February 2, 2015 Abt Associates | Annotated Bibliography for Section X IV , Environmental Impact pg 1 Date February 2 , 201 5

To Tom Born
, U.S. EPA

From Isabelle Morin and Alex Kats

- Rubin , Abt Associates
Subject Final Annotated Bibliography for Section X IV
, “Environmental Impacts
, ” of the Preamble for “ Effluent Limitations Guidelines and Standards for the Oil and Gas Extraction Point Source Category ; Proposed Rule”



## 1 Introduction

This brief memo provides an annotated bibliography for the citations in Section X IV , “Environmental Impacts” of the Preamble for “ Effluent Limitations Guidelines and Standards for the Oil and Gas Extraction Point Source Category ; Proposed Rule

. ”



## 2 Annotated Bibliography

Au stralia and New Zealand Water Quality Guidelines 2000

. DCN SGE00937
Australia and New Zealand Environment and Conservation Council. October 2000. “Australian and New Zealand Guidelines for Fresh and Marine Water Quality.” National Water Quality Management Strategy. Paper number 5. Chapter 3 Primary Industries

- 9.3 Livestock Drinking Water Guidelines. Available at http:// www.environment.gov.au/system/files/resources/e080174c

- b267

- 455e

- a8db

d3f79e3b2142/files/nwqms

- guidelines

- 4

- vol3.pdf (Accessed October 21, 2014) These guidelines are an update to a previous version from 1992, and lay out a broad set of recommendations for water quality use d for irrigation, livestock drinking water, and on

- farm use. TDS generally has no adverse health effect on most livestock up to 4000 mg/L, though poultry and dairy cattle begin to be sensitive above 2,000 mg/L. At levels between 3,000 mg/L and 10,000 mg/L, different species of livestock begin to decline in health and productivity, with sheep exhibiting the highest tolerance. High TDS can cause gastrointestinal symptoms, reduce productivity, stunt growth, impact mortality, and impair egg shell quality. Pregnant or physiologically stressed animals are particularly susceptible to mineral imbalance and health effects from elevated TDS.

Bauder et al. , 2014 DCN SGE00938 Bauder, Troy Allen, R.M. Waskom, P.L. Sutherland and J.G. Davis

. “ Irrigation Water Quality C riteria. ” Fact Sheet No 0.506. Colorado State University Cooperative Extension, ( 2014 )

. 

# Memorandum Environment and ResourcesFebruary 2, 2015 Abt Associates | Annotated Bibliography for Section X IV , Environmental Impact pg 2 This fact sheet provides an overview of irrigation water quality on crop production and soil quality. The authors discuss sa linity hazards for various crop types, sodium hazards to soils, and effects of pH and alkalinity, chloride, boron, sulfate, and nitrogen.

Bruvold and Ongerth, 1969 DCN SGE00939 Bruvold, William H., and Henry J. Onge rth. “ Taste Quality of Mineralized Water

. ” Journal (American Water Works Association) (1969): 170

- 174. Bruvold and Ongerth (1969) present results from water quality taste panel surveys. The samples were drawn from wells in community water systems in the central California coastal area, and

were untreated and not chlorinated. The 27 subjects were presented in each rating session with 11 water samples ranging in TDS from 50 to 2250 mg/L. Each subject participated in three rating sessions, spaced one week apart. Although there was some baseline diss atisfaction at any level of TDS, the study found an inverse linear relationship between taste quality and total mineral quantity. The study concluded that water with 300 mg/L TDS or less is generally considered of excellent taste, water with 900 to 1100 mg /L TDS is considered poor, and water above 1100 mg/L TDS is considered unacceptable.

Derry et al., 2003 DCN SGE 00940 Derry, A. M., E. E. Prepas, and P. D. N. Hebert. “ A comparison of zooplankton communities in saline lakewater with variable anion composition. ” Hydrobiologia 505.1

- 3 (2003): 199

- 215. Derry, Prepas, and Herbert conducted a study of zo oplankton populations in twelve shallow sub

saline to hyper

- saline lakes in western Canada. Lake TDS lev els ranged from 556 to 96,22 8 mg/L . This study sought to investigate the effect not just of overall salt concentration, but also of relative ion dominance on zooplankton communities. They found that in the dilute sub

- saline lakes almost all rotifer and crustacean species were highly abundant. Their study supported Herbst 2001 model that physico

- chemical conditions provided an avenue of escape from intense predation and competition in more diverse communities of moderate environments. Higher saline environments , however, were characte rized by declining levels of biodiversity.

Ferrar et al., 2013 DCN SGE00525 Ferrar, Kyle J., et al. “ Assessment of effluent contaminants from three facilities discharging Marcellus Shale wastewater to surface waters in Pennsylvania. ” Environmental science & technology 47 ( 7 ) (2013): 3472

- 3481. Ferrar et al. (2013) studied discharges from three wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs)

– two publicly owned treatment works (POTWs ; WWTP

- 1 and WWTP

- 2 ) and one commercially operated industrial WWTP (WWTP

- 3)

– before an d after the 2011 request by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) for drilling companies to find alternative methods to dispose of their wastewater. The first sample was taken before that request . A t that time
, oil and gas wastewa ter represented an estimated 0.8% and 5.4% of the effluent flow at WWTP

- 1 and WWTP

- 2 , respectively

. WWTP

- 3 treated exclusive ly oil and gas wastewater s, including unconventional natural gas development wastewaters

. The paper describes the types of treatment systems used in each plant. The first set of samples, taken prior to the request, showed concentrations of Mg, TDS and chloride in excess of water quality criteria at all three WWTPs, and Ba, Mn, and Sr at WWTP

- 2 and WWTP

- 3. WWTP

- 3 also showed excess sulfate andFebruary 2, 2015 Abt Associates | Annotated Bibliography for Section X IV , Environmental Impact pg 3 benzene. T he researchers compared measurements to maximum contaminant levels (MCLs), secondary maximum contaminant levels (SMCLs), human health criteria for the consumption of aquatic organisms, and aquatic life criteria (i.e., criterion maximum concentration (CMC) and criterion continuous concentration (CCC)). For strontium, they compared to recommended concentration for drinking water of 4 mg/L
, while for bromide they used a concentration value of 0.1 mg/L

. Samples taken a fter the voluntary cessation showed significantly lower concentrations of all analytes in the effluent from WWTP

- 2 and the majority of analytes from WWTP

- 1 and WWTP

- 3. The researchers conclude that this provides preliminary evidence that W WTPs may not provide sufficient treatment for unconventional natural gas development wastewaters.

Fipps, 2003 DCN SGE00936 Fipps, Guy. “ Irrigation water quality standards and salinity management strategies.” AgriLife Extension, Texas A&M University. Pub lication B

- 1667 (2003): 87829. Available at http://soiltesting.tamu.edu/publications/B

- 1667.pdf (accessed October 21, 2014). This article reviews parameters for assessing irrigation water q uality, and suggests appropriate management strategies. Water quality for irrigation is determined according to the total and relative concentrations of soluble salts, elements, and compounds. Salinity in water is measured by the TDS, or electrical conduc tivity. Water is considered suitable for irrigation at TDS concentrations below 1,400 ppm, and unsuitable above 2,100 ppm. Between 1,400 and 2,100 ppm, good drainage is needed and sensitive plants will have difficulty obtaining strands. Lower quality water if used in irrigation can substantially reduce plant growth and crop yield, though numerous farming strategies exist to mitigate salinity buildup.

Hallock and Hallock, 1993 DCN SGE00941 Hallock, R. J., and L. L. Hallock. "Detailed study of irrigation dra inage in and near wildlife management areas, west

- central Nevada, 1987

- 90. Part B: Effect on biota in Stillwater and Fernley Wildlife Management Areas, and other nearby wetlands." (1993). Available
at http://pubs.usgs.gov/wri/1992/4024b/report.pdf (accessed October 21, 2014) Hallock and Hallock (1993) studied the effect of irrigation drains on migratory waterfowl and plant communities in three wetland and marsh sites. Between the 1860 and the 1 970’s, two of the sites experienced a seven

- fold increase in dissolved solids loads from estimated historic levels of 200 or 300 mg/L to 1170 mg/L. The increase has largely been due to increased irrigation coupled with reduced marsh sizes. For these two si tes, coontail and other less salt

- tolerant pondweeds decreased in abundance and made up less of the pond composition. In one of the sites, the no n salt

- tolerant cattail had gone from being one of the dominant species, to being found only rarely and in scat tered patches. The substantial changes in marsh communities and decline of plant species without salt tolerance also reduced vegetative cover for nesting water

- bird populations. E levated dissolved solids concentrations and associated pollutants adversely a ffected invertebrates, fish, and wildlife.

Hayes and Severin, 2012 DCN SGE00284 Characterization of Flowback Waters from the Marcellus and the Barnett Shale Regions. Report No. 08122

- 05.09. RPSEA (2012). Available at http://www.rpsea.org/media/files/project/2146b3a0/08122

- 05

- RT

Characterization_Flowback_Waters_Marcellus_Barnett_Shale_Regions

- 03

- 20

- 12.pdf (accessed October 21, 2014).February 2, 2015 Abt Associates | Annotated Bibliography for Section X IV , Environmental Impact pg 4 The study describes the composition of flowback waters from 19 sites in the Marcellus region of Pennsylvania and West Virginia an d5 sites from the Barnett region of northern Texas. The report summarizes the results of analyse s for general composition and volatile organics, semi

- volatile organics, pesticides, PCBs and metals. The samples show increased salt (TDS) and decreased flow over time, with the main salt consisting of sodium chloride. The commonly observed cations

are so dium (over 70 percent) , calcium (approximately 10 percent) , barium, strontium, and iron. Common anions include chloride (over 90 percent) , bromide, sulfate, and bicarbonate. Other detected components include aromatics such as benzene, toluene, ethyl benzen e and xylene commonly associated with petroleum production, whereas PAHs occur occasionally in trace
amounts.

H ladik et al., 2014 DCN SGE00535 Hladik, Michelle L., Michael J. Focazio, and Mark Engle. "Discharges of produced waters from oil and gas extract ion via wastewater treatment plants are sources of disinfection by

products to receiving streams." Science of the Total Environment 466 (2014): 1085

- 1093. Oil and gas wastewaters frequently contain elevated levels of bromide, which is an important precurso r to several toxic d isinfection byproducts (DBPs). In this study, upstream and downstream sites were compared with discharges from four POTWs that did not accept oil and gas wastewater, and four CWTs and POTWs that did accept oil and gas wastewater. Twenty

- nine DBPs were analyzed, and POTWs and CWTs receiving wastewater had higher levels of DBPs, including DBPs generally not associated with wastewater. Often these were brominated

- DBPs, which are among the more toxic.

Parker et al., 2014 DCN SGE00985 Partker, K.M., T. Zeng, J. Harkeness, A. Vengosh, and W. A. Mitch. Enhanced Formation of Disinfection Byproducts in Shale Gas Wastewater

- Impacted Drinking Water Supplies. Environmental Science & Technology. (2014). 48(19): 11161

- 11169. The study evaluated the minimum volume of two Marcellus Shale and one Fayetteville Shale hydraulic fracturing wastewater (HFW) diluted by fresh water that would generate and/or alter the formation and speciation of DBPs after chlorination, chloramination, and ozonation treatm ent. The authors hypothesized that elevated bromide and iodide in HFW may promote the formation of disinfection byproducts (DBPs) and alter their speciation

. The methodology involved diluting HFW with fresh water collected from the Ohio and Allegheny Rive rs, subjecting the dilution series samples to treatment with typical doses of chlorine, chloramines, or ozone , and analyzing the treated samples for DBPs. The results showed that HFW dilution as low as 0.01% could result in altered speciation toward the fo rmation of brominated and iodinated DBPs. The results also showed that HFW dilution as low as 0.03% increased the overall formation of DBPs. The authors compare these percentages of HFW to the bromide levels seen in Pennsylvania surface water following the “shale gas boom” as compared to pre

- 2003 levels . This paper suggests either eliminating HFW discharges or installing halide

- specific removal techniques in centralized brine treatment facilities.

Raisbeck et al. , 2013 DCN SGE01053 Raisbeck, MF, SL Riker, C M Tate, R Jackson, MA Smith, KJ Reddy, and JR Zygmunt. Water quality for Wyoming livestock and wildlife

– a review of the literature pertaining to health effects of inorganic contaminants. Univ. Wyoming Dept. Veterinary Sciences andFebruary 2, 2015 Abt Associates | Annotated Bibliography for Section X IV , Environmental Impact pg 5 Renewable Resources, Wy oming Dept Game and Fish, Wyoming Dept Environ. Quality. Laramie, Wyoming. (2011) Available at: http://www.wyomingextension.org/agpubs/pubs/B1183.pdf (accessed October 21, 2014) The report summarizes the health effects of inorganic contaminants based on a review of the literature. Chapter 11 describes the impacts of high TDS concentrations . High TDS in raw water sources for livestock watering may adversely affect animal health by several po ssible mechanisms. The solutes contained in the elevated TDS decreases the ability of water in the body to transport materials (e.g., nutrients, waste products, etc.) by decreasing its ability to dissolve additional solutes. Solutes exert an osmotic attrac tion on water across membranes leading to disruption of normal plasma osmolarity with adverse effects of dehydration on affected cells and tissues. Further, the adverse effects of excess solutes in drinking water consume metabolic resources that could othe rwise be used for growth, milk production, or fighting off disease. Finally, drinking water TDS levels in the 1.5 percent to 3 percent range are usually fatal to most animals

.

States et al., 2013 DCN SGE00587 States, S., G. Cyprych, M. Stoner, F. Widra, J . Kuchta, J. Monnell, and L. Casson. 2013. Marcellus Shale Drilling and Brominated THMs in Pittsburgh, PA Drinking Water. Journal American Water Works Association . August. Volume / Number: 105, Number 8. Page(s): E432

- E448. In 2010 the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Water and Sewer Authority (PWSA) observed a significant increase in the concentration of total trihalomethanes (TTHMs), especially brominated THM species, in its finished water. In an effort to explain these changes, PW SA and the University of Pittsburgh's Swanson School of Engineering conducted a treatment plant survey and a series of laboratory experiments

. As part of the survey, the researchers collected samples of Allegheny River water over the course of a year and a nalyzed these samples for bromide content. In addition to daily sampling of the PWSA plant intake, the researchers collected monthly samples at 42 locations along the river and its tributaries, including downstream from various dischargers (e.g., ix coal f ired power plants, one steel mill, eight municipal and commercial wastewater treatment plants known to have processed wastewater from Marcellus shale drilling operations, and two locations where coal mine drainage discharges into the river). They also anal yzed the finished water samples to determine the concentration of tour TTHMs. Results of the investigation indicated that elevated bromide concentrations in the source water were associated with increased concentrations of TTHMs, especially brominated THMs , in the drinking water. The survey of the river system suggested that industrial wastewater treatment plants (brine plants) treating Marcellus Shale wastewater and
, to a lesser extent, coal

- fired power plants
, are the sources of bromide in the raw water
, based on increased bromide concentrations downstream from the plants

. The researchers also measured smaller increases in bromide concentration downstream from coal

- fired power plant discharges. The study results also indicated that PWSA's conventional trea tment process, which includes enhanced coagulation and secondary sedimentation, was ineffective at removing bromide from the source water. The increase in bromide concentrations in the Allegheny River system could affect the ability of conventional drinkin g water plants drawing water from this source to comply with the Stage 2 Disinfectants/ Disinfection Byproducts Rule.February 2, 2015 Abt Associates | Annotated Bibliography for Section X IV , Environmental Impact pg 6 U.S. EPA, 2014 DCN SGE00945
U.S. EPA. 2014. “Water Quality Standards Repository” http://water.epa.gov/scitech/swguidance/standards/wqslibr ary/index.cfm In this online repository, EPA has compiled unofficial copies of state, territorial, and authorized tribal water quality standards that EPA has approved or are otherwise in effect for Clean Water Act purposes.

Warner, 2013 DCN SGE00629
Warner , Nathaniel R., Cidney, A. Christie, Robert B. Jackson, and Avner Vengosh . "Impacts of shale gas wastewater disposal on water quality in western Pennsylvania." Environmental Science & T echnology (2013). 47 ( 20 ) : 11849

- 11857. In this article, Warner et al. s ought to quantify the impact on surface water and stream sediments of short

- and long

- term oil and gas wastewater discharges by examining water quality and stream sediment associated with a treatment facility in western Pennsylvania ( Josephine Brine Treatm ent Facility ) . Major elements found in the wastewater effluent include Cl, Br, Ca, Na, and Sr. The study looked at concentrations in effluent, stream water and sediment upstream and downstream from the plant and in other streams in western Pennsylvania

. On average for one site through the year, the 0 .1% of downstream flow contributed by the effluent wastewater accounted for 78% of the chloride flux. Chloride concentrations 1.78 km downstream of the treatment facility were 2 to 10 times higher than any chloride concentrations recorded in any background western Pennsylvania streams. In another stream, bromide levels were enriched 40

- fold 1.78 km downstream from the point of discharge. Overall, the downstream flows from the treatme nt facility processing oil and gas effluent w ere characterized by elevated chloride and bromide. Radium 226 was found to accumulate in sediments near the discharge site, reaching levels 200 times greater than upstream and baseline sediments.

Weber

- Scannel l and Duffy, 2007 DCN SGE00946
Weber

- Scannell, Phyllis K., and Lawrence K. Duffy

. "Effects of total dissolved solids on aquatic organisms: a review of literature and recommendation for salmonid species." American Journal of Environmental Sciences 3 ( 1 ) (200 7): 1

- 6

. Weber

- Scannell and Duffy review ed 40 peer

- reviewed papers and published reports on the toxicity and effects of elevated TDS on fish populations, aquatic vertebrates, and aquatic invertebrates. Zooplankton and diptera larvae were the most frequentl y studied of aquatic invertebrate s , and exhibited extremely wide ranges in sensitivity, from effects at as little as 280 ppm TDS up to resilience to well above 2000 ppm. Fish sensitivities similarly varied widely between species, but also depended for a sp ecies upon the life

- cycle stage exposed. For example, mature fish that were resilient to TDS levels exceeding 2000 ppm could often be extremely sensitive during fertilization or embryonic life stages. The studies suggest that of common ions in TDS, calcium and sulfates were particularly problematic for fish embryo and fertilization mortality. The meta

- analysis found that comparatively few studies had considered the effects of TDS on plants, algae, or bacteria. Overall, changes in the ionic distribution of a quatic habitats shift the composition of the biotic communities, and increases in salinity and TDS limit overall biodiversity.February 2, 2015 Abt Associates | Annotated Bibliography for Section X IV , Environmental Impact pg 7 WHO, 1996 DCN SGE00947 World Health Organization. Guidelines for Drinking

- Water Quality, 2nd Edition. Volume 2

- Health criteria and other supporting information. Geneva, 1996. ISBN 92 4 154480 5

. The World Health Organization dropped its health

- based recommendations for TDS in 1993, instead retaining 1,000 mg/L as a secondary standard for taste

.