hydrofracturing: public health issues and impacts the pa ...2013 midwest environmental health summit...
TRANSCRIPT
2013 Midwest Environmental Health Summit
Trevor M. Penning, Ph.D.
Director Center of Excellence in Environmental
Toxicology,Perelman School of Medicine
www.med.upenn.edu/ceet
Hydrofracturing:
Public Health Issues and
Impacts the PA Experience
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What is the Marcellus Shale?
Half the land mass of Pennsylvania
22,835 sq miles
84 trillion cubic ft of natural gas
Price is $2 - $14 per cubic ft
Enough for the entire US population
for 4 yrs
Shale sedimentary rock
Organic rich and porous
Contains thermogenic methane
3
The Drill Rig
Drill head and pad 5-10 acre plot
Ideally one per sq mile
Saturating drilling 8 per square mile
High density drilling in Susquehanna
Co, PA
Pennsylvania would need 22,000 to
160,000 drill rigs
In April 2012 > 12,000 permits
4
Permit Sites in PA April 2012
(produced with Harvard World Maps)
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The “Fracking” Process
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The Holding Ponds for Flow-Back Water
Need 5M gallons water per well head
Each truck carries 4,000 gallons water
1250 truck loads
Proppant: 1.5 M pounds (silica/sand)
Requires 40 truck loads
X1 to x10 “frack” episodes per well
<30% in the flow back water held in pits
7
Diesel Trucking
Diesel Trucks Deliver:
Drill-Rigs
Propant
Fracking chemicals
Compressor parts
Gas line piping
Diesel Trucks Remove:
Natural gas
Waste water
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Night-Time Flaring
Well is tested by flaring
Release of methane: BETEX
(benzene, ethylbenzene, toluene
and xylene)
Move towards marketing “wet-gas”
a larger portion of methane is burned
Release of hydrogen sulfide
9
Processing and Transport
Dehydration and condensation to
remove water and VOCs
Liquefy hydrocarbon by-products
(propane and butane)
Compressor stations to pressurize
natural gas for pipe-lines
High-pressure gas lines navigate
PA countryside
Welding exempt from safety
regulations in rural areas
Pipes join national grid
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Additives in Fracking Fluid
Arthur et al., (2008) Hydraulic Fracturing Considerations for Natural gas
FracFocus.org Chemical Disclosure Registry- 12,000 disclosures
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Potential for Water Pollution-Fracking Fluid
0.49% of fracking fluid contains a
mixture of chemicals
95 tons of chemicals are used
per well base
Composition is a trade-secret
Some chemicals listed by class and
not by CAS registry number
Classes of chemicals used include:
-BETEX
-Substituted benzenes
-Ethylene glycol
-Petroleum distillate
-Silica
-Sodium and potassium salts
-Ammonium salts
(Source DEP-PA)
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Possible Health Effects of Chemicals with CAS Registry
Solubles (n=206) Volatiles (n =126)
Colborn et al., Human & Ecolog Risk Assess. 2011; 17, 1039
Based on MSDS
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Potential for Water Pollution- Flow-Back Fluid
MCL = maximum contaminant level ppm
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Potential for Water Pollution- Flow-Back Fluid
(NORM = Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material)
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Potential for Air Pollution –VOCs and PM 2.5
Photochemistry between VOCs and nitrogen oxides generate
ground level ozone
Ground level ozone exacerbates underlying asthma and COPD
and causes lung injury
Diesel Exhaust – Transportation and Compressor Stations
-VOCs
-Butadiene, acrolein, formaldehyde
-PM2.5: carbonaecous core adsorbs PAH, nitro-PAH and metals
-PM2.5: lodge in the deep lung (bronchioles and alveoli)
-PM2.5: invoke an inflammatory response exacerbate lung disease
-Diesel exhaust: Group 1: carcinogenic in humans (IARC)
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Occupational Exposures -1
NIOSH Concerned about safety of workers
Eleven states and five sites visited
>150 different occupations involved
Hydrogen sulfide exposure at the well-head
Movement of sand for propant and silicosis
Allamakee Co- Jordan Sandstone (Courtesy of Esswein-NIOSH)
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Occupational Exposures-2
Unfettered access to fracking chemicals
Exposure to VOCs in flow-back pits
Exposure to diesel exhaust during all activities
(Courtesy of Esswein-NIOSH)
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What does the science tell us?
CASE 1:
-7 residential wells In Leroy Township, Bradford Co
-affected by Cheaspeake natural gas drilling
ATSDR found:
- well 2 had 30 ug/L Arsenic
- wells 2-7 elevated Na but not Ba, Ca, Mn, and K
- bottled water given to residents using wells 2-4
CASE 2:
-11 homes in Dimock, Susquehanna Co PA
-Houston Cabot and Gas contaminated aquifer
EPA found (03-15-12):
-Surveyed 61 households
-6/11 homes elevated Na, CH4, Cr
-2/11 homes elevated As
-Levels do not present a health hazard
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Methane in Drinking Water Comes From Natural Gas Drilling
51/60 drinking wells tested + ive (Osborn et al., PNAS 2011, 108: 8172)
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Air Quality Monitoring in the Barnett Shale
Natural gas drilling in the Barnett Shale since 2002
Barnett Shale close to Dallas-Fort Worth Metropolitan Area
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality - Air monitoring
Measured NOx, VOCs (benzene) source of ozone
Helicopter flyrovers with GasFind IR cameras/ handmonitors for VOC/ mobile GC/ SUMMA-sampling canisters
Monitored between 2009-2010; 560 sites
LOC for benzene 180 ppb (acute) and 1.4 ppb (chronic exposure)
Field deployed automated GCs for continuous monitoring at 2 sites
Only two incidences where LOC was exceeded
Results posted on Barnett Shale Geological Area
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Public Health Concerns
Hazard ID x Exposure = Margin of
Safety &
Health
Risk
• Slick-water
• Fracking chemicals
• Contaminants in flow
back water
• VOCs and ozone
• CH4 and hydrocarbons
• Diesel exhaust and
PM2.5
Water pollution • Migration
• Aquifers
• Well water
• Ground water
• Surface water
Air pollution • Drill head proximity
• Compressor stations
• Transportation
Occupational
Vulnerable populations: children, pregnant women
x
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What research needs to be done?
External Dose:
air and water quality longitudinal sampling-GIS tools (lack of base line data)
identify exposures for biomonitoring
Internal Dose:
biomarkers of exposure: (VOCs/PM2.5/heavy metals/other contaminants)
reliable LOC for all chemical contaminants (RfD) and margin of safety
biomarkers of effect: (intermediate disease biomarkers)
Epidemiological Study Longitudinal (> 5 yrs):
will require CBPR approach
base line health assessment
use of personalized air monitors/biosensors (external dose)
serum and urine/biofluids for biomarkers (internal dose)
each person their own control
Mechanistic Toxicology
components of fracking fluids and flow back water
complex mixture problem
HTS in vitro assays for triage to animal testing
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What research needs to be done?
Community Outreach and Dissemination
affected communities
landowners and leasers
municipalities and townships
local, state and federal legislators and agencies
gas and drilling companies
Health Effects and Outcomes Research
public health professionals
occupational and environmental health physicians
stress of rapid industrialization
increase in substance abuse and crime
noise and sleep deprivation
monitor disease registries
Health Services Research
increase in hospital and mental health services
increase in accidents and injury
use of emergency medical services
are the sources adequate
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Environmental Health Research Agenda
Potential
Health Hazard
Large
Population
Environmental
Scientists
Mechanistic Toxicology
Exposure Science
Translation- Environmental Law
Translation-
Public Health Policy
Translation-
Targeted Communities
Community Based
Participatory Research
Epidemiology &
Biostatistics
Public Health
Professionals
& Clinicians
Veterinary
Medicine
Animal Sentinels
Requires: $$$; Politics??
NY Times Article 01-21-13
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State of Affairs in Pennsylvania
Gov. Tom Corbett (R) elected Jan 2011
-refuses to invoke an impact fee on gas-drillers
PA-DEP Secretary Krancer places moratorium on waste water tmt
after US EPA Region III intervenes-May 2011
Delaware Basin Water Commission postpones decision on
hydrofracking indefinitely-November 21, 2011
SB1100/HB-1950-Act 13: Impact fee introduced
-state takes back zoning authority from townships and municipalities
-imposes CDA for health care professionals to treat patients
State has primacy for water safety under SDWA and CWA
-Hailburton exemption makes flow-back water exempt from acts
Tom Corbett: “ I will direct the DEP to… return to its core mission
of protecting the environment based on sound science”
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Latest Developments
Institute of Medicine April 30-May 1, 2012
The Health Impact Assessment of New Energy Sources:
Shale Gas Extraction http://iom.edu/Activities/Environment/EnvironmentalHealthRT/2012-APR-30.aspx
Frac Act Senators: Bob Casey (D-PA) and Chuck Schumer
(D-NY)
April 17th Executive Order 13605-President Obama
Supporting Safe and Responsible Development of
Unconventional Domestic Natural Gas Resources
Federal Register page and date: 77 FR 23107, April 17, 2012
April 17th, new EPA regulations to curtail emissions by 2015
2011, EPA Study Potential Impacts of Hydraulic Fracturing
on Drinking Water Resources- to be completed by 2014
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The Precautionary Principle
The precautionary principle states that
if an action or policy has a suspected
risk of causing harm to the public or to
the environment, in the absence of
scientific consensus that the action or
policy is harmful, the burden of proof
that it is not harmful falls on those
taking the action.
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Latest Developments
2011, EPA Study Potential Impacts of Hydraulic Fracturing
on Drinking Water Resources
Hydrofracturing water cycle
-water acquistion-destruction of water
-chemical mixing and surface spills
-well injection
-flow back or produced water /ground water contamination
-waste water treatment
Sources of data
-9 companies, 25,000 wells, 12,000 chemical disclosures
-toxicological data is being complied
-laboratory studies
-case studies 70 domestic water wells, 15 monitoring wells
13 surface water sources
Completion date 2014
http://epa.gov/hfstudy/
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Hazard Identification- what is the chemical?
Dose response-what is the shape of the
dose-response curve and NOAEL?
Exposure assessment-what is the exposure?
external and internal dose
Risk Characterization-what is the likelihood to
cause harm (margin of exposure, ratio of
exposure to NOAEL)
Risk Communication
Risk Management
Assessing Risk