Open Collections

Prystupa, Emily

Currently, there is debate in North America regarding the potential for unconventional gas extraction (fracking), to influence groundwater chemistry through the release of fugitive gases, such as methane. Northeastern British Columbia, as a region with rapid unconventional gas development, is one area where the potential for migration of fugitive gases into groundwater can be studied in a complex geological environment. This study aims to monitor groundwater in Hudson’s Hope, British Columbia, to consider whether energy resource development fracking has had any impact on local groundwater. Domestic wells were sampled for dissolved ions and gas concentrations to evaluate the quality of shallow groundwater aquifers in the area using a standardized procedure to facilitate comparisons with past and future studies in the area. Our results did not provide any indication of changes in groundwater chemistry due to energy resource development based on an evaluation of methane concentrations and methane and water isotopes and general dissolved ion composition. Concentrations of some ions, such as iron and manganese, were found to be above the Canadian Drinking Water Aesthetic Objective, however, this aligns with the results of previous background studies in the region. As there was no evidence for the impact of energy resource development on the aquifers sampled, our results present a suitable baseline that can be used to consider future changes in groundwater chemistry in response to continued development. In conjunction with future studies in the area, these results can be used to consider potential causes of changes in groundwater quality and contribute to the debate surrounding energy resource development as a cause of elevated methane concentration.

Graduating Project

eng

2019-07-05

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/70922

UBCV

Undergraduate

DSpace