The increased use of unconventional oil and gas development techniques such as hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling have dramatically increased oil and natural gas extraction in the previous decade within the United States. However, the local and regional air quality impacts in oil and gas basins across the country are still relatively unknown. In the Bakken formation region, a comprehensive field campaign was conducted to investigate the impacts of oil and gas development on the regional air quality. Ground-based measurements of atmospheric gases, aerosols, and meteorology were collected at multiple field sites in North Dakota and Montana over two consecutive winter study periods. This study will consider the characterization, sources, and formation of atmospheric aerosols in the Bakken region. During both study periods, regionally elevated concentrations of fine particulate matter (PM) were observed. The inorganic species ammonium nitrate and ammonium sulfate made up the majority of the total PM. The local meteorological conditions, analysis of regional air mass transport patterns and the use of a chemical clock showed that the highest concentrations of PM were associated with periods of air mass stagnation and recirculation and short atmospheric residence times of co-pollutants. This suggests that the emissions from local sources within the oil and gas extraction region are important contributors to the high PM concentrations. Chemical tracers, specifically the low ratio of iso-pentane to n-pentane, also indicated consistent regional influence from oil and gas emissions. Finally, a thermodynamic modeling analysis of the inorganic aerosol species and precursor gases indicated that conditions in the Bakken formation region were favorable for ammonium nitrate formation for the majority of the sampling period.

Characteristics, sources, and formation of atmospheric aerosol in the Bakken oil and gas extraction region

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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