WorldWide Drilling Resource

65 WorldWide Drilling Resource ® DECEMBER 2016 Is Drilling Waste Safe to be on Highways? Adapted from a Press Release by West Virginia University Researchers at WVU (West V rg n a Un vers ty) have been study ng dr ng waste produced at two research we s near Morgantown, West V rg n a. What they d scovered s the waste s we be ow federa gu de- nes for rad oact ve or hazardous waste. Dr. Z emk ew cz, d rector of the West V rg n a Water Research Inst tute at WVU, and h s research team are study ng the so d and qu d dr ng wastes generated dur ng sha e gas deve opment, nc ud ng dr cutt ngs, muds, and produced water. Dr ng a hor zonta d rect ona we n the Marce us Sha e Format on typ ca y produces about 500 tons of rock fragments, or cutt ngs. WVU researchers have been study ng dr cutt ngs for rad oact v ty and tox c ty. Sc ent sts w th the Marce us Sha e Energy and Env ronmenta Laboratory (MSEEL) were ab e to show us ng a “green” dr ng mud - B oBase 365 - at the we s te resu ted n a 12 cutt ngs samp es pass ng the U.S. Env ronmenta Protect on Agency s test for each ng tox c ty, a ow ng them to be c ass f ed as nonhazardous for nonrad o og ca parameters ke benzene and arsen c. They a so determ ned dr ng mud had a strong nf uence over the env ronmenta r sks assoc ated w th hand ng and d spos ng of dr cutt ngs. Accord ng to Z emk ew cz, the U.S. Department of Transportat on c ass f es so d wastes exceed ng 2000 p co cur es per gram (pC /g) as ow- eve rad oact ve waste requ r ng spec a perm tt ng and hand ng. “Rad um s the dom nant rad oact ve e ement n dr ng wastes. In our study, the h ghest rad um read ngs were be ow 10.8 pC /g n the hor zonta egs of the two product on we s at the MSEEL s te. Most were be ow 5 pC /g,” he stated. “The h ghest rad um eve n produced water found so far was 17 pC /g. A of these are we be ow the U.S. Department of Transportat on standard.” Z emk ew cz s team a so samp ed waste streams at the two product on we s to dent fy changes n organ c, norgan c, and rad ochem ca compos t on over t me. Among these f nd ngs, they noted a most a contam nants ncrease through the product on phase of an unconvent ona gas we , wh e the vo ume of water drops rap d y. S nce the tox c concentrat ons far exceed perm s- s b e eve s for dr nk ng water or d scharge to streams, most of th s water s used for subsequent hydrau c fractur ng operat ons. The MSEEL project s ed by WVU and the Oh o State Un vers ty (OSU) n partnersh p w th Northeast Natura Energy, Sch umberger, and the Nat ona Energy Techno ogy Laboratory of the Un ted States Department of Energy (USDOE). It s the f rst ong-term, comprehens ve f e d study of sha e gas resources n wh ch sc ent sts w study the process from beg nn ng to end. WVU photo of the Marcellus Shale Energy and Environmental Laboratory by Brian Persinger.