Lining Systems for Shale Gas Drilling Activities: Fid-Bau Portal

Lining Systems for Shale Gas Drilling Activities

Andrejack Loux, Theresa / Filshill, Archie

In the past several years, there has been an influx of oil and gas companies breaking ground in the Eastern United States and Canada for the purpose of natural gas extraction from the Marcellus and Utica formations. Geosynthetic lining systems have been utilized at many shale gas drilling sites as a solution to control environmental contamination and to contain large quantities of surface water; these applications include protection at drill pads and frack-tank storage locations, freshwater impoundments for drilling and fracking purposes, and stormwater control basins. The robustness of the geosynthetic lining systems that have been used at shale gas drilling sites varies widely by owner and location. There is also the potential for the use of geosynthetics in frack water surface impoundments and the proper management and disposal of drill cuttings. This paper presents an overview of the geosynthetic lining systems that are, or could be, used for applications relating to shale gas drilling, a summary of the current regulations that exist for these applications, the concerns that face the engineers designing the lining systems, and finally, the challenges that are confronted by the geosynthetic contractors during installation.