Trends in Fluid-Waste Generation From the Hydraulic Fracturing and Operation of Shale-Gas Wells in Pennsylvania From 2012 to 2014

Summary As the shale-gas-extraction industry grows, solidifies, and ultimately matures, there is much speculation regarding the types, magnitudes, and fates of the various types of wastes generated. As part of a life-cycle-modeling effort by the authors that attempts to project water-, salt-, and solid-waste generation over a period of the life of well fields, we are interested in understanding both the short-term and long-term trends in well drilling, waste handling, truck traffic, and the resulting bilateral economic issues such as carbon footprint and volatile carbon emissions. The State of Pennsylvania (2015) maintains an excellent waste-permit database for the natural-gas industry that is publicly available. This paper examines the more than 85,000 line entries in the six biannual reports from Pennsylvania from January 2012 through December 2014 to develop trends that are useful to a wide range of practitioners that may not have the time to delve deeply into the database. Topics examined include well-drilling activity, immediate flowback, produced-water generation, and their fate. These are examined on a county-by-county basis. Perhaps the most-sensitive analyses concern estimates of truck traffic and potential for recycle of fluids as such fracturing water. The 2012–2014 database predates the recent economic downturn in the energy sector and the subsequent hiatus in gas drilling. These data present a baseline for future comparisons in waste-management challenges.