[CCoE Notice] Thesis Defense: Hydraulic Fracturing Induced Contaminant Pathways in Groundwater

[Grayson, Audrey A]

Hydraulic Fracturing Induced Contaminant Pathways in Groundwater

Taylour Burton

Monday, April 27th 2015
9:30 – 11:30 AM
Civil & Environmental Engineering Conference Room (N137)

Committee Chair: Dr. Hanadi S. Rifai
Committee Members: Dr. William Rixey, Dr. Tom Holley, and Dr. Kevin Schug

Abstract
Hydraulic fracturing in areas of natural gas production has been viewed as the cause of several environmental issues; notably among them is groundwater contamination. Proponents of hydraulic fracturing argue the improbability of induced contaminant pathways in groundwater since gas well annuli are sealed and the reservoirs lay thousands of feet below the water table, but opponents have cited a change in ground water quality over time. An ArcGIS model is created in this thesis to analyze groundwater quality data with respect to the relative proximity of gas wells, knowledge of the reservoir pressure gradient, gas well characteristics and fracture treatment data in order to explore the relationships, if any, between groundwater quality changes and hydraulic fracturing operations. Results indicate that elevated concentrations of certain groundwater constituents are related to natural gas production in the study area.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://Bug.EGR.UH.EDU/pipermail/engi-dist/attachments/20150416/c6a0551c/attachment-0001.html 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: Defense Announcement_041415.docx
Type: application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document
Size: 14811 bytes
Desc: Defense Announcement_041415.docx
Url : http://Bug.EGR.UH.EDU/pipermail/engi-dist/attachments/20150416/c6a0551c/attachment-0001.bin