Addressing Health Issues Associated with Air Emissions around UNGD Sites

Abstract

Direct-reading aerosol sampling at one minute intervals was done at five locations around an Unconventional Natural Gas Development (UNGD) site located in a river valley in Morgantown, WV as part of the Marcellus Shale Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (MSEEL) project. Sampling was done throughout all stages of well development other than pad preparation. Sampling locations included: on the drill pad itself, as well as 1 and 3 km distant. Background samples were also taken as reference. The first was 5 km upwind of the site and out of the valley. The second was located within the valley 8 km downwind but beyond the bend of a natural bowl in the valley, diminishing the effect of air emissions from the UNGD site.

EPA-regulated PM2.5 (particles less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter, capable of reaching the lung airspaces in a human) emissions were not detectable from background at 1 km downwind during highest emissions periods on the well pad. However, truck routes used for supplying the well were situated away from all the sampling sites and thus not monitored. Modeling data using sampling of similar truck routes in the area showed that levels expected to accompany well development could be above the background levels that were not from traffic sources and could therefore produce measurable health effects. Also, terrain and meteorological conditions are expected to influence the results at other locations and during other times.

Toxicological analysis of particulate matter sampled around active drill sites has shown the potential to produce cardiovascular damage upon exposure in laboratory animals. Future efforts are needed to delineate the effects of truck traffic from well pad activities to determine if either source, alone or in concert, may be responsible for the observed laboratory effects and to address a growing body of epidemiological evidence associating exposure from UNGD activities with disease symptoms, especially adverse birth outcomes, in populations residing in proximity to UNGD.

AAPG Datapages/Search and Discovery Article #90258 © 2016 AAPG Eastern Section Meeting, Lexington, Kentucky, September 25-27, 2016