Co-sponsors of the workshop:
U.S. Geological Survey U.S. Department of the Interior Eastern Region Science Office and Pennsylvania Water Science Center	Pittsburgh Geological Society
Agencies that collaborated with the co-sponsors to plan the technical program:
Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, U.S. Department of the Interior	Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection

Welcome

Purpose

The Stray Gas Workshop was held on November 4-6, 2009.
The presentations from the workshop are available now under the "Workshop Presentations" tab.

This workshop focused on the scientific basis for assessment of, and various types of geochemical analyses for, stray or fugitive gases. Stray gases can originate from a variety of sources and accumulate in natural and man-made spaces where dispersion and ventilation are inadequate. Gas accumulation can lead to problems where the fugitive nature of gases is a major safety concern.

Tools and strategies for investigating stray gases, along with case studies, were presented by scientists and specialists whose work has focused on the origins, migration, and accumulation of gases. The workshop presentations had emphasis on carbon dioxide and methane; the implications for safety, mitigation, and management of subsurface resources also were addressed. (Program with Abstracts - PDF)

Workshop Format and Sessions

(Program with Abstracts - PDF)

The workshop will be at the Sheraton Station Square in Pittsburgh. Sessions will span two full days (November 4-5) and the morning of a third day (November 6) with invited speakers as presenters each day. In addition to platform presentations, there will be poster presentations on Day 1 as part of an evening reception. Day 3 will be a half day of platform presentations and group discussions. Light refreshments will be provided at breaks. A lunch for attendees is planned on Day 2. Lunches on Days 1 and 3 are 'on-your-own.' Sessions will be organized as follows:

Tuesday November 3, 2009

7-9 p.m. Evening "early-bird" sign-in/pick-up registration packets

Wednesday November 4, 2009

7:45-8:45 a.m. Sign-in/pick-up registration packets

9:00-10:45 a.m. Plenary Session

11:00-12:15 Session 1-- Fugitive and Stray Gases: Investigation Strategies, Tools, and Case Studies

12:15-1:30 p.m. Lunch "on-your-own"

1:30-5:00 p.m. Session 1-- Investigation Strategies, Tools, and Case Studies--continued

5:00-7:00 p.m. Evening Reception: "Meet the Speakers" & Poster Session

Thursday November 5, 2009

7:30-8:30 a.m. Arrivals and Sign-in

8:30-11:50 a.m. Session 2-- Fugitive and Stray Gases: Investigation Strategies, Tools, and Case Studies

12 noon-1:30 p.m. Lunch with "Science for Dessert" Speaker

1:40-5:00 p.m. Session 2-- Investigation Strategies, Tools, and Case Studies--continued

Friday November 6, 2009

8:00-11:00 a.m. Session 3-- Mitigation and Safety Topics

11:00-11:30 a.m. Workshop Wrap-Up and Adjourn

Workshop Presentations and Speakers - Confirmed

Plenary Session

Keynote Presentation: "From floating golf greens to burning cities, some reflections on the past, present, and future of stray gas identification."
D.D. Coleman, Isotech Laboratories, Inc.

Sessions on Fugitive and Stray Gases—Investigation Strategies, Tools, and Case Studies

"Stray gas migration – Elements of an investigation and case studies" F.J. Baldassare, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection

"Gas cloud kills thousands at Lake Nyos, Africa: Identifying the culprit and saving lives in the future" M. L.W. Tuttle U.S. Geological Survey

"Stray gas impacts from gas well operations: pressure, migration, mixing, attenuation, dilution and other factors affecting forensic sampling, analysis, and interpretation" A.W. Gorody, Universal Geoscience Consultants

"Magmatic carbon dioxide emissions—environmental effects and hazards at Mammoth Mountain, California" C.D. Farrar, U.S. Geological Survey

"Covariation of carbon and hydrogen isotopic compositions of hydrocarbon gases: Distinguishing gases from biogenic, thermogenic, and inorganic CO2-reduction ("abiotic") sources" R.C. Burruss, U.S. Geological Survey; C.D. Laughrey, Pennsylvania Geological Survey

"Methods for locating abandoned wells in populated areas" G.A. Veloski and R.W. Hammack U.S. Department of Energy-NETL

"Detection of subsurface methane through geophysical methods" P.J. Hutchinson, and M.H. Beird, The Hutchinson Group, Ltd.

"Carbon and hydrogen isotopic evidence for the origin of combustible gases in water-supply wells in north-central Pennsylvania" K.M. Revesz and K.J. Breen, U.S. Geological Survey, and F.J. Baldassare, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection

"Noble gases in the natural gas of Western New York State: implications for hydrocarbon migration in the Northern Appalachian Basin" A.G. Hunt, U.S. Geological Survey and R.J. Poreda, University of Rochester

"Effect of fugitive migration of methane on quality of shallow groundwater" M.L. Jagucki and R.A. Sheets, U.S. Geological Survey

"Isotopic geochemistry for determining sources of stray carbon dioxide gas" C.D. Laughrey, Pennsylvania Geological Survey and F.J. Baldassare, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection

"Geostatistical modeling of CO2 flux spatial variation" K. Auwah-Offei, Missouri University of Science & Technology and F.J. Baldassare, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection

"Dangerous atmosphere created by strip mine spoil" W.C. Ehler, Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement

"The occurrence and mitigation of carbon dioxide in residential structures" B.A. Robinson, U.S. Geological Survey

Session on Mitigation and Safety

"Carbon monoxide poisoning at a surface coal mine – a case study" K.K. Eltschlager, Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, W. Shuss, and T.E. Kovalchuk, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection

"Pipeline integrity - PUC's investigative and regulatory requirements for assessing natural gas migration" R. Graeser, Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission

"Well integrity – Vertical and horizontal cement evaluation" T. Sutton, Schlumberger Oilfield Services

"Combating air and gas issues in water well construction and water well operations" K. McCray, National Ground Water Association

Presentations

Note to Users: By agreeing to post their work at this site, the presenters request that users of the material acknowledge and properly reference the material that is used. An example reference is:

Coleman, D.D., 2009, From floating golf greens to burning cities, some reflections on the past, present, and future of stray gas identification:
presentation made at the Stray Gas Workshop, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, November 4-6, 2009, accessed [date accessed], at
http://pa.water.usgs.gov/stray_gas/.

Day 1

KEYNOTE PRESENTATION--From floating golf greens to burning cities, some reflections on the past, present, and future of stray gas identification (6.26MB)
Dr. Dennis Coleman, Isotech Laboratories, Inc., set the stage for the workshop and used case studies to show the power of isotopic analysis for identifying the source of stray gas. He cautioned that isotopes are not a "silver bullet."

Stray gas migration – Elements of an investigation and case studies (9.50MB)
Fred Baldassare, Pennsylvania DEP, stressed that testing of the stray gas and all the potential sources should take place as soon as possible after the stray gas is discovered in order to increase the potential for successful identification of the source.

Factors affecting forensic analysis and interpretation of impacts from stray gas hydrocarbons-pressure, mixing, oxidation, and dilution (3.01MB)
Dr. Anthony W. Gorody, Universal Geoscience Consulting, Inc., noted that well bore annulus integrity is a key factor in stray gas investigations. Cases from the Rocky Mountain region illustrated this point.

Methods for locating abandoned wells in populated areas (20.5MB)
Garret Veloski of DOE’s National Energy Technology Laboratory reviewed instruments and methods that have proven successful in finding casings of gas wells and sources of stray methane. Case studies from western and eastern U.S. gas fields were discussed.

Detection of subsurface methane through geophysical methods (11.6MB)
Bryan Teschke, a geologist with the Hutchinson Group, Ltd., reviewed techniques for subsurface imaging of gas-migration pathways such as fractures and faults. Geophysical methods will not ‘see’ methane in the shallow subsurface.

Magmatic carbon dioxide emissions – Environmental affects and hazards at Mammoth Mountain, California (15.1MB)
Christopher Farrar, USGS, described the two sources of carbon dioxide emissions in the Long Valley Caldera and flux measurement methods. Destruction of forest areas and asphyxiation hazards were emphasized.

Day 2

Covariation of carbon and hydrogen isotopic compositions of hydrocarbon gases: Distinguishing biogenic, thermogenic, and inorganic CO2-reduction (abiotic) sources (3.98MB)
Dr. Robert Burruss, USGS, and Christopher Laughrey, Pennsylvania Geologic Survey, discussed how mixing and alteration of reservoir gases can complicate source identification.

Noble gases in the natural gas of western New York State: Implications for hydrocarbon migration in the northern Appalachian Basin
Presentation is not available at this time. Please contact Dr. Andy Hunt, USGS Noble Gas Laboratory, for more information.

Carbon and hydrogen isotopic evidence for the origin of combustible gases in water-supply wells in North-Central Pennsylvania (7.31MB)
Dr. Kinga Revesz, USGS, described how isotopic data were used to identify microbial and thermogenic methane in groundwater near a gas-storage reservoir.

Effect of fugitive migration of methane on quality of shallow groundwater
Presentation is not available at this time. Please contact the author, Martha Jagucki at the USGS Ohio Water Science Center, for more information.

Gas cloud kills thousands at Lake Nyos, Africa: Identifying the culprit and saving lives in the future (13.1MB)
Dr. Michele Tuttle, a research geochemist with USGS, shared her observations of the 1986 disaster in Cameroon involving a CO2 charged crater lake and the timeless scientific work that will prevent a recurrence.

Isotope geochemistry for determining sources of stray carbon dioxide gas (18.0MB)
Christopher Laughrey, Pennsylvania Geologic Survey, reviewed case studies of CO2 migration from subsurface sources into buildings in western Pennsylvania.

Geostatistical modeling of CO2 flux spatial variation (1.79MB)
Dr. Kwame Awuah-Offei, Missouri Univ. of Science & Technology, discussed elevated levels of CO2 in homes built on or near mine spoil and predictive tools to assess mine lands prior to development.

Dangerous atmosphere created by strip mine spoil (4.18MB) Alternate Presentation (7.16MB)-- Provides examples of mitigation strategies used in homes with excessive carbon dioxide gas
Bill Ehler, Office of Surface Mining, defined “blackdamp” and reviewed a case in Lawrence County, Pa., where excessive CO2 in basements of three homes was from calcareous mine spoil.

The occurrence and mitigation of carbon dioxide in homes built on reclaimed coal mines (10.4MB)
Dr. Bret Robinson, USGS, described CO2 migration pathways and weather-related aspects of gas movement. Sub-slab depressurization techniques for mitigation were shown.

Day 3

Carbon monoxide poisoning at a surface coal mine—a case study (6.68MB)
Ken Eltshlager, OSMRE discussed stray gases associated with blasting.  A case study of carbon monoxide poisoning illustrated paths of gas migration.

Pipeline integrity—PUC’s investigative and regulatory requirements for assessing natural gas migration from pipelines (4.22MB)
Ralph Graeser of Pa. Public Utility Commission, reviewed pipeline regulations and how utility companies respond to reports of stray gases.

Well integrity—vertical and horizontal cement evaluation (5.11MB)
Todd Sutton, an engineer with Schlumberger, showed techniques for evaluating the integrity of cements used to complete gas wells and how poor cement jobs could lead to stray gases.

Combating air and gas issues in water well construction and water well operations (0.7MB)
Kevin McCray, National Ground Water Association, gave examples of the many gases that can be encountered in groundwater and wells.  Water well site safety was emphasized.

Keynote Address "From floating golf greens to burning cities, some reflections on the past, present, and future of stray gas identification"
by Dr. Dennis Coleman, Isotech Laboratories, Inc.

Biographical Sketch for Keynote Speaker-- Dennis D. Coleman received his B.S. from the University of Wisconsin in Madison. He completed an M.S. at the University of Arizona in Tucson and finally a Ph.D. at the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana. From 1970 until 1995 he was on the staff at the Illinois State Geological Survey where he held various research and administrative positions. His interest in stray gas identification began during his dissertation research when he learned that you could use stable isotope analysis of methane to identify natural gas that had leaked from underground gas storage reservoirs and that carbon-14 analysis provided a way of identifying landfill methane. Collaboration with researchers at the German Geological Survey (BGR) demonstrated that combined carbon and hydrogen isotope analysis of methane could be used to differentiate the various forms of bacterial methane that occur in nature. That research collaboration also resulting in identifying the changes in carbon and hydrogen isotopic compositions that occur when methane is oxidized by bacteria. To provide analytical support for his consulting activities in the area of stray gas identification, in 1985 Coleman and 3 colleagues founded Isotech Laboratories, Inc. In 1995, he retired from the Illinois State Geological Survey to devote full time to the operation of Isotech. Over the past 35 years Dennis has been involved in numerous investigations and law suits involving stray gas identification. Some of the more interesting case histories and the lessons learned from them will be presented.