FRACTRACKER IN THE FIELD: GREAT LAKES EXPEDITION

In this special one-day fundraiser event, the intrepid FracTracker team built a virtual map tracking our travels throughout three states bordering the Great Lakes to document oil, gas, and petrochemical sites and their effects on public health, the climate, and the environment. This Story Map gives viewers a firsthand example of how FracTracker turns data into real-world impact.

Due to the scope of the expedition, some of the sites were pre-recorded the week before the live mapping day. Dr. Ted Auch took his passion and his drone across Michigan, hit up industrial sites of various sorts and even climbed up a pole barn! Karen gave a wealth of information on the carbon footprint of Bitcoin mining. Brook spoke truth to power around LNG facilities, abandoned gas wells, and more in souther New York State and northern Pennsylvania. Shannon, Matt, and Erica took you around their stomping grounds in southwest major polluters as well as promising alternatives. And as a bonus, Kyle gave a “behind-the-screens” peek of a normal day as a FracTracker from his office in the mountains of northern California.

We hope our findings increase public understanding and awareness of the industrial onslaught and its impacts on the region’s public health, climate, and environment. We provided regular video updates along the way to document each site and share our progress.