INTRODUCTION

As oil and gas reserves continue to deplete, there is a need for the discovery and harnessing of
alternatives to conventional oil. This is needed to meet the growing demand of world oil consumption.
The EIA (2014) estimates world oil consumption at 1.3 million bbl/d for 2014 with an expected increase
to 1.4 million bbl/d in 2015 with America and China as leading consumers. As the price of oil increases,
America will have to exploit their oil shale reserves which was hitherto uneconomically viable due to its
high processing costs as compared to the price of a barrel of conventional oil and its environmental
impact. World oil shale reserves stand at 345 billion barrels of technically recoverable oil with the United
States ranking second to Russia with 16.8% of the total reserves (EIA 2014).

Figure 1: Top ten countries with technically recoverable oil shale resources (EIA 2014)
This work focuses on the Green River Formation in the Piceance basin, Colorado, located on the western
parts of the United States. The richness or quality of oil shale is a function of its economic viability and
is measured by the number of gallons of oil recovered per ton. A richness of 25-100 gallons per ton is
usually desired for economic extraction. Americas oil shale reserves in place is estimated to exceed six
trillion barrels. Of this, only two trillion barrels possess a richness greater than 25 gallons per ton with
Green river holding 1.2 trillion barrels, hence making it a viable prospect.
THE TECHNOLOGY
Oil shale is a sedimentary rock which consists of organic and inorganic matter. Inorganic matter include
clay minerals, volcanic ash, feldspars, silica, calcium or magnesium carbonate. The organic matter is
called Kerogen which is a bituminous product of decomposed microorganisms buried by silt or
sediments and subjected to high temperature and pressure over time. Oil shale is subjected to
anaerobic heating at 750
o
F-1000
o
F to decompose the organic matter, Kerogen, in order to obtain oil
from it. This thermal decomposition is called retorting or pyrolysis and usually yields three products viz-
a-viz:
A high carbon residue called spent shale
A non-condensable gas made up of mostly Hydrogen and Methane
A condensable gas that is condensed to shale oil (Ertl 1961).

Figure: U.S Shale resource in place (Crawford et al 2008)
The technology employed for extracting shale oil is depth dependent. Where the oil shale exists close to
the surface, surface mining techniques are used and they include:
Surface mining with surface retorting
Underground mining with surface retorting
Both methods include excavation, crushing, retorting and upgrading by hydrogenation which utilizes a
lot of water.

Figure 3: Steps in mining and surface retorting (EIS 2014)
If the shale oil exists at a depth not feasible for surface excavation, the in-situ extraction method is used.
They include:
True in-situ method
Modified in-situ method
Hybrid method (Crawford et al 2008)

Figure 4: Steps in in-situ retorting (EIS 2014)
The method employs heating the subsurface oil shale in place and gathering the released products in
collection wells for pumping. Different in-situ patents exist but Shells ICP process has been tested and
promises reduced footprint with lower emissions and water demand. The process utilizes electric
heaters in heating the shale 1000-2000 feet below subsurface at 650-700
o
F over a 3-4 year period. Shell
is currently testing the freeze wall technology which if successful would prevent the oil accumulation
and heating zone from polluting the groundwater.

Figure 5: Shells Freeze wall Technology (ElAlim Khaled 2012)
The in-situ extraction method is considered for this work and its major impacts are on air quality, water
use and quality, land disturbance and wildlife.

Table 1 : Environmental Impacts and their Receptors
S/N RECEPTOR
IRREVERSIBLE
IMPACT
SYNERGISTIC
IMPACT
LONG TERM
IMPACT POSITIVE IMPACT
1
Atmosphere 1. Climate change
2. Sox and Nox
evolution
3. Total
Suspended
Particles (TSP )
evolution
1. Acid rain
2. Photochemical
smog
3. Explosions
1. Release of
Green House
Gases (GHG) with
high Global
Warming Potential
(GWP)
2. Release of
carcinogenic gases
Possible decrease
in the frequency of
tropical storms
and hurricanes
2
Hydrosphere
1. Permanent loss
of springs due to
mine de-watering
and retort
abandonment
2. permanent
damage to water
quality due to
leachate
Decrease in
groundwater
contribution to
stream flow
1. Radioactive and
other leachates
like Na, Cl, SO4, V,
Mo, Pb
2. Ground water
and surface water
reduction

3
Biosphere 1. Loss of
Biodiversity
3. Loss of
agricultural land
4. Loss of cultural
heritage
5. Loss of wildlife
6. Loss of life
from traffic
accidents
7. Loss of
recreation
1. Conflicts
2.Disturbance of
ecosystem due to
noise from
exploration
activities
3. Increased traffic
due to population
increase from
exploration and
production
activities
1. Loss of
vegetation
2. Sickness and
reduction in life
span
3.Global warming
1. Job creation
2. Better salaries
3. Infrastructure
Development
4
Lithosphere
1. Soil and
nutrients lost to
erosion to
exploration and
production
2.Loss of land
3.Loss of natural
resources i.e oil
4. Permanent loss
of fossils
1. Weathering
which could lead
to loss of fossils
2. Thermal
pollution which
could lead to
earthquakes
Radioactive and
other leachates
like Na, Cl, SO4, V,
Mo, Pb (heavy
metals)
Discovery of
vertebrate, rare
plant and late
eocene insect
fossils


Oilshale exploration could adversely impact air quality when kerogen is pyrolyzed or subjected to
destructive distillation. This would release shale oil and other residual gases like oxides of Sulphur and
Nitrogen, Total suspended particles (TSP), water vapour and carbon dioxide which pollute the
atmosphere (oilshale 10). The gases liberated could give rise to acid rain, photochemical smog, climate
change and explosions. Methane, one of the gases released, is a greenhouse gas with a global warming
potential of 25g CO
2
equivalent per gramme of CH
4
and takes about a hundred years to dissipate from
the atmosphere. Activities like flaring operations, transportation and combustion are contributing
factors to a release of these gases. One of the ways to reduce emissions would be to adjust the process
temperatures and increase the efficiency of the technologies used.
Table 2: Oil shale exploration activities and their source of Impacts
Activity Source of Impact
Aerial Survey Aircraft
Seismic Seismic Equipment
Camps
Access
Decommissioning
Exploration and Drilling Site Selection
Access
Camps
Operations
Equipment
Transportation
Decommissioning

Development and
Production
Site Selection
Transportation
Access
Camps
Operations
Decommissioning
Decommissioning Operations
Transportation
Waste Disposal

The hydrosphere is another aspect of the environment impacted by oilshale exploration. The byproducts
of retorting could lead to leachates of NORMS, sodium, chlorine, vanadium and molybdenum into the
groundwater. According to Swanson (1960), most black shales in the USA have uranium contents
ranging from 0.0016 0.002% which if leached into water, would take years to decay. Methane could
also leak into homes through water wells which could lead to explosions (ODNR 2008). Activities that
induce pollution include drilling, retorting, operations like refining, dust control and on-site demands
and all these pose a huge demand on the water table. In order to fulfil this, a 2.5 MMBbl/d oilshale
industry would need 0.18 to 0.42 million acre feet of water per year depending on process and location
(Knaus 2008). This huge water demand could lead to permanent loss of springs.

Figure 6: Estimated water demand and associated population growth (Knaus et al 2008)
The biosphere is also likely to be impacted by oil shale exploration activities as it is the main hub of
anthropogenic activities. It utilizes massive acres of land and the amount of land occupied depends on
the technology employed viz-a-viz surface or in-situ retorting (Knaus 2008). This need for land would
displace farm land, biodiversity, forests, animals, humans and loss of cultural heritage and fossils.
According to the task force on strategic unconventional fuels (2007), the maximum cumulative land
mass needed to support a one million barrel per day oil shale industry is approximated to reach eighty
thousand acres over forty years. This would mean that if the Green river formation contains 640 billion
barrels of recoverable oil occupying approximately 740000 acres of land, about ten percent of the land
would be impacted. This is significant and the impact would lead to deforestation, poaching, disease,
littering, global warming, loss of cultural heritage and fossils, population influx, and deaths from traffic
related accidents. According to Knaus et al (2008), the consideration of endangered species in regions
and habitats close to oil shale production sites is of utmost importance as they are of aquatic, terrestrial,
avian and plant origins.

Figure 7: Summary of endangered wildlife (Knaus et al 2008)

The advent of oil shale exploration would also create jobs, improve infrastructure and foster economic
development.
Finally, the lithosphere is polluted by leachates of NORMS and heavy metals and could be greatly
affected as it is a permanent accumulator of pollutants. Activities that affect the lithosphere include
drilling, retorting and seismic exploration. Soil nutrients could also be lost due to erosion of top soil
which arises as a result of land clearing and loss of vegetation. Exposed top soil could also undergo
gradual weathering which could lead to a permanent loss of plant and animal fossils. Thermal pollution,
a product of in-situ retorting could also be a source of earthquakes around the region (Adushkin 2000).
The extraction of oil shale could also cause changes in the soil profile and loss of natural resources over
the years.
Table 3: EIA AND EMP
EIA EMP
S/NO. POTENTIAL
IMPACT
RECOMMENDED MITIGATION MEASURE
1 Aerial survey Identify protected areas with environmental assessment and carry out
operations during least sensitive periods.
2 Air quality a. Use of Environmental regulations
b. Use of efficient technologies and carbon capture and storage
c. Emissions monitoring
3 Environmental
Pollution
a. Environmental regulations
b. Efficient technologies
c. Reduce, reuse and recycle
4 Water quality a. Use of evaporation panels after waste water treatment
b. Use of treated waste water for wetting spent shale
c. Use of the freeze wall being developed by SHELL
5 Environmental
Waste
a. Use spent shale for road bed material
b. Use of more efficient technology i.e. modified in-situ process
(Crawford et al 2008))
6 Recreation Ensure continued hunter access
7 Wildlife a. Mass transportation of employees
b. Regulations for Endangered animal species
8 Socio-
economic
a. Set up severance funds
b. Provision of accommodation for workers close to site
c. Funding of social services
d. Engaging women in community activities
e. Identifying losing groups and ensuring equal wealth distribution
9 Vegetation a. Reforestation and planting of trees
b. Regulation for endangered plant species
10 Cultural
heritage
a. Careful relocation of artifacts
b. Historical Documentation
c. Use native techniques for healing
11 Fossils Discovered fossils must be reported and handled with utmost care.




CONCLUSION
As world population continues to increase, so will the worlds demand for energy and alternatives like
unconventional oil resources. Shale oil, an unconventional oil resource has promising prospects in the
United States of America. Not only would it lower the price of oil, it would also reduce her imports and
dependence on foreign supplies thereby enhancing her national security. This discovery however, could
come with devastating impacts on the environment as the technology involves huge demand on water
resources and expanse of land for its operations. Even with mitigation, oil shale exploration and
production would still have significant impact on water, wildlife, land and air quality. This could however
be reduced by more efficient processing technologies like the Shells in-situ conversion (ICU) process
which proves to be socially sustainable and environmentally responsible with minimal footprint. Also
stringent environmental regulations by the U.S department of energy would also help reduce footprint.





















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