USGS Produced Waters Database

USGS Releases New Produced Waters Geochemical Database

Geochemical and other information for produced waters and other deep formation waters
Groundwater Availability in the Appalachian Plateaus

Groundwater Availability in the Appalachian Plateaus

USGS uses streamflow to study aquifer system
USGS Energy Program

USGS Energy Program National Coal Resources Data System

USGS hydrologists to develop 3D hydrostratigraphy from over 200,000 cores in Appalachian Basin
Water Resources and Energy Production

Water Resources and Energy Production

An opportunity to expand knowledge of subsurface resources to include water
USGS samples groundwater

Baseline Groundwater Sampling within Appalachian Gas Plays

USGS characterizes water supplies in NY, PA, and WV

Groundwater Availability

The USGS Groundwater Resources Program (GWRP) is assessing groundwater availability in areas of critical importance.
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Conceptual Model

Cyclothems, stress-relief, karst, and mine aquifers.
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Hydrogeologic Framework

Regional hydrostratigraphy of Permian-, Pennsylvanian-,and Mississipian-age aquifers.
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Water Budget

Quantifying components of the hydrologic budget at at regional scale.
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News

    • Ohio Underground Drilling Waste Disposal Nears 2014 Record

      Ohio’s Class II underground injection wells continued to accept more oil and natural gas drilling wastes …

      17 Dec 2015 Shale-Gas.info
    • Utica shale may hold more oil, gas than earlier estimates, study says

      Utica Shale Appalachian Basin Exploration Consortium, estimated that the Utica shale …

      03 Dec 2015 WVGES
    • Groundwater availability in the United States: the value of quantitative regional assessments

      Freshwater scarcity has become a fact in many …

      01 Oct 2015 SpringerLink
    • USGS publishes hydrologic conditions of aquifers in the Appalachian Plateaus

      Study intended to provide foundational groundwater-related datasets in the …

      14 Aug 2015 USGS
    • Spatial and temporal characteristics of historical oil and gas wells in Pennsylvania

      Study seeks to better understand the potential for abandoned wells to serve as …

      14 Aug 2015 Environ Sci Technol
    • Organic and inorganic composition and microbiology of produced waters

      Important implications for the reuse and handling of these fluids …

      14 Aug 2015 Applied Geochemistry
    • The Depths of Hydraulic Fracturing and Accompanying Water Use Across the United States

      Researches report on fracturing depths and water use for ~44,000 wells reported between 2010 and 2013 …

      23 July 2015 Environ Sci Technol
    • Drought watch in 37 Pennsylvania counties lifted

      The Pennsylvania Drought Task Force uses reports and forecasts from the National Weather Service and U.S. Geological Survey …

      14 July 2015 Pike County Courier
    • Evaluating a groundwater supply contamination incident attributed to Marcellus Shale gas development

      Authors report a case where natural gas and other contaminants migrated laterally through kilometers of rock …

      05 May 2015 PNAS
    • 27 Pennsylvania Counties Still Under Drought Watch

      Not much has improved five weeks after the Department of Environmental Protection declared a drought watch for …

      04 May 2015 NPR
    • Water Quality Characteristics Identified as Energy Exploration Continues in Monongahela River Basin

      A recent study comparing historic water quality from the Monongahela River Basin in West Virginia found little change in the groundwater …

      27 Apr 2015 USGS
    • Testing the Unexplored Rogersville Shale in KY and WV

      Industry officials hope the Rogersville will produce sustainable volumes of natural gas …

      12 Apr 2015 WVGazette
    • Understanding the Radioactive Materials in the Environment: An Analysis of Produced Fluids from the Marcellus Shale

      Current assessments of the radioactivity concentration in liquid wastes focus on a single element – radium. However, …

      12 Apr 2015 NIH
    • New Stream Monitoring Method Locates Elevated Groundwater Methane in Shale-Gas Development Area

      Streams can be used as an alternative and complementary approach to the sampling of monitoring wells …

      2 Apr 2015 USGS
    • Pennsylvania DEP uses USGS Monitoring wells to assess drought

      The lack of groundwater recharge means a drought watch for 27 counties across Pennsylvania…

      25 Mar 2015 Republic Herald
    • USGS Professional Paper describes the geology and fossil fuel resources of the Appalachian basin.

      A modern, indepth collection of reports, cross sections, and maps in downloadable GIS data files…

      24 Mar 2015 USGS
    • USGS study indicates water quality data scarce when it comes to hydraulic fracturing

      Why existing national data sets cannot tell us what we would like to know…

      04 Mar 2015 USGS
    • Pennsylvania Groundwater Symposium on May 6, 2015

      Registration Open for the Pennsylvania Groundwater Symposium: An Unconventional Look at PA Groundwater…

      03 Mar 2015 Penn State
    • Coping with earthquakes induced by fluid injection

      USGS explores potential avenues for mitigating effects of induced seismicity due to fluid-injection activities used in energy production…

      23 Feb 2015 Science
    • Geochemical and isotopic evolution of water produced from Middle Devonian Marcellus shale gas wells, Appalachian basin, Pennsylvania

      New analyses of produced water samples from Marcellus Shale are used to address the origin of the water and solutes…

      10 Feb 2015 AAPG Bulletin
    • Trends in hydraulic fracturing distributions and treatment fluids, additives, proppants, and water volumes applied to wells drilled in the United States from 1947 through 2010

      This national analysis on nearly 1 million hydraulically fractured wells and 1.8 million fracturing treatment records…

      13 Jan 2015 USGS
    • Assessment of surface water chloride and conductivity trends in areas of unconventional oil and gas development

      Why existing national data sets can not tell us what we would like to know …

      7 Jan 2015 AGU
    • Potential Impacts of Hydraulic Fracturing for Oil and Gas on Drinking Water Resources

      Scientists focus on technical aspects of unconventional shale gas development and potential impacts to groundwater resources …

      1 Jan 2015 NGWA
    • Geohydrologic and Water-Quality Characterization of a Fractured-Bedrock Test Hole in an Area of Marcellus Shale Gas Development, Bradford County, Pennsylvania

      U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and Pennsylvania DCNR scientists present the results of a 1,664-foot-deep core hole in Bradford County, Pennsylvania. …

      16 Dec 2014 Pennsylvania DCNR
    • Drilling and geophysical logs of the tophole at an oil-and-gas well site, Central Venango County, Pennsylvania

      Drilling and geophysical logs were used to characterize the geohydrologic framework and the freshwater and saline-water zones penetrated by the tophole at an oil-and-gas well site in central Venango County, Pennsylvania …

      16 Dec 2014 Pennsylvania DCNR
    • USGS Investigations of Water Produced During Hydrocarbon Reservoir Development

      U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists conduct research and publish data related to produced water. The information advances scientific knowledge, informs resource management decisions, and facilitates …

      16 Dec 2014 USGS
    • Direct measurements of methane emissions from abandoned oil and gas wells in Pennsylvania

      Additional measurements of methane emissions from abandoned wells and their inclusion in greenhouse gas inventories will aid in developing and implementing …

      16 Dec 2014 PNAS
    • Baseline Groundwater Quality Studies Find Naturally Occurring Methane in Northeastern Pennsylvania

      Well-water tested in Wayne and Pike counties contains low-to-moderate concentrations of naturally occurring methane, according to new studies by the U.S. Geological Survey. …

      13 Nov 2014 USGS Newsroom
    • New Tracers Identify Hydraulic Fracturing Fluids and Accidental Releases from Oil and Gas Operations

      Scientists have developed new geochemical tracers that can identify hydraulic fracturing flowback fluids …

      21 Oct 2014 ScienceCodex
    • USGS Studies: Possible Effects of Energy Development on Water Quantity, Water Quality, and Ecosystems

      Specific publications are summarized in this document, spanning efforts across the Nation, including in the Marcellus Shale in the east, Bakken in the north-central, and Fayetteville Shale in the Southeast …

      16 Sept 2014 USGS
    • Well Leaks, Not Fracking, Are Linked to Fouled Water

      A study of tainted drinking water in areas where natural gas is produced from shale shows that the contamination is most likely caused by leaky wells rather than …

      22 Sept 2014 New York Times
    • Residual hydraulic fracturing water not a risk to groundwater

      In a paper published in the current issue of the Journal of Unconventional Oil and Gas Resources researchers report injected water that remains underground is sequestered in the rock formation and therefore …

      10 Sept 2014 Penn State News
    • USGS releases new Produced Waters Geochemical Database

      The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has released its new Produced Waters Geochemical Database, an online platform that provides valuable information on a comprehensive list of …

      24 June 2014 WaterWorld
    • Ohio Requires Seismic Monitors in New Drilling Operations

      The Ohio Department of Natural Resources require the installation of seismic monitors for drilling within three miles of a known fault or area of seismic activity greater than a 2.0 magnitude …

      16 June 2014 Insurance Journal
    • Drilling Observation Water Wells in the Marcellus Shale Region of Western Maryland

      The Maryland Geological Survey (MGS) and the United States Geological Survey (USGS) are developing a water monitoring program to evaluate ground-water and surface-water resources in the Maryland Appalachian Plateau …

      28 May 2014 Maryland Geological Survey
    • USGS scientists present at the 2014 Pennsylvania Groundwater Symposium

      The results of several USGS led groundwater investigations in areas underlain by Marcellus Shale were presented at the 2014 Pennyslvania Groundwater Symposium.

      27 May 2014 Penn State University
    • Fracking boom is a struggle for Kentucky

      The fracking revolution is not being kind to Kentucky’s role as an American energy leader …

      22 May 2014 Centre Daily Times
    • National Research Council report on Appalachian Basin workshop

      Development of Unconventional Hydrocarbon Resources in the Appalachian Basin is the summary of a workshop convened by the National Research Council to …

      13 May 2014 The National Academies Press
    • USGS provides framework to assess water needs for hydraulic fracturing

      The U.S. Geological Survey is developing approaches for the quantitative assessment of water and proppant involved with possible future production of continuous petroleum deposits …

      14 Mar 2014 USGS
    • Scientists study Ohio's quakes, fracking

      U.S. Geological Survey geologist is leading a national study on man-made earthquakes …

      16 Mar 2014 The Columbus Dispatch
    • Ohio making big effort to plug 600 orphan gas, oil wells across state

      The Ohio Department of Natural Resources’ Division of Oil and Gas Resources Management has identified 400 so-called orphan wells in 58 Ohio counties that are…

      11 Mar 2014 Akron Beacon Journal
    • Methane is Common in Groundwater from Valleys in South-Central New York State

      A new USGS study found that 15 percent of groundwater samples contained methane at levels high enough to warrant monitoring or mitigation. Methane was more common…

      19 Dec 2013 USGS
    • Measuring Landscape Disturbance of Gas Exploration in Somerset and Westmoreland Counties, PA

      Using geospatial data and high resolution aerial imagery from 2004-2010, USGS researchers documented spatially explicit patterns of disturbance, or land use, related to natural gas resource development.…

      19 Sept 2013 USGS
    • Water Resources and Shale Gas/Oil Production in the Appalachian Basin

      USGS presents new information regarding selected aspects of unconventional shale gas development in the Appalachian Basin

      20 Aug 2013 USGS
    • Vast groundwater resources available in underground mines of West Virginia

      An extensive network of abandoned mine entries in the Pocahontas No. 3 is filled with good-quality water

      20 Aug 2013 West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey
    • PA Counties Seek Act 13 Funds For Groundwater Studies

      Two of Pennsylvania’s most drilled on counties are looking to apply for a new state grant program to study groundwater quality.…

      18 June 2013 NPR.org
    • Pennsylvania Encourages New Source of Water for Fracking – Discharge from Abandoned Mines

      Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection is encouraging the use of contaminated water flowing from hundreds of abandoned coal mines for hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.…

      25 July 2013 Circle of Blue.org
    • Naturally Occurring Methane Found in Some Sullivan County Water

      Two of 20 randomly selected and tested household wells used for drinking water in Sullivan County, Pa., produced groundwater with elevated concentrations…

      25 July 2013 USGS Newsroom
    • The Most Popular Natural Gas Play in America

      Despite low gas prices over much of last year, the Marcellus shale was one of the only gassy plays in the country that didn't see a sharp drop-off in drilling activity…

      27 May 2013 Motley Fool
    • Utica shale gas production ramping up slowly, Ohio report shows

      Ohio Department of Natural Resources report for 2012 showing permit, drilling and production statistics also indicates …

      17 May 2013 Cleveland.com
    • A new problem for fracking: Drillers are running out of water

      Could severe water shortages short-circuit the US shale gas boom? With 64% of the country in drought, water…

      25 April 2013 Quartz Daily Brief
    • USGS Center for Applied Hydrologic Solutions (CAHS)

      USGS Kentucky and Indiana Water Science Centers are dedicated to developing high-end spatial and…

      14 Jan 2013 USGS KYWSC
    • Groundwater’s Greater Role in Waterways Demonstrated in Virginia

      Groundwater in Virginia is a greater contributor to streamflow than…

      26 Nov 2012 USGS Newsroom
    • USGS Scientist Mark Kozar Documents Interbasin Transfer of Water in Appalachian Coal Mines

      Simulation of groundwater in abandoned mines is difficult, especially …

      8 June 2012 JASMR
    • Flow-ecology Relationships for Monitoring Riverine Resources in the Marcellus Shale Region

      Study with USGS will assess availability of hydrologic and ecological flow model(s) suitable for the region…

      1 May 2012 Appalachian LCC