FracTracker Receives Two Federal Grants to Support Community Air Monitoring Initiatives in the Ohio River Valley
Share this entry
Overview
We are pleased to announce that FracTracker Alliance has been selected for two grants totaling $925,302 to support community air monitoring initiatives in the Ohio River Valley with the support of multiple partner organizations.
These projects are one of 132 air monitoring projects in 37 states that will receive $53.4 million from the EPA as part of President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act and American Rescue Plan to enhance air quality monitoring in communities across the United States.
“The massive shale gas buildout has spiderwebbed around us, and yet no one has even considered any cumulative impacts,” said Cathy “Cat” Lodge, a Washington County, PA resident. “We hope this project can help bring much needed attention to what we are being exposed to as the march of this polluting industry continues to take a toll on our communities, our farms, and our health.
Lea Harper of FreshWater Accountability Project and community science lead for the ongoing Thriving Earth Exchange project for air monitoring in the mid-Ohio Valley region stated, “What we have found so far from our low-cost air monitors combined with summa sampling shows high levels of spikes in harmful chemicals and concentrations in the valley that could impact public health. This project award demonstrates that the Biden administration and USEPA want better protections for those living with a legacy of heavy pollution overlaid by the cumulative impacts of unconventional oil and gas development in the region. We hope our ongoing efforts bolstered by this grant will lead to improved legal protections.”
“Heavily industrialized communities in the Ohio River Valley have some of the lowest-ranking health indices in the nation, in part due to poor air quality,” said Shannon Smith, Executive Director of FracTracker Alliance. “Over the past few years, residents have taken it upon themselves to set up monitoring systems with the means available to them. By selecting this project, the EPA is acknowledging the importance of expanding on these monumental efforts to better understand and protect public health.”
Please find more information in the two announcements below.
Feature image is a map created in Google Earth by Cathy “Cat” Lodge of oil and gas activity in Washington County.
“We Are Here, Too.”
Cathy “Cat” Lodge presents a map she created to track the expanding shale gas infrastructure that has been authorized in these rural areas like Robinson and Smith Township communities.
Photo by Lisa Graves-Marcucci, Environmental Integrity Project.
What You Should Read Next
Pennsylvania Oil and Gas Industry Trends: Drilled Wells, Violations, Production, and Waste
A Closer Look at Risks of the Appalachian Hydrogen Hub
Falcon Pipeline Criminal Charges Explained
The Importance of Surveying Rural Landowners in North Dakota on Fracking
Exploring the Fallout of Precision Scheduled Rail: A Rail Worker’s Perspective on Precision Scheduled Rail
Not-So-Radical Transparency: An Ineffective and Unnecessary Partnership Between Pennsylvania Governor Shapiro and the Gas Company CNX
California Must Improve Management of Idle Wells
Holes in FracFocus
Mapping PFAS Chemicals Used in Fracking Operations in West Virginia
Chevron’s $2.3 Billion Asset Adjustment Raises Questions Amidst Regulatory Changes in California
Data Gaps: A Critical Examination of Oil and Gas Well Incidents in Ohio
Stop Toxic Threat: A Heavy Industrial Zoning Battle
East Palestine Warning: The Growing Threat From Hazardous Waste Storage
Index of Oil and Gas Operator Health in California Shows Risks to State Economy and Taxpayers
Calling for Change: Life on the Fracking Frontlines
On the Wrong Track: Risks to Residents of the Upper Ohio River Valley From Railroad Incidents
Digital Atlas: Exploring Nature and Industry in the Raccoon Creek Watershed
Why Do Houses Keep Exploding in One Pennsylvania Suburb?
FracTracker Alliance Releases Statement Opposing Governor Shapiro’s Agreement With CNX
Oil and Gas Activity Within California Public Health Protection Zones
Assessment of Oil and Gas Well Ownership Transfers in California
Evaluation of the Capacity for Water Recycling for Colorado Oil and Gas Extraction Operations
Evidence Shows Oil and Gas Companies Use PFAS in New Mexico Wells
CalGEM Permit Review Q1 2023: Well Rework Permits Increase by 76% in California
2022 Pipeline Incidents Update: Is Pipeline Safety Achievable?
Testimony On EPA’s Proposed Methane Pollution Standards for the Oil and Gas Industry
Assessment of Rework Permits on Oil Production from Operational Wells Within the 3,200-Foot Public Health Protection Zone
CalGEM Permit Review Q4 2022: Oil Permit Approvals Show Steep Rise Within Protective Buffer Zones
A Contentious Landscape of Pipeline Build-outs in the Eastern US
Major Gas Leak Reveals Risks of Aging Gas Storage Wells in Pennsylvania
Coursing Through Gasland: A Digital Atlas Exploring Natural Gas Development in the Towanda Creek Watershed
Falcon Pipeline Online, Begins Operations Following Violations of Clean Streams Law
Synopsis: Risks to the Greater Columbus Water Supply from Oil and Gas Production
Desalination: The Chemical Industry’s Demand for Water in Texas
Take Action in Support of No New Leases
Carbon Capture and Storage: Developments in the Law of Pore Space in North Dakota
Carbon Capture and Storage: Industry Connections and Community Impacts
Carbon Capture and Storage: Fact or Fiction?
Pipeline Right-of-Ways: Making the Connection between Forest Fragmentation and the Spread of Lyme Disease in Southwestern Pennsylvania
FracTracker Finds Widespread Hydrocarbon Emissions from Active & Idle Oil and Gas Wells and Infrastructure in California
California Regulators Approve More Oil Well Permits Amid a Crisis of Leaking Oil Wells that Should be Plugged
An Insider Take on the Appalachian Hydrogen & CCUS Conference
Does Hydrogen Have a Role in our Energy Future?
Oil and Gas Brine in Ohio
PA Environment Digest Blog: Conventional Oil & Gas Drillers Dispose Of Drill Cuttings By ‘Dusting’
Real Talk on Pipelines
2021 Production from Pennsylvania’s Oil and Gas Wells
Mapping Energy Systems Impacted by the Russia-Ukraine War
Dimock residents working to protect water from a new threat: fracking waste
Implications of a 3,200-foot Setback in California
New Trends in Drilling Permit Approvals Take Shape in CA
Oil and Gas Drilling in California Legislative Districts
New Report: Fracking with “Forever Chemicals” in Colorado
Introducing: FracTracker’s comprehensive new Pennsylvania map!
New Letter from Federal Regulators Regarding how the Falcon has Been Investigated
US Army Corps Muskingum Watershed Plan ignores local concerns of oil and gas effects
Oil and gas companies use a lot of water to extract oil in drought-stricken California
Southeastern Texas Petrochemical Industry Needs 318 Billion Gallons of Water, but the US EPA Says Not So Fast
Chickahominy Pipeline project tries to exploit an apparent regulatory loophole
Map Update on Criminal Charges Facing Mariner East 2 Pipeline
It’s Time to Stop Urban Oil Drilling in Los Angeles
Infrastructure Networks in Texas
California Prisons are Within 2,500’ of Oil and Gas Extraction
New power plant proposal called senseless and wasteful by climate groups
Ongoing Safety Concerns over Shell’s Falcon Pipeline
New Neighborhood Drilling Permits Issued While California Fails to Act on Public Health Rules
The world is watching as bitcoin battle brews in the US
California Oil & Gas Drilling Permits Drop in Response to Decreased Permit Applications to CalGEM
California Denies Well Stimulation Permits
Mapping PFAS “Forever Chemicals” in Oil & Gas Operations
Updated National Energy and Petrochemical Map
Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania Fracking Story Map
Ohio & Fracking Waste: The Case for Better Waste Management
Pennsylvania Conventional Well Map Update
Impacts of 2020 Colonial Pipeline Rupture Continue to Grow
Gas Storage Plan vs. Indigenous Rights in Nova Scotia
Mapping Gathering Lines in Bradford County, Pennsylvania
Trends in fracking waste coming to New York State from Pennsylvania
2021 Pipeline Incidents Update: Safety Record Not Improving
New York State Oil & Gas Well Drilling: Patterns Over Time
Risky Byhalia Connection Pipeline Threatens Tennessee & Mississippi Health, Water Supply
Shell’s Falcon Pipeline Under Investigation for Serious Public Safety Threats
Kern County’s Drafted EIR Will Increase the Burden for Frontline Communities
Pennsylvania’s Waste Disposal Wells – A Tale of Two Datasets
California Oil & Gas Setbacks Recommendations Memo
Oil and Gas Wells on California State Lands
Industrial Impacts in Michigan: A Photo Essay & Story Map
People and Production: Reducing Risk in California Extraction
Documenting emissions from new oil and gas wells in California
FracTracker in the Field: Building a Live Virtual Map
Mapping Gathering Lines in Ohio and West Virginia
The North Dakota Shale Viewer Reimagined: Mapping the Water and Waste Impact
Falcon Pipeline Construction Releases over 250,000 Gallons of Drilling Fluid in Pennsylvania and Ohio
Systematic Racism in Kern County Oil and Gas Permitting Ordinance
Fracking Water Use in Pennsylvania Increases Dramatically
New Yorkers mount resistance against North Brooklyn Pipeline
California, Back in Frack
California Setback Analyses Summary
Air Pollution from Pennsylvania Shale Gas Compressor Stations – REPORT
New York State Oil & Gas Wells – 2020 Update
National Energy and Petrochemical Map
Governor Newsom Must Do More to Address the Cause of Oil Spill Surface Expressions
Oil & Gas Well Permits Issued By Newsom Administration Rival Those Issued Under Gov. Jerry Brown
Pipelines Continue to Catch Fire and Explode
The Hidden Inefficiencies and Environmental Costs of Fracking in Ohio
Fracking in Pennsylvania: Not Worth It
Fracking Threatens Ohio’s Captina Creek Watershed
How State Regulations Hold Us back and What Other Countries are doing about Fracking
New Method for Locating Abandoned Oil and Gas Wells is Tested in New York State
Abandoned Wells in Pennsylvania: We’re Not Doing Enough
The Underlying Politics and Unconventional Well Fundamentals of an Appalachian Storage Hub
Permitting New Oil and Gas Wells Under the Newsom Administration
Mapping the Petrochemical Build-Out Along the Ohio River
Impact of a 2,500′ Oil and Gas Well Setback in California
Production and Location Trends in PA: A Moving Target
The Falcon Public Monitoring Project
Release: The 2019 You Are Here map launches, showing New York’s hurdles to climate leadership
Idle Wells are a Major Risk
Literally Millions of Failing, Abandoned Wells
Wicked Witch of the Waste
The Growing Web of Oil and Gas Pipelines
Unnatural Disasters
Getting Rid of All of that Waste – Increasing Use of Oil and Gas Injection Wells in Pennsylvania
A Disturbing Tale of Diminishing Returns in Ohio
Pennsylvania Drilling Trends in 2018
216 Franklin St, Suite 400, Johnstown, PA 15901
Phone: +1 (717) 303-0403 | info@fractracker.org
FracTracker Alliance is a 501(c)3 non-profit: Tax identification number: 80-0844297