Ground water: Pre-drilling background groundwater quality in the Deep River Triassic Basin of central North Carolina, USA

The Deep River Triassic Basin in central North Carolina is likely to contain natural gas that could be extracted via hydraulic fracturing in the future. However, hydraulic fracturing presents concerns about the possibility for impacts on shallow groundwater aquifers. Unlike other states where hydraulic fracturing has been employed, North Carolina has no history of commercial oil and gas extraction. The water chemistry, dissolved gases, and VOC in 51 private drinking water well samples over the Deep River Triassic Basin were investigated. Two of the 51 water wells sampled had dissolved CH₄ concentrations > 0.1 mg/L, and no well had a CH₄ concentration > 0.5 mg/L.