Geological opportunities and constraints on the use of underground space
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Underground Space↗
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Summary appraisals of the nation's ground-water resources – Ohio region
Ground water in the Ohio Region is a large, important, and manageable resource that should have a significant role in regional water development. On the basis of a comparison of ground-water withdrawals with estimated ground-water recharge, it appears that the ground-water resources of the Ohio Region probably will not be used at full potential under existing development plans. Annual ground-water use (1960) by municipalities and rural residents was about 1,000 million gallons per day. Average annual regional ground-water recharge is about 35,000 million gallons per day. Therefore, base-year (1960) municipal and rural ground-water use is only about 3 percent of recharge. Annual regionwide ground-water use (1965) by industry also is only about 3 percent of recharge. Not all ground water in storage is recoverable for development, but estimates of the amounts that can be obtained from storage, under specified conditions, are calculated to show the magnitude of water that is available. Total potable ground water available from storage in the outwash and alluvial aquifers in the Ohio River valley and the subbasins is about 23,000 billion gallons. This about four times the floodcontrol storage of all Ohio Region Corps of Engineers reservoirs constructed, under construction, or in advance planning as of July 1965. Approximately 85,000 billion gallons of potable ground water is available from storage in the region in aquifers other than the outwash and alluvial aquifers. This is about 20 percent of estimated storage in Lake Ontario. About 5 percent of the region has ground-water resources capable of supplying more than local needs. For example, under certain specified conditions the excess of ground-water recharge over base-year (1960) ground-water use is available for 22 million additional people in the Wabash subbasin; for 4, 1.5, and 12 million additional people, respectively, in the Miami, lower Scioto, and Allegheny subbasins; for 5 million additional people in the Ohio River valley; or for equivalent quantities of water supply for industrial or a~ricultural expansion or other use. A reasonable assumption is that much of the available ground water in these areas can be pumped and transported to reasonably distant points of need. The Wabash and White subbasins probably have the highest potential of all Ohio River subbasins for additional ground-water development. About 30,000 billion gallons, or about 28 percent of the total potable ground water available from storage in the Ohio Region, is in storage in these subbasins. Estimated average annual ground-water recharge in the Wabash and White subbasins is 7,300 million gallons per day. Annual ground-water use (1960) by municipalities and rural residents of the subbasins of about 220 million gallons per day is only about 3 percent of estimated annual ground-water recharge and only about 0.3 percent of the potable ground water in storage in the subbasins. Also, many high-yield aquifers are present and offer excellent reservoir-manipulation possibilities in conjunction with existing and planned surface reservoirs. Practically all areas of high population density in the Ohio Region have the potential for development of ground-water resources. The Indianapolis, Ind., area probably has the highest potential. Assuming that future population growth will be heaviest in the areas paralleling the interstate highway system, much of the increased water demand associated with these growth areas can be supplied by ground water. The areas of population growth in Indiana and southwestern and south-central Ohio are especially well situated in terms of potential ground-water supplies. Underground space in the Ohio Region, consisting of natural pore spaces and fractures in rocks and sediments, can be considered a regional resource in the sense that it can be included in regional water-pollution control or waste-disposal plans. Much of this space is already occupied by ground water or other fluids which must be displaced for any alternate use. There is a potential for underground waste storage in practically the entire Ohio Region. Rapid advance of techniques in ground-water hydrology during recent years has provided methods which the hydrologist can use for evaluating planned ground-water development. Therefore, the manager can resolve the inherent problems that historically have bred caution when this part of our total water resource was considered for development.
Ohio↗
Disposal of liquid wastes by injection underground--Neither myth nor millennium
Injecting liquid wastes deep underground is an attractive but not necessarily practical means for disposing of them. For decades, impressive volumes of unwanted oil-field brine have been injected, currently about 10,000 acre-feet yearly. Recently, liquid industrial wastes are being injected in ever-increasing quantity. Dimensions of industrial injection wells range widely but the approximate medians are: depth, 2,660 feet; thickness of injection zone, 185 feet; injection rate, 135 gallons per minute; wellhead injection pressure, 185 pounds per square inch. Effects of deep injection are complex and not all are understood clearly. In a responsible society, injection cannot be allowed to put wastes out of mind. Injection is no more than storage--for all time in the case of the most intractable wastes--in underground space of which little is attainable in some areas and which is exhaustible in most areas. Liquid wastes range widely in character and concentration-some are incompatible one with another or with materials of the prospective injection zone; some which are reactive or chemically unstable would require pretreatment or could not be injected. Standards by which to categorize the wastes are urgently desirable. To the end that injection may be planned effectively and administered in orderly fashion, there is proposed an immediate and comprehensive canvass of all the United States to outline injection provinces and zones according to their capacities to accept waste. Much of the information needed to this end is at hand. Such a canvass would consider (1) natural zone, of groundwater circulation, from rapid to stagnant, (2) regional hydrodynamics, (3) safe injection pressures, and (4) geochemical aspects. In regard to safe pressure, definitive criteria would be sought by which to avoid recurrence of earthquake swarms such as seem to have been triggered by injection at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal well near Denver, Colo. Three of the 50 States--Missouri, .Ohio, and Texas-have statutes specifically to regulate injection of industrial wastes. Other States impose widely diverse constraints under unlike administrative authorities. Few, if any, State agencies currently have the staff skills, centralized authority, and financial resources to assure rights of the general public to be spared harm from, and to reap the benefit of accrued experience with, deep injection. Some new, fully competent institutional arrangement appears to be essential, under a unified policy. As required, such an institution might have en echelon components, respectively having nationwide, single State or major province, subprovince, or local jurisdiction.
Circular↗
Surface subsidence and collapse in relation to extraction of salt and other soluble evaporites
Extraction of soluble minerals, whether by natural or man-induced processes, can result in localized land-surface subsidence and more rarely sinkhole formation. One process cited by many investigators is that uncontrolled dissolving of salt or other soluble evaporites can create or enlarge underground cavities, thereby increasing the span of the unsupported roof to the strength limit of the overlying rocks. Downwarping results when spans are exceeded, or collapse of the undermined roof leads to upward sloping or chimneying of the overburden rocks. If underground space is available for rock debris to collect, the void can migrate to the surface with the end result being surface subsidence or collapse. In North America natural solution subsidence and collapse features in rocks ranging in age from Silurian to the present are found in evaporite terranes in the Great Plains from Saskatchewan in the north to Texas and New Mexico in the south, in the Great Lakes area, and in the southeastern States. Man-induced subsidence and collapse in evaporites are generally associated with conventional or solution mining, oilfield operations, and reservoir and dam construction, and can be especially hazardous in populated or built-up areas.
Open-File Report↗
Summary appraisals of the nation's ground-water resources – Rio Grande region
The Rio Grande is an interstate and international stream which begins in high mountains of Colorado, flows across New Mexico, and forms the boundary between Texas and Mexico. Precipitation ranges from 8 inches (20 em) to more than 30 inches (76 em), but irrigation is required for growing crops throughout the region. The population of the region has been increasing rapidly, from 750,000 in 1929 to 1,700,000 in 1970, and it is expected to increase to 2,500,000 by 2020. The basic economy of the region was agricultural until recent years. Since 1950, the mining and petroleum industries have increased much more rapidly than agriculture. Annual precipitation on the region is about 86 million acre-feet (110,000 hm 3 ); however, all but 4 million acre-feet (4,900 hm 3 ) is returned to the atmosphere by evapotranspiration. The ground-water reservoirs contain an aggregate of 5,800 million acre-feet (7,200,000 hm 3 ) of fresh and slightly saline water in storage, which could be withdrawn through wells. In contrast, the surface reservoirs have a combined storage capacity of only 18 million acre-feet (22,000 hm 3 ). Thick deposits of valley fill in stream and intermontane valleys comprise the principal ground-water reservoirs. In most areas they are capable of yielding large supplies of water to wells. In some areas, limestone constitutes major aquifers. Withdrawal of ground water in the region in 1970 was 2.7 million acre-feet (3,300 hm 3 ), of which 88 percent was used for irrigation. About 53 percent of the water withdrawn was consumed. Ground water has been "mined" in some areas, and severe declines in water levels have resulted. The loss of water by evapotranspiration in wetlands and phreatophyte areas is 2.5 million acre-feet (3,100 hm 3 ) per year. In comparison, about 3. 7 million acre-feet (4,600 hm 3 ) per year of surface water and ground water is consumed by man's activities. Salvage of water lost to noneconomic evapotranspiration in wet and phreatophyte-infested areas offers the greatest possibility of improving the effective water supply in the region. Salvage of half the water lost would increase the effective supply by 1.2 million acre-feet (1,500 hm 3 ) per year. The usable water supply could be increased tremendously by drawing on the large reserve of ground water in storage, but this withdrawal could affect the flow of streams in some areas. The region appears to offer several possibilities for utilizing underground space for purposes other than the withdrawal of water, such as waste disposal, artificial recharge, water-quality control, and development of geothermal energy. Planners for ground-water management should have detailed information on the physical parameters that affect ground water, so improved management would be possible.
Colorado, New Mexico, Texas↗
Summary appraisals of the nation's ground-water resources – Pacific Northwest region
The Pacific Northwest Region's ground-water reservoirs are capable of providing large additional fresh-water supplies; these reservoirs become more important as undeveloped surface-storage sites and unapportioned surface-water supplies dwindle. Withdrawals of fresh water from all surface and underground sources are increasing; they may rise from the rate of 30 billion gallons per day in 1970 to about 60 billion gallons per day in 2020. By 1975 the withdrawal of ground water had increased 70 percent over the 1970 rate and accounted for 22 percent of total fresh-water withdrawal. Substantial increases in ground-water withdrawal must continue if projected water demands are to be met in the future. Large variations exist in the availability of and needs for ground water in the region, largely because of the great variety of landforms, climate, and earth materials. More than one-half the region is underlain by rock materials capable of yielding ground water to wells at moderate to large rates; six extensive areas are identified as major ground-water reservoirs. The most significant current problems pertaining to one or more of these ground-water reservoirs are: (1) Progressively declining water levels; (2) water-quality problems; (3) waterlogging; (4) inadequate information; and (5) competition for available supplies. In the future these same problems are expected to persist and generally worsen (especially water-quality deterioration) in most of the major reservoir areas. Management opportunities in the region include: (1) Development of new supplies and additional uses of ground water; (2) protection and enhancement of water quality; (3) reduction of waterlogging; (4) energy development from some ground-water reservoirs; (5) improving access to the ground water; (6) increased use of underground space for storage and disposal; and (7) greater use of advanced management and conservation techniques. Conjunctive use of surface and ground water to provide greater available supplies probably is the most promising water-management opportunity. However, if the full potential of the ground-water resources is to be realized, important constraints, including present water-right structures and serious deficiencies in information, must be overcome.
Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington↗
Summary appraisals of the nation's ground-water resources – Caribbean region
The Caribbean Region consists of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (8,990 km 2 (square kilometers)) and the U.S. Virgin Islands (350 km 2 ). The mean annual precipitation varies locally from a high of 5,000 mm (millimeters) to a low of 730 mm. Maximum precipitation occurs within the peaks of Sierra de Luquillo, and minimum precipitation occurs along the windward parts of the smaller islands and in southwestern Puerto Rico, which lies in a rain shadow. The annual average precipitation is 1,800 mm in Puerto Rico and 1,061 mm in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Of this amount 1,130 mm in Puerto Rico and 990 mm in the U.S. Virgin Islands are lost to evapotranspiration. Aquifers constitute a valuable resource in the Caribbean Region. In Puerto Rico, ground-water withdrawals supply about 38 percent of the total water requirements, whereas in the U.S. Virgin Islands they supply 10 percent. Of the ground-water withdrawal of 350 hm 3 /yr (cubic hectometers per year) in Puerto Rico, 54 percent is used for irrigation, 29 percent is used by industry, and 17 percent is used for public water supply. Ground-water withdrawal in the U.S. Virgin Islands is about 1.9 hm 3 /yr and is almost equally distributed between public supply and privately owned wells. Based on past trends and future economic expectations in the region, estimates are that by 1985 ground-water pumpage in Puerto Rico will be about 426 hm 3 /yr with additional future development potential; U.S. Virgin Islands pumpage may amount to 4.5 hm 3 /yr, which is the estimated maximum sustained yield of all aquifers under natural recharge conditions. Most large ground-water developments in Puerto Rico have been in the North Coast and South Coast ground-water provinces. The North Coast province contains the island's most productive aquifer, which was virtually undeveloped until 1968, when an artesian system having a 150-meter head was tapped. Since then, the artesian aquifer has undergone rapid development for industrial water supply. The extent of the artesian system is unknown, but it has been tapped within the Montebello Limestone Member of the Cibao Formation and in the upper part of the Lares Limestone. The south-coast aquifer consists of deep alluvial deposits. This aquifer has been extensively developed for irrigation and industrial water supply and can sustain only minor future development under present water-management conditions. In the U.S. Virgin Islands the most extensive aquifer is fragmented igneous rock, but the most productive aquifers are the marl and alluvial deposits of central St. Croix. Although yields from wells in central St. Croix are low (less than 6.3 liters per second), the aquifer provides about 0.86 hm 3 /yr to public water-supply wells and 0.54 hm 3 /yr to private wells. Future development within this aquifer could probably produce an additional 1.0 hm 3 /yr under natural infiltration conditions. Ground-water resources will continue to be important within the region. In order to meet future needs, it is necessary that hydrologic principles be applied in managing the total water resource. Optimal use of the water resources can be accomplished through conjunctive use of surface and ground waters and through conservation practices. Optimal use may involve artificial recharge, ground-water salvage, saline-ground-water mining, use of seawater, desalination of saline ground water, waste-water reuse, and use of underground space for temporary storage of wastes, which could otherwise contaminate valuable water supplies.
Professional Paper↗
Environmental trade-offs of tunnels vs cut-and-cover subways
Heavy construction projects in cities entail two kinds of cost - internal cost, which can be defined in terms of payments from one set of parties to another, and external cost, which is the cost borne by the community at large as the result of disutilities entailed in construction and operation. Environmental trade-offs involve external costs, which are commonly difficult to measure. Cut-and-cover subway construction probably entails higher external and internal cost than deep tunnel construction in many urban geological environments, but uncertainty concerning the costs and environmental trade-offs of tunneling leads to limited and timid use of tunneling by American designers. Thus uncertainty becomes a major trade-off which works against tunneling. The reverse is true in Sweden after nearly 30 years of subway construction. Econometric methods for measuring external costs exist in principle, but are limited in application. Economic theory based on market pressure does not address the real problem of urban environmental trade-offs. Nevertheless, the problem of uncertainty can be addressed by comparative studies of estimated and as-built costs of cut-and-cover vs tunnel projects and a review of environmental issues associated with such construction. Such a study would benefit the underground construction industry and the design of transportation systems. It would also help solve an aspect of the urban problem. ?? 1978.
Underground Space↗
Radon in earth-sheltered structures
Radon concentration in the indoor air of six residential and three non-residential earth-sheltered buildings in eastern Colorado was monitored quarterly over a nine-month period using passive, integrating detectors. Average radon concentrations during the three-month sampling periods ranged from about 1 to 9 pCi/L, although one building, a poorly ventilated storage bunker, had concentrations as high as 39 pCi/L. These radon concentrations are somewhat greater than those typically reported for conventional buildings (around 1 pCi/L); but they are of the same order of magnitude as radon concentrations reported for energy-efficient buildings which are not earth-sheltered. ?? 1984.
Underground Space↗
Water for Long Island: Now and for the future
Do you ever wonder where your water comes from? If you live in Nassau or Suffolk County, the answer is, groundwater. Groundwater is water that started out as precipitation (rain and snow melt) and seeped into the ground. This seepage recharges the freshwater stored underground, in the spaces between the grains of sand and gravel in what are referred to as aquifers. Long Island has three primary aquifers—the upper glacial, Magothy, and Lloyd—which are part of the Long Island aquifer system. Currently [2019], this aquifer system contains about 50 trillion gallons of freshwater.
New York↗
Geohydrologic reconnaissance of the upper Potomac River basin
The upper Potomac River basin, in the central Appalachian region in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia, is a humid temperate region of diverse fractured rocks. Three geohydrologic terranes, which underlie large parts of the basin, are described in terms of their aquifer characteristics and of the magnitude and duration of their base runoff: (1) fractured rock having a thin regolith, (2) fractured rock having a thick regolith, and (3) carbonate rock. Crystalline rock in the mountainous part of the Blue Ridge province and shale with tight sandstone in the folded Appalachians are covered with thin regolith. Water is stored in and moves through fairly unmodified fractures. Average transmissivity (T) is estimated to be 150 feet squared per day, and average storage coefficient (S), 0.005. Base runoff declines rapidly from its high levels during spring and is poorly sustained during the summer season of high evapotranspiration. The rocks in this geohydrologic terrane are the least effective in the basin for the development of water supplies and as a source of dry-weather streamflow. Crystalline and sedimentary rocks in the Piedmont province and in the lowland part of the Blue Ridge province are covered with thick regolith. Water is stored in and moves through both the regolith and the underlying fractured rock. Estimated average values for aquifer characteristics are T, 200 feet squared per day, and S, 0.01. Base runoff is better sustained in this terrane than in the thin-regolith terrane and on the average .is about twice as great. Carbonate rock, in which fractures have been widened selectively by solution, especially near streams, has estimated average aquifer characteristics of T, 500 feet squared per day, and S, 0.03-0.04. This rock is the most effective in the basin in terms of water supply and base runoff. Where its fractures have not been widened by solution, the carbonate rock is a fractured-rock aquifer much like the noncarbonate rock. At low values the frequency of specific capacities of wells is much the same in all rocks in the basin, but high values of specific capacity are as much as 10 times more frequent in carbonate rock than in noncarbonate rock. Nearly all the large springs and high-capacity wells in the basin are in carbonate rock. Base runoff from the carbonate rock is better sustained during dry weather and on the average is about three times as great as base runoff from fractured rock having a thin regolith. The potential role of these water-bearing terranes in water management probably lies in the local development of large water supplies from the carbonate rock and in the possible manipulation of underground storage for such purposes as providing space for artificial recharge of ground water and providing ground water to be used for the augmentation of low streamflow. The chief water-quality problems in the basin--acidic mine-drainage water in the western part of the basin, local highly mineralized ground water, and the high nitrate content of ground water in some of the densely populated parts of the basin--would probably have little adverse affect on the use of ground water for low-flow augmentation.
Water Supply Paper↗
Ground water in the Ogallala formation in the southern high plains of Texas and New Mexico
The Ogallala Formation of Tertiary (Pliocene) age is the principal aquifer in the Southern High Plains of western Texas and eastern New Mexico. This heavily pumped aquifer supplies practically all the water used for irrigation, municipal, industrial (except oil-field repressuring), and domestic purposes. Although the ground water in the Ogallala Formation in the Southern High Plains is common to both Texas and New Mexico, the State laws concerning ownership of the water are different. The New Mexico statutes provide that all underground waters of the State belong to the public and are subject to appropriation for beneficial use (Reynolds, 1961, p. 79). Under conditions specified in the law, the State Engineer may declare certain areas as underground water basins in which the State Engineer has jurisdiction over the drilling of wells. The approximate boundaries of two such basins in New Mexico are shown on the maps. In Texas, the landowner owns the underground water. Under a law passed by the Texas State Legislature in 1949, underground water conservation districts may be formed with the authority to make rules and regulations for the conservation of ground waters, such as rules governing the minimum spacing of wells, and rules for the prevention of waste and contamination of fresh water, and other practices for the conservation of ground water. The approximate boundaries of two underground water conservation districts in Texas are shown on the maps.
New Mexico, Texas↗
Spatial and temporal use of a prairie dog colony by coyotes and rabbits: Potential indirect effects on endangered black-footed ferrets
In western North America, endangered black-footed ferrets M ustela nigripes are conserved via reintroduction to colonies of prairie dogs C ynomys spp., their primary prey. Predation is an important source of mortality; coyotes C anis latrans appear to be the most problematic predator, accounting for 67% of known predation events on radio-tagged ferrets. Little is known about what factors affect spatial use of prairie dog colonies by coyotes, or how other animals might affect interactions between coyotes and ferrets. During June–October 2007–2008, we used spotlight surveys to monitor coyotes and ferrets (both years) and rabbits S ylvilagus spp. (first year) on a 452-ha colony of black-tailed prairie dogs C ynomys ludovicianus in the Conata Basin, South Dakota. Coyotes appeared to select areas of the colony used by rabbits, suggesting coyotes hunted rabbits, a common item in their diet. Between midnight and sunrise, ferrets were most commonly observed during early morning (01:00–03:00 h), whereas coyotes were observed mostly during dawn (04:00 h – sunrise) when ferrets were rarely seen. These temporal differences in the timing of observations suggest ferrets tend to remain underground in burrows when coyotes are most active. Coyotes appeared to be attracted to rabbits in both space and time, suggesting the risk of predation for ferrets might relate to the abundance and locations of rabbits in prairie dog colonies.
South Dakota↗
Investigating vegetation responses to underground nuclear explosions through integrated analyses
Vegetation has the potential to respond to underground nuclear explosions, yet these links have not been fully explored. Given the lack of previously described signatures, the changes in vegetation are possibly subtle. The integration of multiple different data streams is potentially a useful approach to improve signal detection. Here, we investigate whether semi-arid vegetation growth patterns responded to eight legacy underground nuclear tests at the Nevada National Security Site in southern Nevada, USA. We tested for spatial and temporal changes in vegetation cover, tree growth patterns, and tree leaf spectral properties using ground-based measurements, including those from tree-rings and hyperspectral surface vegetation reflectance, as well as space-based measurements of Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) from Landsat. Multiple data streams suggest a localized (<1.2 km) spatial pattern whereby tree growth is enhanced closer to the source of the underground test relative to sites further away. We also observed a more regional (>1.2–9 km) pattern whereby tree growth is suppressed coincident with a drought beginning 1 year before the 1989 tests, but continuing in the 5 years following the tests, which is anomalous relative to what is expected based on the response of tree growth to previous droughts. Quantification of the relative effects of the tests on vegetation remains a challenge due to the coincident drought and the potential for other disturbances to have impacted tree growth at this time, but the integration of these data reveals a more nuanced growth response than any other one data set indicates alone.
Nevada↗
Uncertainty quantification of geologic energy storage in depleted gas reservoirs using material balance equations embedded in a hierarchical errors-in-variables model
The storage potential for gas in geologic settings, such as depleted hydrocarbon reservoirs and solution-mined salt caverns, is becoming salient to future energy infrastructure planning. Technologies such as carbon capture, utilization, and storage, carbon dioxide-enhanced oil recovery, and natural gas and hydrogen storage help meet growing energy demands, reduce carbon emissions to meet climate goals, and provide energy security amid geopolitical uncertainties. Therefore, estimates of underground gas storage capacity could be useful for efficiently navigating the energy transitions. Material balance is a fundamental method in reservoir engineering for estimating original gas in place and potential storage capacity at the scale necessary for national assessments of subsurface pore space resources. However, the deterministic method cannot accommodate multiple data sources or quantify uncertainty in predictions. In this study, a method that embeds material balance equations within a hierarchical errors-in-variables model is proposed which allows the estimation of the distributions of reservoir properties needed for assessments. Uncertainties associated with these reservoir properties have traditionally been expert-elicited, whereas the uncertainty estimates from the proposed models are data-driven. Capacity and uncertainty estimates can be used in a probabilistic resource assessment, supplementing information traditionally used by assessors or even replacing this expert elicitation step when data are unavailable. Various regression models are compared in a case study of the Michigan Basin, a large contributor to the United States’ current natural gas storage capacity. In particular, errors-in-variables models help ameliorate regression dilution and can quantify uncertainty in predictions of pressure in addition to storage capacity. Overfitting is addressed by quantifying generalization error and model averaging in simple and stratified cross-validation against reported working gas capacity, representing the varying quality and quantity of available data. Incorporating a statistical framework into existing numerical methods in reservoir engineering can improve the quality of estimation, and in particular, this method brings rigor to uncertainty quantification as part of a larger effort by the U.S. Geological Survey to assess domestic energy gas storage resources in depleted hydrocarbon reservoirs.
Mathematical Geosciences↗
New methodology for assessing underground natural gas storage resources – Example from Michigan Basin, United States
Energy consumption in the United States (U.S.) and across the world is shifting away from traditional fossil fuels like coal and oil, and towards natural gas and renewable sources, including hydrogen. Because gas demand is typically greatest during cold seasons and renewable sources sometimes produce variable supplies, it is important to store energy for use when demand exceeds supply. Whereas batteries and tanks typically store energy above ground, geologic (underground) storage may be able to retain much greater quantities of energy over much longer durations (e.g., Matos et al. 2019; Buursink et al. 2023). Consequently, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is developing a methodology to locate new geologic energy storage sites with an initial focus on depleted hydrocarbon reservoirs followed by estimates of associated pore space or gas storage capacity. Depleted hydrocarbon fields in Michigan Basin in the U.S. already host large quantities of injected natural gas (about 681 billion cubic feet of seasonal gas capacity in 42 gas storage facilities; U.S. Energy Information Administration 2024). Therefore, we used this basin as an example to assess potential new storage resources alongside existing storage capacity and carbon dioxide sequestration resources (e.g., Katz and Coats 1968; Haagsma et al. 2020). In Michigan Basin gas storage is taking place in reservoirs within several key hydrocarbon producing formations with different lithologies, including the informal Stray sandstone of the Michigan Formation and the pinnacle reefs of the Niagara Group (Gautier et al. 1995; Swezey et al. 2015). The assessment methodology introduced here consists of two steps relying on both well information and reservoir data.
Michigan↗
Methodology for applying monitored natural attenuation to petroleum hydrocarbon-contaminated ground-water systems with examples from South Carolina
Natural attenuation processes such as dispersion, advection, and biogradation serve to decrease concentrations of disssolved contaminants as they are transported in all ground-water systems. However, the efficiency of these natural attenuation processes and the degree to which they help attain remediation goals, varies considerably from site to site. This report provides a methodology for quantifying various natural attenuation mechanisms. This methodology incorporates information on (1) concentrations of contaminants in space and/or time; (2) ambient reduction/oxidation (redox) conditions; (3) rates and directions of ground-water flow; (4) rates of contaminant biodegradation; and (5) demographic considerations, such as the presence of nearby receptor exposure points or property boundaries. This document outlines the hydrologic, geochemical, and biologic data needed to assess the efficiency of natural attenuation, provides a screening tool for making preliminary assessments, and provides examples of how to determine when natural attenuation can be a useful component of site remediation at leaking underground storage tank sites. At a site in the Piedmont Physiographic Province (Laurens, South Carolina), hydrologic and water-chemistry data indicate that the natural attenuation capacity for benzene is approximately 5 percent per foot of flowpath. As a result, benzene concentrations would decrease from about 28,000 micrograms per liter in ground water at the source area to less than 5 micrograms per liter 200 feet downgradient and prior to discharging to a stream. Because of this rapid attenuation, contaminants do not presently impact the stream downgradient of the site. In contrast, at a site in the coastal Plain Physiographic Province (Charleston, South Carolina), hydrologic and water-chemistry data indicate that, even thought the site has a substantial natural attenuation capacity, it may not be sufficient to fully protect a nearby point of ground-water discharge. These two sites illustrate how the efficiency of natural attenuation processes acting on petroleum hydrocarbons can be systematically evaluated using hydrologic, geochemical, and microbiologic methods. These methods, in turn, can be used to assess the role that the natural attenuation of petroleum hydrocarbons can play in achieving overall site remediation.
South Carolina↗