Erica Jackson, Author at FracTracker Alliance

About Erica Jackson

Manager of Community Outreach and Support

Erica leads FracTracker Alliance’s outreach efforts and supports the mapping and data needs of communities impacted by oil and gas development. Utilizing FracTracker’s online platforms, outreach programs, and mapping and data expertise, Erica engages the public in fracking issues and provides resources to support local organizations and campaigns. Her work - in partnership with local allies - focuses on the Ohio River corridor and other regions confronted by fossil fuel harms.

Erica received a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Studies at the University of Pittsburgh. During her undergraduate career, she completed research on environmental justice concerns regarding Pittsburgh’s air quality, and continued to research the region’s air as a fellow within Pitt’s Center for Healthy Environments and Communities. She has also held various environmental education positions in Pittsburgh, California, and Alaska, and enjoys engaging people on environmental issues. In her free time, Erica likes to explore the outdoors with friends or stay inside painting and crafting.

Email: jackson@fractracker.org

Entries by Erica Jackson

Shell’s Falcon Pipeline Under Investigation for Serious Public Safety Threats

March 17, 2021/by Erica Jackson

Shell’s Falcon Pipeline, which is designed to carry ethane to the Shell ethane cracker in Beaver County, PA for plastic production, has been under investigation by federal and state agencies, since 2019.

Fracking Waste in the Appalachian Basin – A Story Map

January 15, 2021/by Erica Jackson

The production of fracking waste in the Appalachian Basin puts public health and safety at risk. Fracking produces more than just oil and gas — billions of gallons of highly toxic waste are also created in the process. Regulatory loopholes have led to limited oversight into how this waste is tracked and treated, […]

Mariner East 2 Causes Dozens of Spills Since Lockdown Began, Over 300 in Total

September 17, 2020/by Erica Jackson

FracTracker Alliance has released a new map of drilling fluid spills along the Mariner East 2 pipeline route, showing 320 spills from its construction since 2017. Of those, a combined 147 incidents have released over 260,000 gallons of drilling fluid into Pennsylvania waterways. The unpermitted discharge of drilling fluid, considered “industrial waste,” into waters of […]

Falcon Pipeline Construction Releases over 250,000 Gallons of Drilling Fluid in Pennsylvania and Ohio

June 16, 2020/by Erica Jackson

Part of the Falcon Public Environmental Impact Assessment – a FracTracker series on the impacts of Falcon Ethane Pipeline System Challenges have plagued Shell’s construction of the Falcon Pipeline System through Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia, according to documents from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Records […]

National Energy and Petrochemical Map

February 28, 2020/by Erica Jackson

This map from FracTracker Alliance is filled with energy and petrochemical data. Explore the map, continue reading to learn more, and see how your state measures up!

Allegheny County Air Quality Monitoring Project

December 18, 2019/by Erica Jackson

A recent study out of Carnegie Mellon University estimated that for every three job years created by fracking in the Marcellus Shale, one year of life is lost for a resident due to increased pollution exposure. As fracking continues to expand around the perimeter of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania — one of the top ten most […]

The Circular Economy: What it means for Fracking and Plastic

November 24, 2019/by Erica Jackson

Mapping the Petrochemical Build-Out Along the Ohio River

July 10, 2019/by Erica Jackson

New maps show the build-out of oil and gas infrastructure that converts the upper Ohio River Valley’s fracked gas into petrochemical products In 2004, Range Resources purchased land in Washington County, Pennsylvania and “fracked” the first well in the Marcellus Shale, opening the flood gates to a wave of natural gas development. Since then, oil […]

Pennsylvanians Demand a Response to Rare Cancer Cases, Other Health Impacts

June 26, 2019/by Erica Jackson

New research on fracking health impacts, combined with unusually high rates of pediatric cancer, sound alarm bells in Pennsylvania FracTracker isn’t the only one digging deeper into the health impacts of fracking in the past few months. Last week, the Better Path Coalition organized a meeting at the Capitol Building in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, to share […]

The Hidden Costs of a Plastic Planet

May 16, 2019/by Erica Jackson

Plastic has been getting a lot of negative press lately. It’s killing marine life, forming vortexes in the ocean, and being burned instead of recycled. But until recently, most of the attention has focused on plastic pollution – the waste that turns up after a product has served its purpose. Now that’s changed- the Center […]