Energy Integrated Science Team Active
The team studies pathways of contaminants that might originate from the lifecycle of energy resources
image source - Vern Whitten Photography
The Energy Lifecycle Integrated Science Team focuses on the potential for contaminant exposures in the environment that might originate from energy resource activities including, extraction, production, transportation, storage, extraction, waste management and restoration. Perceived health risks to humans and other organisms will be distinguished from actual risks, if any. If actual risks are identified this project will inform how to economically and effectively minimize risk by providing scientific data and understandings about the environmental transport, fate, and exposure pathways of contaminants. Emphasis will be placed on addressing these issues on public and Department of Interior managed lands.
The United States is one of the largest users of energy, consuming annually about one-quarter of the energy resources produced in the world. The energy industry and government regulators work to provide energy resources to the public safely and effectively. Management of energy byproducts such as waste materials (including both solid and liquid wastes) from oil and gas development are a critical part of that work. However, spills, leaks, and other factors can create pathways for contaminants to enter the environment and result in exposures to humans and biota.
The associated health effects of specific spills have not been demonstrated in many cases, yet the perception of risk can drive action by industry and regulators. Hydrologists, chemists, biologists, and geologists on the Team conduct studies outside the mission of other federal agencies, by assessing actual versus perceived health effects to humans and biota due to exposures to energy production materials in the environment. This effort utilizes a watershed-and aquifer-based interdisciplinary science approach, providing a "big picture" that helps show where energy development activities are causing adverse health impacts on biota due to environmental contaminant exposures, as well as where they are not causing impacts. With this information in hand industry, land managers and other decision makers are able to balance the critical need for energy with further action, if any, to minimize health risks associated with energy production materials in the environment.
The USGS Energy Lifecycle Integrated Science Team (IST), a part of the Environmental Health Program, conducts research on potential contaminant exposures in the environment that might originate from the life cycle of energy resources. Their research is completed in laboratories, at targeted field sites, and in watersheds across the Nation to collectively deliver science on exposures and risks to wildlife, humans, ecosystems, and water resources. Potential contaminant releases are associated with transportation, storage, extraction, and management of energy-related products and wastes.
The team provides science to support balanced utilization and protection of our Nation’s resources. The Team is combining their findings on sources, fate, transport, and degradation of the contaminants with an understanding of the exposure and effects on wildlife and humans for a One-Health approach that recognizes the inextricable connections between the physical and living environment.
The Energy IST is unique in that they bring together geochemists, microbiologists, ecologists, toxicologists, geophysicists, hydrologists, and modelers along with remote sensing capabilities with more than 60 scientists from 16science centers across USGS. This breadth of research abilities allows the Team to address complex nationwide questions related to the lifecycle of energy resources that would be out of reach for individual and small groups of scientists The value of their research is enhanced by the active participation of stakeholders.
The Team Aims to:
- Identify Sources of Contaminants from Energy-Related Materials
- Identify Potential Pathways of Contaminants to/in the Environment
- Determine Toxicity and Risks to Organisms from Energy-Associated Materials in the Environment
- Evaluate Environmental Responses and Recovery from Energy Lifecycle Activities
- Evaluate Reuse Potential of Unconventional Oil and Gas (UOG) Wastes
Current Science Questions and Activities
- Materials from oil and gas (OG) extraction may contain toxic or radioactive elements from the geologic formation, additives such as biocides used during OG development, and products of natural degradation. What is the composition of the materials generated, the potential pathways to the environment, the mode-of-action and the effects, if any, on receptor organisms from exposure to these constituents?
- Energy development occurs nationwide on public and private lands at scales ranging from town to regional to state-level development. This work is focused on the regional, and especially watershed or aquifer scale, energy-resource associated releases (for example spills, pipeline breaks) to the environment. Are there contaminant exposures and actual, not perceived, public health concerns throughout the watershed or underlying aquifers downstream or downgradient of the release?
- Releases of energy-associated materials to the environment can occur at various time scales thereby altering biogeochemistry and potential health effects on fish and wildlife as well as contaminant exposures to humans. Is persistence related to actual health effects?
Selected Science Feature Article Listed Below.
See the publications tab for a complete list of publications
Pipeline Crude Oil Spill Still a Cleanup Challenge after 30 Years
Disinfection Byproducts from Treatment of Produced Waters
Below are data or web applications associated with this project.
Chemistry of waters collected in the Wolf Creek and Buffalo Creek watersheds in West Virginia in 2016
Acute toxicity of sodium chloride and potassium chloride to a unionid mussel (Lampsilis siliquoidea) in water exposures-Data
Below are publications associated with this project.
Effects of a crude-oil recovery remediation system operated 1999–2003 on groundwater plumes and unsaturated-zone vapor concentrations at a crude-oil spill site near Bemidji, Minnesota
A crude-oil spill occurred in 1979 when a pipeline burst near Bemidji, Minnesota. More than 70 percent of the 1.7 million liters of spilled crude oil was removed shortly thereafter. In response to a requirement by the State regulatory agency to remove the remaining crude to a sheen in all wells, in 1998, the pipeline company installed a dual-pump recovery system at the site. This additional remedi
Geochemical and geophysical indicators of oil and gas wastewater can trace potential exposure pathways following releases to surface waters
Hydrocarbons to carboxyl-rich alicyclic molecules: A continuum model to describe biodegradation of petroleum-derived dissolved organic matter in contaminated groundwater plumes
Endocrine disrupting activities and geochemistry of water resources associated with unconventional oil and gas activity
Biological effects of hydrocarbon degradation intermediates: Is the total petroleum hydrocarbon analytical method adequate for risk assessment?
Organic compounds in produced waters from the Bakken Formation and Three Forks Formation in the Williston Basin, North Dakota
Groundwater quality and geochemistry of West Virginia’s southern coal fields
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 scope as well as limited breadth and integration o
Review of studies of composition, toxicology and human health impacts of wastewater from unconventional oil and gas development from shale
13C and 15N NMR identification of product compound classes from aqueous and solid phase photodegradation of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene
Geophysical mapping of plume discharge to surface water at a crude oil spill site: Inversion versus machine learning
Examining the extraction efficiency of petroleum-derived dissolved organic matter in contaminated groundwater plumes
- Overview
The Energy Lifecycle Integrated Science Team focuses on the potential for contaminant exposures in the environment that might originate from energy resource activities including, extraction, production, transportation, storage, extraction, waste management and restoration. Perceived health risks to humans and other organisms will be distinguished from actual risks, if any. If actual risks are identified this project will inform how to economically and effectively minimize risk by providing scientific data and understandings about the environmental transport, fate, and exposure pathways of contaminants. Emphasis will be placed on addressing these issues on public and Department of Interior managed lands.
The United States is one of the largest users of energy, consuming annually about one-quarter of the energy resources produced in the world. The energy industry and government regulators work to provide energy resources to the public safely and effectively. Management of energy byproducts such as waste materials (including both solid and liquid wastes) from oil and gas development are a critical part of that work. However, spills, leaks, and other factors can create pathways for contaminants to enter the environment and result in exposures to humans and biota.
The associated health effects of specific spills have not been demonstrated in many cases, yet the perception of risk can drive action by industry and regulators. Hydrologists, chemists, biologists, and geologists on the Team conduct studies outside the mission of other federal agencies, by assessing actual versus perceived health effects to humans and biota due to exposures to energy production materials in the environment. This effort utilizes a watershed-and aquifer-based interdisciplinary science approach, providing a "big picture" that helps show where energy development activities are causing adverse health impacts on biota due to environmental contaminant exposures, as well as where they are not causing impacts. With this information in hand industry, land managers and other decision makers are able to balance the critical need for energy with further action, if any, to minimize health risks associated with energy production materials in the environment.
The USGS Energy Lifecycle Integrated Science Team (IST), a part of the Environmental Health Program, conducts research on potential contaminant exposures in the environment that might originate from the life cycle of energy resources. Their research is completed in laboratories, at targeted field sites, and in watersheds across the Nation to collectively deliver science on exposures and risks to wildlife, humans, ecosystems, and water resources. Potential contaminant releases are associated with transportation, storage, extraction, and management of energy-related products and wastes.
The team provides science to support balanced utilization and protection of our Nation’s resources. The Team is combining their findings on sources, fate, transport, and degradation of the contaminants with an understanding of the exposure and effects on wildlife and humans for a One-Health approach that recognizes the inextricable connections between the physical and living environment.
The Energy IST is unique in that they bring together geochemists, microbiologists, ecologists, toxicologists, geophysicists, hydrologists, and modelers along with remote sensing capabilities with more than 60 scientists from 16science centers across USGS. This breadth of research abilities allows the Team to address complex nationwide questions related to the lifecycle of energy resources that would be out of reach for individual and small groups of scientists The value of their research is enhanced by the active participation of stakeholders.
The Team Aims to:
- Identify Sources of Contaminants from Energy-Related Materials
- Identify Potential Pathways of Contaminants to/in the Environment
- Determine Toxicity and Risks to Organisms from Energy-Associated Materials in the Environment
- Evaluate Environmental Responses and Recovery from Energy Lifecycle Activities
- Evaluate Reuse Potential of Unconventional Oil and Gas (UOG) Wastes
Current Science Questions and Activities
- Materials from oil and gas (OG) extraction may contain toxic or radioactive elements from the geologic formation, additives such as biocides used during OG development, and products of natural degradation. What is the composition of the materials generated, the potential pathways to the environment, the mode-of-action and the effects, if any, on receptor organisms from exposure to these constituents?
- Energy development occurs nationwide on public and private lands at scales ranging from town to regional to state-level development. This work is focused on the regional, and especially watershed or aquifer scale, energy-resource associated releases (for example spills, pipeline breaks) to the environment. Are there contaminant exposures and actual, not perceived, public health concerns throughout the watershed or underlying aquifers downstream or downgradient of the release?
- Releases of energy-associated materials to the environment can occur at various time scales thereby altering biogeochemistry and potential health effects on fish and wildlife as well as contaminant exposures to humans. Is persistence related to actual health effects?
- Science
Selected Science Feature Article Listed Below.
See the publications tab for a complete list of publications
Filter Total Items: 14Pipeline Crude Oil Spill Still a Cleanup Challenge after 30 Years
Research at a 1979 crude oil spill from a ruptured pipeline has exposed and helped to overcome many challenges facing an effective, cost-efficient cleanup of crude oil, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists have found. The environmental release of crude oil occurred near Bemidji, Minnesota.Disinfection Byproducts from Treatment of Produced Waters
Waters produced as a byproduct of oil and gas development were found to yield high concentrations of disinfection byproducts (DBPs) when treated. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) sampled stream waters upstream and downstream of the outfall of Publicly Owned Wastewater Treatment Works (POTWs), POTWs that receive and treat waters produced by conventional and unconventional oil and gas development... - Data
Below are data or web applications associated with this project.
Filter Total Items: 14Chemistry of waters collected in the Wolf Creek and Buffalo Creek watersheds in West Virginia in 2016
Water chemistry data for samples collected in 2016 in the Wolf Creek and Buffalo Creek watersheds in West Virginia. The dataset includes stream characteristics including flow and location information for sampling sites.Acute toxicity of sodium chloride and potassium chloride to a unionid mussel (Lampsilis siliquoidea) in water exposures-Data
Attributes regarding the acute toxicity of sodium chloride (NaCl) and potassium chloride (KCl) to larvae (glochidia) or juveniles of a unionid mussel (fatmucket, Lampsilis siliquoidea) at various water hardness and in the presence of other major ions. - Publications
Below are publications associated with this project.
Filter Total Items: 35Effects of a crude-oil recovery remediation system operated 1999–2003 on groundwater plumes and unsaturated-zone vapor concentrations at a crude-oil spill site near Bemidji, Minnesota
A crude-oil spill occurred in 1979 when a pipeline burst near Bemidji, Minnesota. More than 70 percent of the 1.7 million liters of spilled crude oil was removed shortly thereafter. In response to a requirement by the State regulatory agency to remove the remaining crude to a sheen in all wells, in 1998, the pipeline company installed a dual-pump recovery system at the site. This additional remedi
AuthorsGeoffrey N. Delin, William N. Herkelrath, Jared J. TrostGeochemical and geophysical indicators of oil and gas wastewater can trace potential exposure pathways following releases to surface waters
Releases of oil and gas (OG) wastewaters can have complex effects on stream-water quality and downstream organisms, due to sediment-water interactions and groundwater/surface water exchange. Previously, elevated concentrations of sodium (Na), chloride (Cl), barium (Ba), strontium (Sr), and lithium (Li), and trace hydrocarbons were determined to be key markers of OG wastewater releases when combineAuthorsIsabelle M. Cozzarelli, Douglas B. Kent, Martin A. Briggs, Mark A Engle, Adam Benthem, Katherine Skalak, Adam Mumford, Jeanne B. Jaeschke, Aida Farag, John W. Lane, Denise M. AkobHydrocarbons to carboxyl-rich alicyclic molecules: A continuum model to describe biodegradation of petroleum-derived dissolved organic matter in contaminated groundwater plumes
Relationships between dissolved organic matter (DOM) reactivity and chemical composition in a groundwater plume containing petroleum-derived DOM (DOMHC) were examined by quantitative and qualitative measurements to determine the source and chemical composition of the compounds that persist downgradient. Samples were collected from a transect down the core of the plume in the direction of groundwatAuthorsDavid C. Podgorski, Phoebe Zito, Anne M. Kellerman, Barbara A. Bekins, Isabelle M. Cozzarelli, Donald F. Smith, Xiaoyan Cao, Klaus Schmidt-Rohr, Sasha Wagner, Aron Stubbins, Robert G. M. SpencerEndocrine disrupting activities and geochemistry of water resources associated with unconventional oil and gas activity
The rise of hydraulic fracturing and unconventional oil and gas (UOG) exploration in the United States has increased public concerns for water contamination induced from hydraulic fracturing fluids and associated wastewater spills. Herein, we collected surface and groundwater samples across Garfield County, Colorado, a drilling-dense region, and measured endocrine bioactivities, geochemical tracerAuthorsChristopher D. Kassotis, Jennifer S. Harkness, Phuc H. Vo, Danh C. Vu, Kate Hoffman, Katelyn M. Cinnamon, Jennifer N. Cornelius-Green, Avner Vengosh, Chung-Ho Lin, Donald E. Tillitt, Robin L. Kruse, Jane A. McElroy, Susan C. NagelBiological effects of hydrocarbon degradation intermediates: Is the total petroleum hydrocarbon analytical method adequate for risk assessment?
In crude oil contaminant plumes, the dissolved organic carbon (DOC) is mainly hydrocarbon degradation intermediates only partly quantified by the diesel range total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPHd) method. To understand potential biological effects of degradation intermediates, we tested three fractions of DOC: (1) solid-phase extract (HLB); (2) dichloromethane (DCM-total) extract used in TPHd; and (3AuthorsBarbara A. Bekins, Jennifer Brennan, Donald E. Tillitt, Isabelle M. Cozzarelli, Jennifer M. Illig, Dalma Martinovich-WeigeltOrganic compounds in produced waters from the Bakken Formation and Three Forks Formation in the Williston Basin, North Dakota
The organic composition of produced waters (flowback and formation waters) from the middle member of the Bakken Formation and the Three Forks Formation in the Williston Basin, North Dakota were examined to aid in the remediation of surface contamination and help develop treatment methods for produced-water recycling. Twelve produced water samples were collected from the Bakken and Three Forks FormAuthorsMatthew S. Varonka, Tanya Gallegos, Anne L. Bates, Colin A. Doolan, William H. OremGroundwater quality and geochemistry of West Virginia’s southern coal fields
Coal mining has been the dominant industry and land use in West Virginia’s southern coal fields since the mid-1800s. Mortality rates for a variety of serious chronic conditions, such as diabetes, heart disease, and some forms of cancer in Appalachian coal mining regions, are higher than in areas lacking substantial coal mining activity within the Appalachian Region or elsewhere in the United StateAuthorsMark D. Kozar, Mitchell A. McAdoo, Karl B. HaaseShale 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 scope as well as limited breadth and integration o
AuthorsAdam Mumford, Kelly O. Maloney, Denise M. Akob, Sarah Nettemann, Arianne Proctor, Jason Ditty, Luke Ulsamer, Josh Lookenbill, Isabelle M. CozzarelliReview of studies of composition, toxicology and human health impacts of wastewater from unconventional oil and gas development from shale
Unconventional oil and gas (UOG) extractions has produced large economic benefits. However, prudent management of UOG wastes necessitates a thorough understanding of the complex composition, fate, and potential impacts of wastewater releases. UOG production results in large volumes of wastewater. Despite limited re-use of the wastewater, the majority needs to be disposed of, usually by undergroundAuthorsLynn M. Crosby, William H. Orem13C and 15N NMR identification of product compound classes from aqueous and solid phase photodegradation of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene
Abstract Photolysis is one of the main transformation pathways for 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) released into the environment. Upon exposure to sunlight, TNT is known to undergo both oxidation and reduction reactions with release of nitrite, nitrate, and ammonium ions, followed by condensation reactions of the oxidation and reduction products. In this study, compound classes of transformation prodAuthorsKevin A. ThornGeophysical mapping of plume discharge to surface water at a crude oil spill site: Inversion versus machine learning
The interpretation of geophysical survey results to answer hydrologic, engineering, and geologic questions is critical to diverse problems for management of water, energy, and mineral resources. Although geophysical images provide valuable qualitative insight into subsurface architecture and conditions, translating geophysical images into quantitative information (e.g., saturation, concentration,AuthorsNeil Terry, Frederick D. Day-Lewis, John W. Lane, Jared J. Trost, Barbara A. BekinsExamining the extraction efficiency of petroleum-derived dissolved organic matter in contaminated groundwater plumes
The extraction efficiency of petroleum-derived dissolved organic matter (DOM) was examined for groundwater samples from an aquifer contaminated with crude oil. Four different types of extraction were used to determine which method is best suited for the analysis of potentially toxic petroleum-derived DOM. The four types were a liquid-liquid extraction (LLE) with dichloromethane (EPA method 3510C),AuthorsPhoebe Zito, Rana Ghannam, Barbara A. Bekins, David C. Podgorski