Groundwater Contamination

Geochemistry

The water that flows from the Arbuckle-Simpson aquifer contains mainly calcium, magnesium, and bicarbonate (Christenson, S., Hunt, A.G., and Parkhurst, D.L., 2009). These elements can be contributed to the limestone and dolomite that make up the aquifer. While contaminants are not present in the majority of discharged water, certain wells have produced high levels of nitrate and and chloride that exceeded regulations for drinking water set forth by the EPA (OWRB, Geochemistry of the Arbuckle-Simpson Aquifer, 2009).

Possible Contamination Threats

There are several activities throughout southern Oklahoma that could threaten the use of the Arbuckle-Simpson aquifer as a public drinking water supply. The two major activities that threaten the aquifer are mining activity and oil activity, as seen in Figures 14 and 15.

Mining Activity

Figure 15. The graph represents the amount of minerals that are mined in Oklahoma, where limestone and dolomite are big makeups of the Arbuckle-Simpson aquifer (Pritchard, 2016).

Oil Activity

Figure 14. A map of the 2017 oil activity in Oklahoma, where the largest amounts of activity are happening in the same area the Arbuckle-Simpson aquifer is located (Parker, 2017).

Figure 7. A pile of limestone that was mined near Mill Creek (Layden, 2015).

Mining

Limestone makes up a large portion of the Arbuckle-Simpson aquifer. Limestone is also mined to make building materials and other products. Mining can lead to metal contaminants polluting the water system.

Figure 8. An example of a pipeline crossing a creek in Montana (Boyce, 2011).

Pipeline Crossings

There is a large amount of oil activity in southern Oklahoma. Many of the pipelines located in the area travel through creeks that flow from the aquifer. Oil spills from these pipelines would contaminate possible drinking water.

Figure 9. A fracking site in Pennsylvania (University of Vermont, 2015).

Fracking

Fracking injects a large amount of water when preparing a new well. This water is typically locally sourced and is filled with drilling fluid and sand. The water must be disposed of once it is used. A possible fracking water spill could lead to contaminants entering the water system.

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