10/04/2013

E.L. Rose Conservancy: Data contributions to Shale Network database

• Location: Susquehanna County, PA• Contact: Tim Mathews(Conservancy) and Julie

Vastine (ALLARM)• Number of sites sampled: 7• Analytes: specific conductance, TDS, discharge• Goal: A not-for-profit organization established

in 1987 to protect natural resources through land and water conservation.

E.L. Rose Conservancy

Shale Network locations (black/blue rectangles) plotted with E.L. Rose Conservancy sample locations (red) as of 10/04/13

EL Rose Conservancy (water drop rectangles) plotted with unconventional well sites (blue circles) and wells reported to have PA DEP violations (red diamonds)

as of 10/04/13

1965 1975 1985 1995 2005 20151

10

100

1000

NWIS surface water

EL Rose

Spec

ific

Cond

ucta

nce

(µS/

cm)

Conservancy data plotted with U.S. Geological Survey (NWIS) surface water data for specific conductance in Pennsylvania (as

of 10/4/2013)

NWIS; mean= 122.4 uS/cmstandard deviation= 114.19 uS/cm

EL Rose; mean= 74.0 uS/cmstandard deviation= 20.0 uS/cm

Conclusions

• Unconventional drilling for natural gas is occurring in Susquehanna county.

• The E.L. Rose Conservancy is providing conductivity, and TDS data to the public dataset for the northeast in areas of gas development

• Conductivity values for the E.L. Rose sites (7) are well within the mean for conductivity measured and reported for PA rivers by the U.S. Geological Survey as NWIS data since 1960

Acknowledgements: Slides by Paul Grieve

(Shale Network, Penn State)

The Shale Network database has been funded by a

National Science Foundation grant to SL Brantley, Pennsylvania State University, Univ. Pk, PA 16802