Learn about the air quality impacts of the oil and gas industry through FracTracker articles, maps, and imagery.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Explore the links below to learn about fracking and air pollution through visualizations such as maps, digital atlases of critical watersheds, and aerial photography.
Ted Auch, FracTracker Alliance
https://www.fractracker.org/a5ej20sjfwe/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/TAuch_Infrastructure-CompressorStation_Flaring-ButlerCounty_OH_Jan20183.jpg
833
1875
Shannon Smith
https://www.fractracker.org/a5ej20sjfwe/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/2021-FracTracker-logo-horizontal.png
Shannon Smith2020-09-04 16:56:012020-11-02 20:08:23Health & Environmental Effects of Fracking
https://www.fractracker.org/a5ej20sjfwe/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Loyalsock-feature-scaled.jpg
667
1500
Shannon Smith
https://www.fractracker.org/a5ej20sjfwe/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/2021-FracTracker-logo-horizontal.png
Shannon Smith2020-08-04 18:44:392023-01-17 10:30:44The Loyalsock Watershed Project
https://www.fractracker.org/a5ej20sjfwe/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/EQT-Tioga-Wide-7.gif
300
800
Shannon Smith
https://www.fractracker.org/a5ej20sjfwe/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/2021-FracTracker-logo-horizontal.png
Shannon Smith2020-06-29 11:04:372021-04-15 14:16:43Testimony to PA DEP on Control of Methane & VOC Emissions from Oil and Natural Gas Sources
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