Shale Gas and Water Resources in Pennsylvania
Science Center Objects
The Pennsylvania Water Science Center and other USGS scientists are studying water availability, use, quality, and ecology associated with development of shale-gas energy resources in Pennsylvania.
Latest Report: Potter County 'Baseline' Groundwater Quality (see Publications)
Shale-gas development in Pennsylvania is focused on the Marcellus Shale. USGS is helping understand potential and actual impacts on water resources and ecosystems.
Marcellus Shale extent, permitted unconventional oil and gas wells, and counties where USGS has conducted baseline groundwater quality surveys in Pennsylvania (Public domain.)
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Date published: September 1, 2020Status: ActiveGroundwater Quality of Domestic Supply Wells in Pennsylvania
Most rural residents in Pennsylvania use groundwater from domestic supply wells for drinking, cleaning and other purposes. Some groundwater samples have been analyzed for private purposes, but those results generally are not readily available to the public. Many of the publicly available water-quality samples from rural areas were collected more than 30 years ago. Quality-assured groundwater...
Contacts: Jeffrey Chaplin, John Clune, Charles A Cravotta, III, PhD, PG, Lisa A Senior, Daniel G Galeone, MS, Eliza L Gross, Ronald Sloto -
Date published: June 4, 2020Status: CompletedFramework for Examining Stream Ecosystem Health in Areas of Shale Gas Development—A Multi-Parameter Watershed-Based Case Study in Pennsylvania
In a case study of 25 headwater streams in Pennsylvania, no statistically significant associations were determined between shale gas development and geochemical tracers of produced waters or measures of microbial and macroinvertebrate community composition. Although the results are specific to the region studied, the integrated biological and geochemical framework provides a tool for...
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Date published: April 10, 2020Status: ActiveRegional Synthesis of Groundwater Quality in Domestic Supply Wells in Northeast and North Central Pennsylvania
USGS is synthesizing groundwater quality measurements in wells to characterize regional chemical characteristics of aquifers used for domestic supply in northeast and north central Pennsylvania.
Contacts: Charles A Cravotta, III, PhD, PG, John Clune -
Date published: March 2, 2019Status: ActiveHydraulic Fracturing
Hydraulic fracturing, commonly known as fracking, is the process of injecting water, sand, and/or chemicals into a well to break up underground bedrock to free up oil or gas reserves. The USGS monitors the environmental impact of this practice across the country, from potential earthquakes to degraded groundwater quality.
Attribution: Water Resources -
Date published: August 31, 2017Status: ActiveEstimating National Water Use Associated with Unconventional Oil and Gas Development
Project Period: 2016-ongoing
Cooperator: U.S. Geological Survey Water Availability and Use Science Program
Project Chiefs: Kathleen Rowland, Gregory Delzer, Joanna Thamke, and Janet Carter -
Date published: April 4, 2017Water Issues and Marcellus Shale Gas Development in New York
The Marcellus Shale of the Appalachian Basin is one of the largest unconventional gas plays in the United States.
Contacts: John Williams -
Date published: June 7, 2012Status: ActiveHydraulic Fracturing and Water Resources: An Assessment of the Potential Effects of Shale Gas Development on Water Resources in the United States
Shale gas is a key source of onshore domestic energy for the United States and production of this resource is increasing rapidly. Development and extraction of shale gas requires hydraulic fracturing, which entails horizontal drilling, perforation of steel casing and cement grout using explosive charges, and expansion of fractures using fluids under high pressure. Concern over potential...
Attribution: John Wesley Powell Center for Analysis and Synthesis
Utica shale play oil and gas brines: Geochemistry and factors influencing wastewater management
The Utica and Marcellus Shale Plays in the Appalachian Basin are the fourth and first largest natural gas producing plays in the United States, respectively. Hydrocarbon production generates large volumes of brine (“produced water”) that must be disposed of, treated, or reused. Though Marcellus brines have been studied extensively, there are few...
Blondes, Madalyn S.; Shelton, Jenna L.; Engle, Mark A; Trembly, Jason; Doolan, Colin A.; Jubb, Aaron M.; Chenault, Jessica; Rowan, Elisabeth L.; Haefner, Ralph J.; Mailot, Brian E.
Groundwater quality in relation to drinking water health standards and hydrogeologic and geochemical characteristics for 47 domestic wells in Potter County, Pennsylvania, 2017
As part of a regional effort to characterize groundwater in rural areas of Pennsylvania, water samples from 47 domestic wells in Potter County were collected from May through September 2017. The sampled wells had depths ranging from 33 to 600 feet in sandstone, shale, or siltstone aquifers. Groundwater samples were analyzed for physicochemical...
Galeone, Daniel G.; Cravotta, Charles A. ; Risser, Dennis W.
Groundwater quality in relation to drinking water health standards and geochemical characteristics for 54 domestic wells in Clinton County, Pennsylvania, 2017
Despite the reliance on groundwater by approximately 2.4 million rural Pennsylvania residents, publicly available data to characterize the quality of private well water are limited. As part of a regional effort to characterize groundwater in rural areas of Pennsylvania, samples from 54 domestic wells in Clinton County were collected and analyzed...
Clune, John W.; Cravotta, Charles A. Shale gas development has limited effects on stream biology and geochemistry in a gradient-based, multiparameter study in Pennsylvania
The number of horizontally drilled shale oil and gas wells in the United States has increased from nearly 28,000 in 2007 to nearly 127,000 in 2017, and research has suggested the potential for the development of shale resources to affect nearby stream ecosystems. However, the ability to generalize current studies is limited by the small geographic...
Mumford, Adam; Maloney, Kelly O.; Akob, Denise M.; Nettemann, Sarah; Proctor, Arianne; Ditty, Jason; Ulsamer, Luke; Lookenbill, Josh; Cozzarelli, Isabelle M. Hydrocarbons in upland groundwater, Marcellus Shale Region, Northeastern Pennsylvania and Southern New York, USA
Water samples from 50 domestic wells located <1 km (proximal) and >1 km (distal) from shale-gas wells in upland areas of the Marcellus Shale region were analyzed for chemical, isotopic, and groundwater-age tracers. Uplands were targeted because natural mixing with brine and hydrocarbons from deep formations is less common in those areas...
McMahon, Peter B.; Lindsey, Bruce D.; Conlon, Matthew D.; Hunt, Andrew G.; Belitz, Kenneth; Jurgens, Bryant; Varela, Brian
Drinking water health standards comparison and chemical analysis of groundwater for 72 domestic wells in Bradford County, Pennsylvania, 2016
Pennsylvania has the second highest number of residential wells of any state in the Nation with approximately 2.4 million residents that depend on groundwater for their domestic water supply. Despite the widespread reliance on groundwater in rural areas of the state, publicly available data to characterize the quality of private well water are...
Clune, John W.; Cravotta, Charles A.
Baseline assessment of groundwater quality in Pike County, Pennsylvania, 2015
The Devonian-age Marcellus Shale and the Ordovician-age Utica Shale, which have the potential for natural gas development, underlie Pike County and neighboring counties in northeastern Pennsylvania. In 2015, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Pike County Conservation District, conducted a study that expanded on a previous more...
Senior, Lisa A.; Cravotta, Charles A.
Groundwater quality for 75 domestic wells in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, 2014
Groundwater is a major source of drinking water in Lycoming County and adjacent counties in north-central and northeastern Pennsylvania, which are largely forested and rural and are currently undergoing development for hydrocarbon gases. Water-quality data are needed for assessing the natural characteristics of the groundwater resource and the...
Gross, Eliza L.; Cravotta, Charles A.
Baseline assessment of groundwater quality in Wayne County, Pennsylvania, 2014
The Devonian-age Marcellus Shale and the Ordovician-age Utica Shale, geologic formations which have potential for natural gas development, underlie Wayne County and neighboring counties in northeastern Pennsylvania. In 2014, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Wayne Conservation District, conducted a study to assess baseline...
Senior, Lisa A.; Cravotta, III, Charles A.; Sloto, Ronald A. Transport of hydraulic fracturing waste from Pennsylvania wells: A county-level analysis of road use and associated road repair costs
Pennsylvania’s rapid unconventional oil and gas (UOG) development—from a single well in 2004 to more than 6700 wells in 2013—has dramatically increased UOG waste transport by heavy trucks. This study quantified the amount of UOG waste and the distance it traveled between wells and disposal facilities on each type of road in each county between...
Patterson, Lauren A.; Maloney, Kelly O. Landscape disturbance from unconventional and conventional oil and gas development in the Marcellus Shale region of Pennsylvania, USA
The spatial footprint of unconventional (hydraulic fracturing) and conventional oil and gas development in the Marcellus Shale region of the State of Pennsylvania was digitized from high-resolution, ortho-rectified, digital aerial photography, from 2004 to 2010. We used these data to measure the spatial extent of oil and gas development and to...
Slonecker, Terry E.; Milheim, Lesley E.
Estimation of methane concentrations and loads in groundwater discharge to Sugar Run, Lycoming County, Pennsylvania
A stream-sampling study was conducted to estimate methane concentrations and loads in groundwater discharge to a small stream in an active shale-gas development area of northeastern Pennsylvania. Grab samples collected from 15 streams in Bradford, Lycoming, Susquehanna, and Tioga Counties, Pa., during a reconnaissance survey in May and June 2013...
Heilweil, Victor M.; Risser, Dennis W.; Conger, Randall W.; Grieve, Paul L.; Hynek, Scott A.-
Date published: October 3, 2019USGS Estimates 214 trillion Cubic Feet of Natural Gas in Appalachian Basin Formations
The Marcellus Shale and Point Pleasant-Utica Shale formations of the Appalachian Basin contain an estimated mean of 214 trillion cubic feet of undiscovered, technically recoverable continuous resources of natural gas, according to new USGS assessments.
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Date published: July 1, 2019Marcellus Shale natural-gas production not currently causing widespread hydrocarbon contamination of domestic wells that tap shallow upland groundwater
A new USGS study reports that shale-gas production in northern Pennsylvania has not currently caused widespread hydrocarbon contamination in the upland aquifer zone used for domestic supply.
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Date published: March 6, 2017
USGS Finds Elevated Levels of Arsenic, Radon, Methane in Some Private Wells in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania
Tests of 75 private drinking water wells in Lycoming County, in north-central Pennsylvania, found water from most of the sampled wells contained concentrations of radon that exceeded a proposed, nonbinding health standard for drinking water. Smaller percentages of the wells contained concentrations of arsenic or methane that exceed existing drinking water standards.
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Date published: November 13, 2014Baseline Groundwater Quality Studies Find Naturally Occurring Methane in Northeastern Pennsylvania
Well-water tested in Wayne and Pike counties contains low-to-moderate concentrations of naturally occurring methane, according to new studies by the U.S. Geological Survey.
Attribution: Water Resources -
Date published: October 22, 2014
Measuring Landscape Disturbance of Gas Exploration in Eight Pennsylvania Counties
Landscape change in Pennsylvania's Cameron, Clarion, Elk, Forest, Jefferson, McKean, Potter, and Warren counties resulting from construction of well pads, new roads and pipelines for natural gas and coalbed methane development is being documented to help determine the potential consequences for ecosystems and wildlife, according to a new U.S. Geological Survey report.
Attribution: Land Resources -
Date published: June 10, 2014
Measuring Landscape Disturbance of Gas Exploration in Nine Pennsylvania counties
Landscape change in Pennsylvania's Bedford, Blair, Cambria, Centre, Clearfield, Clinton, Columbia, Huntingdon, and Luzerne counties resulting from construction of well pads, new roads and pipelines for natural gas and coalbed methane development is being documented to help determine the potential consequences for ecosystems and wildlife, according to a new U.S. Geological Survey report.
Attribution: -
Date published: June 3, 2013
Measuring Landscape Disturbance of Gas Exploration in Fayette and Lycoming Counties
Landscape change in Pennsylvania's Fayette and Lycoming counties resulting from construction of well pads, new roads and pipelines for natural gas and coalbed methane exploration is being documented to help determine the potential consequences for ecosystems and wildlife, according to a U.S. Geological Survey report released today.
Attribution: -
Date published: October 4, 2012
USGS Releases First Assessment of Shale Gas Resources in the Utica Shale: 38 trillion cubic feet
The Utica Shale contains about 38 trillion cubic feet of undiscovered, technically recoverable natural gas (at the mean estimate) according to the first assessment of this continuous (unconventional) natural gas accumulation by the U. S. Geological Survey. The Utica Shale has a mean of 940 million barrels of unconventional oil resources and a mean of 208 million barrels of unconventional...
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Date published: August 23, 2011
USGS Releases New Assessment of Gas Resources in the Marcellus Shale, Appalachian Basin
The Marcellus Shale contains about 84 trillion cubic feet of undiscovered, technically recoverable natural gas and 3.4 billion barrels of undiscovered, technically recoverable natural gas liquids according to a new assessment by the U. S. Geological Survey (USGS).