Title: The Water - Oil and Gas Nexus : Threats from Orphan Wells in Principal and Secondary Aquifers of the United States

Presented By:

The NYSCPG is excited to offer our third Quarterly Geo Insights webinar with the opportunity to earn 1 Professional Development Hour (PDH). Check out the Event Page on our website for future webinars in this series.

Member Registration: $20
Non-Member Registration:$30

Oil and gas extraction presents potential risks to water quality resources, particularly concerning groundwater across the country. While extensive research and site investigations have been conducted on the impacts associated with active wells, there remains a substantial knowledge gap regarding abandoned and particularly orphan wells. In this presentation, we will begin by outlining the well-documented threats that oil and gas activities pose to water resources. Following this, we will provide an overview of a recently published study that is the first to specifically examine the dynamics between orphan wells and the nation’s extensive aquifer systems. Finally, we will showcase additional products and resources developed by the orphan wells team, highlighting our ongoing efforts to address these critical issues. The USGS study reveals the threats orphan wells pose to groundwater aquifers at the national scale. Three regions of the country emerge containing aquifers with higher susceptibility to contamination: 1) The Appalachian Basin 2) The Gulf Coast Aquifers 3) The California Aquifers This work is the first multivariate geospatial investigation of orphan wells and groundwater resources on a national scale and identifies which aquifers are most susceptible to groundwater contamination from orphan wells. 

 The major highlights we'll cover are: 

• The background surrounding groundwater threats from oil and gas activity 

• An overview of the USGS investigation of orphan wells and the nation's aquifer system

• An update on the USGS groundwater quality story map

Attendees must keep cameras on, microphones muted, and answer all questions throughout presentation in order to receive credit.

Speakers:

Josh Woda has been a hydrologist with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) since 2020, where my work focuses on the intricate relationships among energy, water resources, and geospatial data. Currently, Josh leads or works on several projects aimed at investigating the connections between oil and gas activities and water resource extraction, developing tools and resources to support stakeholders (including the geothermal energy sector), identifying and predicting areas susceptible to landslides, mapping and modeling groundwater discharge zones and thermal habitats for cold-water fish species through advanced geospatial and hydrogeological modeling techniques, and mapping essential groundwater aquifers for effective resource management (among many other projects).

Dr. Karl Haase is research chemist focused on expanding our understanding of the movement of water and gases in the Earth system. The theme of his work is to find ways of measuring tracers and identifying emissions events not previously observed or developing new ways of performing measurements that were previously laborious and time consuming, enabling studies not previously possible. He has led and contributed to multiple studies that rely on his expertise and creativity in analytical chemistry, metrology, gas sensing, light hydrocarbon isotope geochemistry, isotope hydrogeology, and groundwater dating. Karl has created several analytical systems in the USGS for measuring groundwater age tracers, noble gas and tritium systems used by the Reston Stable Isotope Laboratory in Water Mission Area, as well as custom low-cost gas sensor systems and methodologies for measuring dissolved and gas phase methane and carbon dioxide to study cycling underwater, in caves, and from orphan wells and coal mines.