Air Quality

Learn about the air quality impacts of the oil and gas industry through FracTracker articles, maps, and imagery.

Air Quality

Oil and gas development negatively impacts air quality. Construction, drilling, storage, transportation, processing, and the burning of fossil fuels are all sources of serious air pollutants known to harm humans and the environment. The articles below reflect FracTracker’s work as it relates fracking and air pollution.

Tour Visible Air Emissions

Many air emissions are invisible to the naked eye, but there are situations when it is possible to see such cases of air pollution. View our digital tour of examples of visible air emissions.

Image Gallery

Every stage of oil and gas operations, from production and extraction to processing and distribution, releases air pollution. View our online gallery of images related to air quality.

GET INVOLVED

As unconventional oil and gas, petrochemical, and other industries continue to expand in the Ohio River Valley, there is an urgent need to quantify the adverse effects that this growth has on ambient air quality and human health.

We are utilizing grant funding from the U.S. EPA to raise awareness about ambient air quality, respond to community concern, and validate lived experiences through scientific analysis of air samples. If you are an Ohio resident living in Belmont or Jefferson County or a West Virginia resident living in Brooke, Marshall, or Hancock County who is interested in supporting our work by hosting an air monitor, click here for more information on how to get involved.

Related Articles

Explore the links below to learn about fracking and air pollution through visualizations such as maps, digital atlases of critical watersheds, and aerial photography.

Major Gas Leak Reveals Risks of Aging Gas Storage Wells in Pennsylvania

Following an enormous gas leak in Jackson Township, Cambria County Pennsylvania, we mapped oil and gas storage wells and fields throughout the state and found that the majority of Pennsylvania’s storage wells were drilled prior to 1979, making them most vulnerable to well failures.
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FracTracker Receives Two Federal Grants to Support Community Air Monitoring Initiatives in the Ohio River Valley

We are pleased to announce that FracTracker Alliance has been selected for two EPA grants totaling $925,302 to support community air monitoring initiatives in the Ohio River Valley.
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California Regulators Approve More Oil Well Permits Amid a Crisis of Leaking Oil Wells that Should be Plugged

FracTracker’s in-the-field inspections and updated analysis of CalGEM permit data shows that California’s regulatory practices and permitting policies risk exposing frontline communities to VOCs from oil and gas well sites.
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