Entries by Guest Author

Maps of Updated Central Penn Pipeline Emphasize Threats to Residents and Environment

By Sierra Shamer, Guest Author The Atlantic Sunrise Project or Central Penn Line is a natural gas pipeline Williams Companies has proposed for construction through eight counties of Central Pennsylvania. Williams intends to connect the Atlantic Sunrise to their two Transco pipelines, which extend from the northeast to the Gulf of Mexico. FracTracker discussed and […]

A South American Crossroads

by Brook Lenker, Executive Director Gracious. Passionate. Determined. Few words fully capture the evocative resilience of Argentina where history is as turbulent as the winds of Patagonia. Fracking for oil and natural gas is a growing storm on the national horizon, and the effects will be fueled or mitigated by the ceaseless power of the […]

The Science Behind OK’s Man-made Earthquakes, Part 2

By Ariel Conn, Seismologist and Science Writer with the Virginia Tech Department of Geosciences Oklahoma has made news recently because its earthquake story is so dramatic. The state that once averaged one to two magnitude 3 earthquakes per year now averages one to two per day. This same state, which never used to be seismically […]

The Science Behind OK’s Man-made Earthquakes, Part 1

By Ariel Conn, Seismologist and Science Writer with the Virginia Tech Department of Geosciences On April 21, the Oklahoma Geological Survey issued a statement claiming that the sharp rise in Oklahoma earthquakes — from only a couple per year to thousands — was most likely caused by wastewater disposal wells associated with major oil and […]

Our Energy Solutions

14 workshops in 7 countries on 3 continents A FracTracker team has just returned from North Carolina where fracking has been given the green light by the state’s government. Time may tell what reserves are contained within the Mesozoic basins but already landmen are knocking on doors and striking deals with willing landowners. Offshore drilling […]

Shale Gas Development on Public Lands

By Mark Szybist and George Jugovic, Jr., PennFuture Guest Authors Citizens for Pennsylvania’s Future (PennFuture) and FracTracker Alliance have collaborated to create a unique GIS map that enables the public to investigate how shale gas development is changing the face of our public lands. The map allows viewers to see, in one place: Pennsylvania’s State […]

Name that oil and gas storage container [quiz]

By Bill Hughes, WV Community Liaison We were recently asked if there is a reliable way to determine what constituents are being housed in certain types of oil and gas storage containers. While there is not typically a simple and straightforward response to questions like this, some times we can provide educated guesses based on a few […]

A Toast to the Tireless

By Brook Lenker, Executive Director, FracTracker Alliance While the year slows to a close, the FracTracker Alliance never stops. We churn out maps and analyses to enlighten America and the world about the impacts of unconventional energy extraction. Our work pays dividends: a website visitor discovers drilling nearby; a legislator learns about the industry’s rate […]

Hope Rising

By Brook Lenker, Executive Director, FracTracker Alliance We came to make a stand. People of every age from every corner of the country amassed in New York City on September 21, 2014 – 400,000 people transported by hope. It may have been the autumnal equinox, but the event was a solstice of human expression and […]