Marcellus Shale Research Paper

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MARCELLUS SHALE DRILLING PROCESS:

THE LEGAL PROCESS OF NATURAL GAS DRILLING AND THE EFFECTS ON THE ENVIRONMENT IN PENNSYLVANIA
Prepared by:
Frank Onunga
ABSTRACT
Marcellus Shale is a rock formation that underlies regions much of Pennsylvania and parts of states such as: Ohio, New York, West Virginia, Maryland, Virginia and Kentucky. The formation contains a large amount of natural gas trapped inside small pores within the shale unit. Marcellus shale is found at a depth of 5000 to 8000 feet below the surface. New technological advances accompanied by increased demand have made Marcellus Shale “the new gold” in Pennsylvania.
Extracting natural gas from the Marcellus Shale formation requires both vertical and horizontal drilling, accompanied …show more content…
The Bureau of Oil and Gas Management, a subsidiary of the DEP, is responsible for drilling, inspecting drill sites and responding to concerns regarding water quality in the area of interest. Through the process of permit and licensing applications, the DEP has set and regulated the guide lines for natural gas extraction. In the permit application, the applicant must indicate the location of the storage tanks, wells, surface water as well as ground water. The application is reviewed to assess if the proposed well would cause environmental impacts or violate any well spacing requirements of conflict with mine mining operation. This is because in some regions’ coal overlie the Marcellus shale formation. The primary permits and approvals are as …show more content…
Extraction of natural gas from Marcellus shale requires a large quantity of water which companies acquire from surface waters such as rivers and lakes. The DEP requires that companies develop a water management plan to identify where they plan to store and obtain water, the amount of water withdrawn from sources, the rate of withdrawal and an analysis of the water properties of the water source before and after drilling. Failure to comply with the regulations, the DEP imposes heavy fines to drilling companies and in severe cases revokes a drilling permit issued.
a. Water Quality – water is used for a variety of reasons in a drill site. Therefore, contamination can occur at several stages during the drilling process. The frack fluid removed from the well after hydro-fracturing, contains chemicals used by companies to facilitate gas recovery from the shale and subsequent gas flow in the pipe (03). Contaminated water can be hazardous in the ecosystem if not treated in the appropriate manner.
If a water supply is suspected to be contaminated, it is the responsibility of the user to report the problem to the DEP for investigation within six months of the completed drilling
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