Is flowback and waste from gas drilling radioactive?

This is a reposting of an article writtent by Sharon Corderman - but I get this question alot.

Rewards and Risks of the Marcellus
Part I in a series
By Sharon Corderman
Published: Wednesday, February 17, 2010 2:46 PM CST

Claims have been made that the potential exists for some level of radioactive material to be in the wastewater and drill cuttings coming from the Marcellus shale. According to Peter Davies, professor of biology at Cornell University, New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) reported that brine samples taken from 12 Marcellus wells that were actively producing gas last year came back with higher than expected levels of “NORM” - naturally occurring radioactive material. In fact, some brines were reported to have levels of radium-226 as high as 250 times the allowable level for discharge into the environment and thousands of times higher than the maximum allowed in drinking water.


The Penn State School of Forest Resources released a water guide for landowners in 2008 that warns that “gas well waste fluids usually contain levels of some pollutants that are far above levels considered safe for drinking water supplies. As a result, even small amounts of pollution from waste fluids can result in significant impacts to nearby drinking water supplies.” Bryan Swistock a Penn State water resources extension specialist who prepared the guide, said that there is not a large risk, “but the idea that there is no risk, which is what some people will say, is far from the truth.”


“It is especially important to understand the potential radioactivity of wastes that may be disposed of in areas that are located close to residences or public facilities such as schools,” wrote Lisa Sumi in a May 2008 report prepared for the Oil & Gas Accountability Project. “For example,” she continued, “during drilling, there may be a large volume of radioactive Marcellus shale rock removed (in other words, the drill cuttings), especially from horizontally drilled wells. If these rock wastes are disposed of by on-site burial or land-spreading, the radioactivity may become an issue for those living nearby. Radioactive wastes should be taken to a facility that is designed to handle low-level radioactive waste.”

In recommendations to the New York DEC for the handling and disposal of these radioactive wastes, Professor Davies stated that while these NORM wastes are known as “naturally occurring” it should be emphasized that such materials are not normal just because they are naturally occurring at thousands of feet below the surface. “On the surface they are not part of the normal environment and should be treated as hazardous,” he said.

My Comments

1. Yes the shale may be more radioactive then some of the rocks near the surface, but the cutting are properly handled and disposed.

2. I believe we have more low level radiological waste from the medical community and we still not have not addressed the issue of spent fuel rods.

3. Radon in Air - this is already a problem and concern for much of PA - You should have your Radon in Air Level Checked NOW - Website Reference
http://www.water-research.net/radonwater.htm

4. If levels of radiological elevated, this would suggest that the brine water should be returned to the ground via deep well injection.

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Comment by daniel cohen on March 9, 2010 at 4:44pm
Dear Brian,
Aren't there treatment approaches currently available that take salt water and remove the salt to have purified water left? Am I misremembering that desalinization plants are being used by the desert countries to purify seawater? If there are solids remaining, couldn't they be used to fill the drill holes after the drilling is completed? I speak out of ignorance here but couldn't the approch you suggested "reuse water, recycle, stop using high quality freshwater for frac water and use more highly treated stormwater, treated wastewater or AMD or other degrades waters." be the way to go? Your caution that " No matter what we do we will always be left with a sludge or very concentrate brine" is an issue that ought to be/needs to be addressed BEFORE we get into heavy drilling. What might you suggest that we do/start to do now to deal with those very real concerns?
Dan
Comment by Brian Oram, PG on March 9, 2010 at 4:27pm
Disposal- water

1. If the only problem with the water that was removed from the formation at 5000 feet+ was radiological and dissolved salts - why would we want to bring that water to the surface for treatment and surfacewater discharge and ultimate disposal of a more concentrated brine by landfilling. If we bring that water to the surface, we could attempt to treat and recycle what we can and the reject water goes where- landfill?

2. Other options would be on-site treatment or a combination of on-site and off-site treatment, but we will still be left with a highly concentrated brine that we will have to landfill, develop a use, or otherwise inject below a formation with a TDS > 10,000 mg/L.

3. Long-term Management of Brine water is a big issue - we do not have the infrastructure to manage, are streams can only manage to a point - we will either have to develop more advance water treatment systems (energy hugs), reuse water, recycle, stop using high quality freshwater for frac water and use more highly treated stormwater, treated wastewater or AMD or other degrades waters. No matter what we do we will always be left with a sludge or very concentrate brine - what we do.

4. I believe deep well injection will ultimately be part of the answer - the problem is that there is not enough geological data to know and long-term inject is a bigger concern than hydro frac. More work has to be done to properly site a system and then track the plume.

There are treatment methods that can purify the water - but you are always left with a concentrated brine and some solids.

For now our options are
1. On-site treatment and recycle and reuse
2. Package treatment plans -industrial capability to treat water probably using membrane systems and surfacewater discharge - we still have a brine.
3. Brine water generated - probably landfilled

Future
1. Develop technologies to completely evaporate brine and harvest salts, metals, etc
2. Develop technologies to use brine water for
Comment by daniel cohen on March 5, 2010 at 10:12am
Dear Brian,
You wrote:
"If levels of radiological elevated, this would suggest that the brine water should be returned to the ground via deep well injection."

From what I've been able to conclude about deep well injection to dispose of waste/hazardous material is that there are better methods currently available to treat the contaminated water rather than that procedure. Why would you recommend the deep well injection approach?
Dan

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