Since millions of liters of water are needed for each fracture done in hydraulic fracturing, Dan Alessi found it pertinent to research the sources of water, and determine if there are dissolved species in flowback, or produced water that could be hazardous to aquatic ecosystems.
Alessi is the Assistant Professor and Encana Chair in Water Resources at the University of Alberta. His presentation is about alternative water sources, and constraining flowback chemistry and toxicity in hydraulic fracturing in Alberta.
His research is focused on looking at the regional and local impacts of using saline groundwater on surface water bodies and shallow aquifers, as well as creating a groundwater model in order to make predictions of possible impacts on streams, wetlands and lakes. He is interested in creating a tool to aid in minimizing water use and costs, maximizing flowback reuse, and making provincial water permitting decisions.
This presentation was a part of the Petroleum Technology Alliance of Canada, Hydraulic Fracturing in Western Canada: an Environmental Perspective Forum, in May of 2014.
