The Effect of Hydraulic Fracturing on Groundwater Quality in Midland, Texas

Project Outline
Team 5: Ryan Whelan, Penghao Zhang, and Gloria Zhou

Introduction (significance of fracking and why it’s an important issue)

I. Fracking background
A. Hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) describes the process of injecting a mixture of
water and chemicals into the ground to extract natural resources, such as
petroleum and natural gas
(Source: https://earthworks.org/issues/hydraulic_fracturing_101/)
B. Fractures in the target rock formation are created as a result of the high pressure
that occurs when the rate of fluid being injected into the well exceeds the rate at
which the fluid can be absorbed into the rock.
C. Commonly used in “low-permeability rocks,” e.g., tight sandstone, shale, and
some coal beds (petroleum-bearing rock formations) and/or underground
geothermal reservoirs.
D. Can use gels, acids, slickwater (water with lower concentrations of proppants), or
other liquids as the fracturing fluid, but the most common fracturing fluid is
water, due to its great ability to carry proppants and other additives, as well as the
cheap cost of the fluid.
E. Other types of fracturing include:
1. Explosive fracturing uses nitroglycerin or other explosives to detonate a
target formation, releasing vast amounts of oil and other minerals
2. Foams can be used similarly to hydraulics, but are mostly gas, decreasing
the amount of chemicals required, and limiting the contact the water has
with the formation.
3. Supercooled liquid gases can be used if a formation is sensitive to water,
or if a gap is too small for water due to capillary effects. This is fairly
expensive though.
4. Gas alone can also be used to fracture, which avoids swelling, but carries
much fewer proppants, which means it’s less effective. Source:
(https://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba-cms-dotorg/products/ecd/e
bk/261561925/Chapter%201.pdf)
F. The fracking fluid is typically contains some amount of:
1. Proppant: used to open fractures
2. Acid: clears a path between well entrance and target rock formation
3. Breaker: reduces fluid viscosity
4. Bactericide/biocide: inhibits organism growth
5. Buffer/pH-adjusting agent: adjusts/controls pH
6. Clay stabilizer/control: stabilizes formation clays

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 7. Corrosion inhibitor: reduces rusting of fracking equipment when acid is
used in fracking fluid
8. Crosslinker: increases fluid viscosity
9. Friction reducer: minimizes friction effects on fracking fluid
10. Gelling agent: increases fluid viscosity
11. Iron control: prevents carbonate and sulfate precipitation
12. Solvent: controls contact surface wettability and/or interferes with
emulsion formation
13. Surfactant: reduces fracking fluid surface tension; useful when fracking
fluid is pulled back to the surface as flowback fluid
(Source: ​https://earthworks.org/issues/hydraulic_fracturing_101/)
G. Chemical reactions often occur between the fracking fluid and the target rock
formation and/or neighboring geological structures, which can potentially result in
the production of chemicals that would be harmful if leaked into groundwater
resources (e.g., consider pH, salinity, and alkalinity calculations; acid-base
reactions).
II. Fracking dangers
A. The inorganic chemicals used in this process often include hydrochloric acid
(HCl) and sodium chloride (NaCl), which can contaminate groundwater resources
if not handled properly.
B. Oil spills and drilling activities frequently contaminate native ecosystems (e.g.,
Associated Press reported a 5100% increase in chemically-contaminated soils
caused by waste from drilling activities) (Source:
https://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/health/case_studies/hydrofracking_w.h
tml)
C. Fracking is associated with negative health impacts (e.g., drilling operations
involved around 632 harmful chemicals) (Source:
https://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/health/case_studies/hydrofracking_w.h
tml)
III. Case Study (including novelty of our contributions)
A. Previous studies have investigated the quality of water in Midland, e.g., as
affected by the presence of copper, lead, arsenic, nitrate, and chromium.
Separately, previous studies have also assessed the risk of hydraulic fracturing to
the Permian Basin.
B. Our proposed project is novel because we intend to assess the changes in
alkalinity, pH, and salinity of the groundwater in addition to the effects of
hydraulic fracturing over an extended period of time rather than at a single time
point.
C. From the computational data we get, we can make predictions about the future
alkalinity, pH, and salinity of Midland county groundwater resources by 2030.

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 Furthermore, suggestions can be made regarding the proportion of flowback fluid
sent for treatment as opposed to being injected into deep wells.
D. These predictions are expected to guide the design of future hydraulic fracturing
infrastructure to lessen the detrimental impacts on the environment.

Materials and Methods

I. Site description
A. In our project, we plan to examine the leakage of HCl and NaCl into groundwater
resources in Midland County, Texas.
B. This location was chosen because it has been shown to have a high population
density and a large number of oil wells, being one of the most prevalent oil
mining areas in the US.
II. Data analysis
A. We will obtain the raw data for our analyses from the Texas Water Development
Board (TWDB), Midland.gov, Health department, etc.
1. Texas water quality data from Texas Water Development Board
2. Consumer confidence reports (2002-2020) from Midland County
government website
B. We will use the historical data of Midland County (and others nearby) to generate
an interpolation relationship of years vs. parameters (e.g., [Na+], [Acetate-],
[CO32-]). Then, we can use these relationships to make predictions about how the
concentrations of the chosen species will change beyond 2021.
III. Potential impact
A. Analysis of the potential health impact to locals of Midland county would be
performed using health data from the Midland Health Department (Source:
https://www.midlandhealth.org/Uploads/Public/Documents/MMH%202019%20C
HNA%20and%20Implementation%20Plan%20-%20FINAL%20(1).pdf)
B. A pH, water alkalinity, and salinity versus time profiles were be generated for
analyzing the impact of hydraulic fracturing on the water quality
C. The historical data of neighboring counties of Midland would also be analyzed to
verify if the wells in Midland are affecting water quality in other closeby areas.
Results and Discussion
I. Analysis of results
A. What is the impact of fracking on water pH, alkalinity, and salinity?
B. Is there a spread of contaminants to the neighboring areas?
C. What are the negative impacts on population health, if any?
II. We can assess the pros and cons of alternative methods of fracking and determine which,
if any, would be more positive for the environment. Additionally, we can suggest
modifications to established methods of fracturing.

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Conclusion
I. We will provide a brief summary of:
A. Our project results
B. The advantages/disadvantages of various fracking methods based on their
contributions to the water quality parameters examined in our project
C. The negative effects of hydraulic fracturing on the local environment
II. We will also provide suggestions on future studies related to fracking and groundwater
quality. For example:
A. Investigation of different fracking fluid chemicals that would be less impactful
while still operating well
B. Innovative methods of fracking
C. Refining procedures to eliminate unnecessary waste to improve long-term water
quality
D. Performing more analyses to improve our understanding of the water quality issue
in Midland and of fracturing as a whole