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Sources of Radium Accumulation in Stream Sediments near Disposal Sites in Pennsylvania: Implications for Disposal of Conventional Oil and Gas Wastewater Nancy E. Lauer, Nathaniel R. Warner, and Avner Vengosh Environ. Sci. Technol., Just Accepted Manuscript • DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.7b04952 • Publication Date (Web): 04 Jan 2018 Downloaded from http://pubs.acs.org on January 4, 2018
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Environmental Science & Technology
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Sources of Radium Accumulation in Stream Sediments near
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Disposal Sites in Pennsylvania: Implications for Disposal of
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Conventional Oil and Gas Wastewater
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Nancy E. Lauer1, Nathaniel R. Warner2, Avner Vengosh1*
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University, Durham, NC, USA; 2Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering,
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Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA
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Division of Earth and Ocean Sciences, Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke
* Corresponding Author: Telephone: 919-681-8050. E-mail:
[email protected] 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22
KEY WORDS
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Radium, Produced Water, Appalachian Basin, Marcellus Shale, Hydraulic Fracturing
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ABSTRACT In Pennsylvania, Appalachian oil and gas wastewaters (OGW) are permitted for
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release to surface waters after some treatment by centralized waste treatment (CWT)
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facilities. While this practice was largely discontinued in 2011 for unconventional
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Marcellus OGW, it continues for conventional OGW. This study aimed to evaluate the
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environmental implications of the policy allowing the disposal of conventional OGW.
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We collected stream sediments from three discharge sites receiving treated OGW
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between 2014-2017 and measured 228Ra, 226Ra, and their decay products, 228Th and 210Pb,
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respectively. We consistently found elevated activities of 228Ra and 226Ra in stream
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sediments in the vicinity of the outfall (total Ra = 90-25,000 Bq/kg) compared to
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upstream sediments (20-80 Bq/kg). In 2015 and 2017, 228Th/228Ra activity ratios in
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sediments from two disposal sites were relatively low (0.2-0.7), indicating that a portion
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of the Ra has accumulated in the sediments in recent (50% of the combined total) was reused for hydraulic
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fracturing operations.18 A major option for disposal is injection underground via EPA
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Class II deep-well injection wells, but since there are a relatively limited number of these
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disposal wells in Pennsylvania, the OGW is often transported to neighboring states for
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disposal. Therefore, alternative disposal options in Pennsylvania consist of spreading on
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roads as a deicing agent or dust suppressant and treatment by wastewater treatment
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plants, including centralized waste treatment (CWT) facilities.18 Treatment of OGW at
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these facilities has been described previously19-21 and often includes the addition of
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Na2SO4 to promote the precipitation of metals, as well as Ra, before the treated OGW is
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discharged to local surface waters.
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Due to concerns of contamination, in the spring of 2011 the Pennsylvania
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Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) requested unconventional well
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operators to cease sending Marcellus OGW to wastewater treatment facilities. Although
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participation was voluntary, treatment of Marcellus waste at many wastewater treatment
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plants in Pennsylvania nearly ended by the fall of 2011.22 However, these facilities
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continued to receive, treat, and dispose conventional OGW to the local streams.18
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Several studies addressing this issue were published in 2013, relatively soon after
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Marcellus OGW treatment and discharge was discontinued. These studies showed that
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the releases of highly saline effluent causes direct contamination of the stream water at
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disposal sites, 19, 20, 23, 24 and also increases the risk of the formation of disinfection
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byproducts in downstream communities.25 In addition to degrading water quality, Warner
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et al.20 found that the release of treated OGW to Blacklick Creek, a tributary of the
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Allegheny River in Josephine, PA, resulted in the accumulation of Ra (226Ra activities of
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544- 8,759 Bq/kg) in stream sediments in close vicinity (
