Preliminary regional study of the present and possible future oil and gas development in the areas of thick rock salt and shale deposits of Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and western New York as of December 1975

Abstract

A preliminary investigation is reported of those areas of the Michigan basin and the Ohio-Pennsylvania-western New York portion of the Appalachian basin that are underlain by thick beds of rock salt and certain shale deposits for the overall purpose of locating general areas where present and/or possible future oil and gas development would not interfere with possible storage of radioactive waste. Some of the more pertinent factors included are: (1) location of the present oil and gas fields in the areas of interest; (2) general geology, including structure, stratigraphy, and general thickness of the sediments above and below the thick salt beds and shale deposits; (3) trends indicated by past and present oil and gas development as well as the indicated trends of possible future oil and gas development throughout the areas of interest; (4) density and depth of holes drilled in the search for oil and gas and the effect these holes might have on use of the thick beds of salt and shale deposits as possible storage sites for radioactive waste material; and (5) general areas where past, present, and/or possible future oil and gas development would not interfere with possible storage of radioactive waste in such saltmore » beds and shale deposits underlying the major portion of the Michigan basin and that portion of the Appalachian basin found in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and western New York. Also, included in this report is a brief discussion of the oil and gas potential of (1) the Triassic Red Beds of the U.S. Eastern Seaboard; (2) the Pierre Shales of Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, and portions of North and South Dakota; and (3) the Nevada Test Site Area of Nevada. 34 references.« less