HW-19 EPA Water Test Dimock PA Pennsylvania Natural Gas Migration

Comment

1. Without predrilling data, it is not possible to comment on the cause for any water quality problems.

2. Where possible, I have noted situations where elevated levels of a water quality parameter exists in Pennsylvania.

3. If duplicate analysis provided, I attempted to use the highest reported value.

4. New Document - http://water.epa.gov/action/advisories/drinking/upload/dwstandards2011.pdf

5. This is not about cause and effect; it is about a review of the data.

Well – HW-19

With the exception of the following parameters, the remaining values were reported as NOT Detected (U)

Anionic Surfactants – 0.01 mg/L – the secondary drinking water standard for foaming agents is 0.5 mg/L.  (OK)

http://www.chemetrics.com/products/pdf/detergents.pdf

Heterotrophic Bacteria – 24 colonies per ml – the general guidance for “standard plate count” or total bacterial count is < 500 colonies per ml (OK)

http://health.mo.gov/lab/heterotropicbacteria.php

Ethane – < 0.0012  mg/L  – No specific drinking water standard (OK)

Methane – < 0.002 mg/L  – No specific drinking water standard. (OK).

Ethylene glycol –  the reported value is < 10 mg/L – there is no standard, but the EPA has a guidance limit of < 7 mg/L.  Other states have lower and higher standards:

New Jersey 0.300 mg/L (300 ppb)

Arizona 5.5 mg/L (5500 ppb)

New Hampshire 7.0 mg/L (7000 ppb)

Florida, Massachusetts, and Minnesota14.0 mg/L (14,000 ppb)

Minnesota

At a minimum, I would recommend retesting for ethylene glycol other other glycol compounds using a method that is more sensitive or conducting some type of standard additions analysis.

Chloride – 19.10 mg/L (OK) – drinking water standard is <  250 mg/L – this does not suggest any specific impact.

Sulfate – 18.20 mg/L (OK) – drinking water standard is <  250 mg/L – this does not suggest any specific impact.

Arsenic – < 0.001mg/L (Total) and 0.002 mg/L (D) – drinking water standard is <  0.010 mg/L – this does not suggest any specific impact and arsenic is a common problem in NEPA – about 6 % of private wells have arsenic above 0.010 mg/L.  

Barium - 0.229 mg/L (Total) and 0.234 mg/L (D) – drinking water standard is <  2 mg/L – this does not suggest any specific impact and barium is typically detectable in non-saline impacted water at a level of less than 1 mg/L. (OK)

Calcium- 37.6 mg/L (Total) and 41.6 mg/L (D) – no specific drinking water standard drinking water standard is available.  (OK- but there is either a contaminant added during filtration or this represents lab error – Higher Filtered Sample Higher than Total)

Chromium- 0.002 mg/L (Total) and 0.0032 mg/L (D) and the EPA/ PADEP primary drinking water standard is < 0.100 mg/L (OK).

Copper – 0.0074 mg/L (Total) and < 0.069 mg/L (D)- Copper is regulated as a primary standard (EPA and PA) and secondary drinking water standard in Pennsylvania.  Primary standard 1.3 mg/L and secondary standard 1.0 mg/L.   (OK)

Magnesium- 7.12 mg/L (Total) and 7.72 mg/L (D) – no specific drinking water standard drinking water standard is available.  (OK)

Manganese– 0.0082 mg/L (Total) and < 0.001 mg/L (D) – Manganese is regulated as a secondary drinking water standard in Pennsylvania and the action limit is 0.05 mg/L.  (OK)

Nickel - 0.0016 mg/L (Total) and 0.0017 mg/L (D) – – no specific drinking water standard drinking water standard is available, but the EPA has suggest a MCL of 0.1 mg/L.   (OK)

http://www.epa.gov/ogwdw/pdfs/factsheets/ioc/tech/nickel.pdf

Sodium –9.03 mg/L (Total) and 10. mg/L (D) – – no specific drinking water standard drinking water standard is available, but the EPA has added it to the Candidate List to provide more analysis.  The EPA’s initial value of 20 mg/L has been clearly identified as not realistic.  When chloride (salt is sodium chloride) is present at a concentration of over 250 mg/L, the water can have an “off” taste. At 400+ mg/L chloride, the water will taste definitely salty. (Source- Dr. Brian Redmond, Professional Geologist). (OK)

Zinc  – 0.0069  mg/L (Total) and 0.0053 mg/L (D)  – Zinc is regulated as a secondary drinking water standard by the PADEP in Pennsylvania and the action limit is 5.0 mg/L.  (OK)

Total Dissolved Solids  – 148 to 173  mg/L   – Total Dissolved Solids is regulated as a secondary drinking water standard by the PADEP in Pennsylvania and the action limit is 500 mg/L.  (OK)  This is a significant range in TDS – it may be worth checking to see if the “P” sample was field contaminated or if there was an increase in the conductivity during the purging process. (OK)

Nitrate+Nitrite – 2.38 mg N/L, the EPA drinking water for nitrate-N/L is 10, but the primary drinking water standard for nitrate is 1 nitrite-N/L.  It is probably be ok, but it may be advisable to test for nitrite-N.  (OK)

No major problems

1. Heterotrophic bacteria present- but that is common in NEPA. 

2. Nitrate-Nitrite at 2.38 mg/L – it may be advisable to check the level of nitrite in the water.

3. Retesting for glycols using a more sensitive technique is recommended.

4. Water did not contain methane gas, it was not detected.

Document can not be copied in whole or part without the expressed written permission of Mr. Brian Oram, B.F. Environmental Consultants Inc. http://www.bfenvironmental.com

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