Based On:  Type of Water System  Hydrogeologic Setting  Potential Contaminant Sources  Review of Water Quality Data

10. Cuyahoga Falls Aquifer Susceptibility Ground Surface=(0 Feet) Sand: 22 to 50 Feet Well Information: Total Depths= 72 - 130 Feet Casing Lengths = 52 - 102 Feet Water Table = 4 - 35 Feet Sand and Clay: 0 to 22 Feet Sand and Gravel: 50 to 120 Feet

12. Creek Public Water Well Above-Ground Storage Tank Ground Water Flow Direction Potential Ground Water Flow and Contaminant Transport Potential Chemical Plume Potential Nitrate Plume Septic Oil and Gas Well

13. Protection Planning  Each public water system is responsible for creating a plan to protect the aquifer.  Each plan will contain regulatory and non-regulatory approaches to protecting the aquifer.

14. State or federal regulations do not provide for well field protection outside the 300- foot well isolation radius. Local authorities are responsible for protecting the well field through ordinance and other non- regulatory means.

15. Oil and Gas Wells The Needs  O&G needed to reduce dependency on foreign oil  Helps US economy and supplies  Ohio has 4 th largest number of oils and gas wells, behind Texas, Oklahoma, and Pennsylvania  Helps Ohio’s economy

16. Oil and Gas Wells the facts  In 1884, Ohio Worlds largest oil producer  To date, Ohio has produced over 1 Billion barrels crude oil, and almost 8 trillion cubic feet of natural gas  Currently, over 62,000 active wells

17. What’s in natural gas and oil? Natural gas is a mixture of hydrocarbon compounds and small quantities of various non-hydrocarbons existing in the gaseous phase or in solution with crude oil in natural underground reservoirs Methane, ethane, propane, butane Benzene, toluene, xylene (VOC) Brine: Chloride, sodium, calcium, magnesium, VOCs

18. Drilling the Well  Drilling through aquifer formations to deep zones (4000 feet deep)  Potential for cross-contamination of aquifer and oil-bearing formation  Fluids used in the drilling process have potential to pollute ground water  Upper zones “cased” off

19. Drilling the Well  Oil field wastes, drilling muds, cuttings, and other fluids  are a GW threat when stored or disposed of improperly  Must be stored in pits, which are usually lined.  These wastes are usually hauled away  Want all drilling wastes hauled at end of drilling process.

20. Hydraulic Fracturing of Oil Formation  Hydraulic Fracturing used to increase production.  Acid fluids are put down the well before fracturing.  Fracturing is unpredictable, can create pathways to aquifer.  Fracturing fluids are often hazardous, not regulated, and exempt from the Safe Drinking Water Act.

21. Storage  Above-ground storage tanks contain either brine or gas –Brine contains ground water, salt, VOCs –Gas and oil contain VOCs  Above Ground Storage Tanks must be diked –Clay is usually used  Improper disposal of brine and other wastes can cause GW contamination

22. Brine Disposal  Brine: an unwanted by-product of drilling and production.  40,000 to 50,000 barrels of brine produced daily in Ohio  Disposal :  ~177 brine injection wells in Ohio  90-95% of Ohio’s brine disposed of in conventional Disposal wells  Also used in surface applications for dust and ice control

23. Other Problems  Spills  Vandalism  Acts of God

24. How Risky is Ground Water Contamination from Oil and Gas Well Operations in Ohio?  Ohio EPA had ~20 cases in the last 15 years.  ODNR received 800 to 900 ground water contamination cases since the mid-1980s.  20% of these (160 – 180) are oil and gas- related.  This comes to <10 cases per year out of ~62,000 wells operating in Ohio.

28. Protecting the Aquifer  Drill away from protection area

29. Risk! How much risk are you willing to take near the third most prolific well field in Northeast Ohio?

30. Once a well field becomes contaminated, It is very expensive, and takes a very long time, to clean up the contamination. It would cost millions to replace Cuyahoga Falls’ well field.

31. Long-Term Geologic Issues  Long-term impacts to soil and ground water  The more source material, the greater the impact over time  Aquifer remediation costs  Possible need for new well field  There is no other area near Cuyahoga Falls that can produce that much water.

32. Protecting the Aquifer  Sample raw water before drilling the oil and gas well  Ensure proper construction of new wells  Double case oil and gas well through aquifer  Use non-toxic drilling and hydraulic fracturing fluids,  Use secondary containment with impervious surfaces for all storage, production, and loading areas  Inspect storage tanks and piping systems often to detect leaks and perform preventive maintenance.  Negotiate what will happen if the public well field is affected

33. “An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure” Protection Planning Prevents problems before they occur

34. kathy.metropulos@epa.state.oh.us SWAP Web Site: www.epa.state.oh.us/ddagw/pdu/swap.html Ohio EPA Kathy Metropulos 330-963-1149 ODNR Bob Worstall 330-284-1418 (cell) 330-896-0616 (office)