The majority of FracTracker’s posts are generally considered articles. These may include analysis around data, embedded maps, summaries of partner collaborations, highlights of a publication or project, guest posts, etc.

Animating Data: A Different Way to Look at Marcellus Shale Drilling

by Josh Knauer, CEO of Rhiza

At Rhiza, we love to experiment with new ways of visualizing data that help tell better data stories. In most of our work environments, using data is kind of difficult and visualizing is usually left to data experts. We’d love to see a future where sharing data visualizations (maps, charts, explanations, etc) is as easy as recording and sharing a video on YouTube. Not everything produced will be stellar in quality, but at least we’ll all be a lot further down the road towards breaking down the traditional data silos and moving data aggregation and visualization solely out of the hands of database admins and graphic designers. We’ll still need those folks, their jobs will just get a lot more fun!

To this end, when I saw a data animation created by John Detwiler that showed the spread of drilled Marcellus shale gas wells in Bradford County, I wanted to create my own data animation telling the same story, but for the entire state of Pennsylvania… Read more»

Violations Jan-Sept 2011 PA (EHS highlighted with red dots)

A discussion on regulation and safety

By Samantha Malone, MPH, CPH – DrPH Student in Environmental & Occupational Health; Communications Specialist for FracTracker.org

As natural gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale region of our country moves forward, people in many states are debating over the best ways to regulate the natural gas industry. I’m not going to get into the impact fee discussion in this piece, although it is an obvious point of contention that needs addressed in PA immediately. Rather, I’d like to propose a way to manage the permitting and future development of the companies operating in this field.

Pipeline Safety

There are 2.5 million miles of pipelines in the U.S., the majority of which are for gas transmission and distribution. A recent 4-part series by the Philadelphia Inquirer brought to light the real and potential dangers of the gas pipeline system, which is being expanded in PA to handle the Marcellus gas destined for the market. The biggest concern highlighted in these articles in my opinion is the lack of oversight anywhere in the process – especially when our regulatory officials cannot even locate the pipelines. (Specific geographic locations of pipelines are often held close to the chest due to the perception that this information poses a risk to national security and infrastructure.)

Pipelines do fail, as demonstrated by the toxic liquid spills map below. This graphic was created by the New York Times, who in a earlier article discussed the lack of human and fiscal resources available to the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration – noting that although the number of spills have declined, pipelines are still responsible for approximately 100 significant spills per year.

NYTs: U.S. Pipeline Incidents 1990 - June 2011

NEW YORK TIMES | Source: Department of Transportation, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration

If you’d like to be able to find where pipelines are located (approximately) in your county, visit the U.S. DOT’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) website for Pipeline Safety Awareness. The site also provides you with data about pipeline incidents. In case you would rather not go diving through the raw data, below are some U.S. pipeline incident datasets and example maps from 2010 – Nov 2011 data that  Matt Kelso obtained from PHMSA:

  • PHMSA Hazardous Liquids Pipeline Incidents: Dataset | Map
  • PHMSA Gas Distribution Pipeline Incidents: Dataset | Map
  • PHMSA Gas Transmission Pipeline Incidents: Dataset | Map
(You can do a lot more with this data, such as filtering it by whether surface water remediation was necessary or by the type of contaminant that was released.)

Violations in PA

Violations Jan-Sept 2011 PA (EHS highlighted with red dots)

Violations Jan-Sept 2011 PA (EHS violations in red)

Another concern about natural gas drilling is the risk of environmental health and safety incidents occurring throughout the rest of the drilling process.1

The map to the left created using Data.FracTracker.org shows all of the violations that were issued to drillers from Jan-Sept. 2011 in Pennsylvania. The red dots are the violations that fall under the DEP’s loose category of Environmental Health and Safety (EHS).2

As you can see, EHS incidents do occur, but is that the whole story? Perhaps we should be asking ourselves, who exactly is responsible for these incidents – pipelines and the like? When you look more closely at the data the industry’s safety record becomes less monolithic than at first glance.

Focusing on the Bad Actors

The PR surrounding natural gas drilling is controversial at best. We have seen blanket statements about how safe – and dangerous – natural gas drilling and pipelines can be. We all must recognize that the answer lies somewhere in between. However, where is the perfect medium located, and how do we address the root of the problems that do arise?

One approach that is taken by some regulatory bodies such as OSHA is to focus on the bad actors. In two of his more recent posts, FracTracker’s Matt Kelso analyzed the ‘bad actors’ that exist within the violations issued in PA. While this is certainly not an easy or straightforward task, he was able to identify operators with the highest and lowest violations per well drilled, as well as trends between 2010 and 2011. Check out these analyses here: Part 1 |  Part 2.

Bad actors are not good for the industry’s PR or the Commonwealth’s residents. If the agencies responsible for issuing drilling permits quantitatively began to take violation trends into account, this would allow the safer drillers to continue operating, while limiting those with a less than appealing track record.


1 One of the great changes made by the PA Department of Environmental Protection in the last 2 years has been the transfer from the paper record system for keeping track of the violations they issue to a digital version that allows people access to the comprehensive, raw data. This is certainly also something that should be on NY’s Department of Environmental Conservation radar prior to issuing its first permit for high volume hydraulic fracturing.

2 EHS violations are a loose category because often times when we sift through the data we will find administrative oversights like paperwork mislabeled as EHS, and more serious spills and fires mislabeled as administrative.

Updated Drilled Wells Data for PA

Three drilled wells datasets for Pennsylvania have been updated or created, including:

The last of the three datasets is the most unique, with data spatially joined to municipalities. The following two maps exhibit the Marcellus Shale related data that they contain:


Number of Marcellus Shale wells per PA municipalities as of December 16, 2011. Click the gray compass rose and double carat (^) to hide those menus. Then click the information tool (the blue “i”) then any map feature for more information.


Number of Marcellus Shale wells in PA municipalities per square mile, as of December 16, 2011. Area calculation performed in PA State Plane South.

Bradford County PA Wells Drilled Animation

Bradford County Wells Drilled Animation

One of the regular users, John Detwiler, recently took the mapping application that is part of the platform to an even greater level. He exported wells drilled data by year into Google Earth to create an animation of the shale gas wells drilled from 2007-11 in Bradford County, PA. Check it out:

Map of Pavilion WY

EPA: Fracking and Groundwater Contamination

Map of Pavillion, WY

Pavillion, WY

The Internet is alive today after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released a report that indicates hydraulic fracturing (used when drilling for natural gas in tight shale formations) can contaminate groundwater. Residents of Pavillion, WY have been complaining about the state of their groundwater for some time now. The draft EPA report lends credibility to their claims with the finding that chemicals associated with the process were found in some deep water aquifers in the area. And when you look at all of the evidence around this issue – outside of the EPA’s study – the results are even more ‘ground-breaking.’

Having said that, there are a few questions regarding the EPA report/research. No field study could ever account for all of the potential confounders and variables – especially given the amount of resources the EPA had at its disposal to conduct this work. However, some of the most significant questions that I would like to see answered before this draft is finalized include:

  1. How representative is the data from the two monitoring wells in relation to residents’  drinking water wells?
  2. Has the potential for surface contamination of the monitoring wells been ruled out?
  3. Why weren’t the duplicate samples that were analyzed by separate labs also able to detect 2-BE?

These questions (and surely more) are exactly why this is only a draft report. According to the EPA, it will be available for a 45-day public comment period. A subsequent 30-day peer-review process will be led by a panel of independent scientists to ensure that the results that stay on the records are accurate.

Gas leases in Dryden NY

Gas Lease Review by the New York Times

Gas leases in the southeastern corner of the Town of Dryden (approximately).

Example lease map. Source: LivinginDryden.org

 

The New York Times has collected more than 111,000 oil and gas leases and related documents through open records requests. Over 100,000 of the documents in the archive are from Tarrant County, Tex., roughly 3,200 are from New York, and the remainder are from states including MarylandOhioPennsylvania and West Virginia.

To see all of the leases that have been collected by the New York Times, click here.

 

Some quick tidbits about what they found:

  • Fewer than half the leases require companies to compensate landowners for water contamination after drilling begins. And only about half the documents have language that lawyers suggest should be included to require payment for damages to livestock or crops.
  • Most leases grant gas companies broad rights to decide where they can cut down trees, store chemicals, build roads and drill. Companies are also permitted to operate generators and spotlights through the night near homes during drilling.
  • In the leases, drilling companies rarely describe to landowners the potential environmental and other risks that federal laws require them to disclose in filings to investors.
  • Most leases are for three or five years, but at least two-thirds of those reviewed by The Times allow extensions without additional approval from landowners.

Drilled Marcellus Shale Wells per Month

The following chart takes a look at the number of drilled Marcellus Shale wells in Pennsylvania, from 2006 through November, 2011. The accompanying trend line is included, not so much to predict December’s total, but to show the relatively decent R2 value.  That is to say, despite the occasional peaks (e.g., September 2010) and troughs (e.g., November 2010), the number of Marcellus Shale wells drilled per month has been increasing in a fairly orderly manner over the past 4 years and 8 months.

Actually, the best Excel trendline was a sixth order polynomial, with an R2 value of .087, but that’s getting fairly silly relative to my purposes here.

However, when you use the same data but only look at the last 24 months, the results are far more erratic. Once again, the highest R2 value was from a polynomial trendline. But that value wasn’t very high at all:

Once again, I don’t think the equation itself is that important, but the 0.18 R2 value is pretty low. Even the sixth order polynomial, with three peaks and three troughs, has an R2 value of only 0.34.

While the first chart shows an industry that is steadily accelerating, the second one shows…I don’t know.  I’m hesitant to offer interpretations.  My sense is that even though the R2 value is surprisingly low compared to the first chart, it doesn’t actually mean that much. Visually assessing the chart, it doesn’t seem to be a seasonal fluctuation, but there are mini-clusters of months with higher amounts of drilling activity, and those with lower amounts as well.  Certainly, the trendline is higher this month that it was two years ago, but not dramatically so.

Violations per Well by Operator Over Time

The following chart contains all operators that have either drilled a Marcellus Shale well in Pennsylvania from March 6, 2006 to November 27, 2011, or have been issued a Marcellus Shale related violation by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection between January 1, 2008 and September 30, 2011. Results are cumulative, thereby reflecting each company’s legacy with the Marcellus Shale, rather than their performances for any given year. The Violations per Well (VpW) score has been color coded for easy reference, with the following scale:

Most companies that are issued violations are well operators, although there do seem to be some midstream companies on the violation list. This might account for some of the blue “No wells” below, but mostly they reflect operators that were not yet active. For example, Antero Resource’s first well was in 2010, so entries for 2008 and 2009 read as “No wells”.

Whenever we look at Marcellus operators over time, the changes in companies has to be dealt with in some way. In this case, I took a minimalist approach: while East Resources, Inc. and East Resources, Llc. were combined, I did not merge name changes that were more substantial than that. For example, even though CNX Gas and Consol Gas are both owned by Consol, I did not merge the two. Another example is St. Mary Land and Exploration changed its name to SM Energy, and those two entries were left unchanged. Because of all of the changes within the industry, I have included the most recent drill date, so that viewers can determine if the drillers are still active.

Summary: GSPH Shale Gas Conference 2011

2nd Annual Health Effects of Shale Gas Extraction Conference
Hosted by: University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health
November 18, 2011 – Pittsburgh, PA

Presentation Summaries (in presentation order below) | Conference Website | Presentation Videos | Photos (coming soon)

Bernard D. Goldstein, MD 
Emeritus Professor, University of Pittsburgh, Graduate School of Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health department

“Public Health, Sustainability and the Marcellus Shale”

Goldstein works in the areas of sustainability and Marcellus shale issues, where he sees much overlap. However, in his sustainability work he sees hope for the future – and in his Marcellus shale work he worries that we have not learned from our past.

There is confusion around Marcellus Shale gas extraction. Most of this confusion centers around two keys issues: what do people mean when they say ‘fracking’, and how old is this technology. Fracking can be narrowly defined as just the fracturing of shale with highly pressurized fluid, or meant more widely as the entire process from pad creation to the production of natural gas. The technology used to extract gas from the Marcellus shale is a new twist on an old technology. This lack of definition and clear communication leads to mistrust.

When communities and individuals who are against Marcellus shale drilling are asked about the source(s) of their concern, health is high on their list. However, health professionals are rarely on local, state, or national advisory committees on the subject. Public health professionals must be at the table when talking about Marcellus shale issues.

According to Goldstein, there are three certainties in moving forward with the Marcellus Shale: surprises, disease clusters, and less pollution over time. A prospective study now would be preferable to a retrospective study after the disease clusters appear. Therefore, resources must be spent now on gathering data and conducting research to develop evidence-based recommendations.

Sustainability has much in common with the public health goal of prevention. Therefore, we must look to lessons in sustainability when thinking about and solving Marcellus shale problems.

Robert Jackson, PhD 
Nicholas Professor of Global Change, Duke University, Nicholas School of the Environment

“Shale Gas, the Environment, and Human Health”

Jackson’s presentation focused on the need for cooperation and interaction of state regulatory agencies with university researchers and also his own research on groundwater analyses and contamination. He began with a background of the pros and cons of the issue, asking, “Why might we want natural gas to power the world?” There are many incentives, especially when considering legacy pollution caused by the coal industry with mountain top mining and acid mine drainage.

Jackson explained that the geology and density of people in Pennsylvania and Texas are different from Wyoming’s tight sand shales, and in PA the drilling setback limit is 250 feet. The density of wells within PA also differs among areas. Whereas the legacy of conventional gas wells is mostly located in western PA, the majority of Marcellus Shale gas wells are located in Northeast PA, so this is where his researched has been conducted.

He posed the research question, “If you are near a natural gas well is your water quality different?” To try to answer the question he used three methods: stray gas forensics (methane, ethane, and propane), isotopic composition, and tracking the fate of hydraulic fracturing fluid. He began by establishing geochemical and isotopic tools for tracing gases and fluids from produced water. His team took samples and conducted field readings but most analytical work was done in the lab. The team analyzed well water samples for isotopes of Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen, Boron, Strontium, as well as analyses of other elements and radionuclides. Isotopic ratios can to be used as fingerprints, since they are different depending on the geological source of the sample, i.e. surface water or from deep underground.

Their findings indicated no evidence of hydraulic fracturing fluids or produced water in wells, but did suggest a relationship between distance to a wellhead and concentration of methane, ethane, and propane in homeowners’ drinking water. The gas was identified as thermogenically created, with a different isotopic signature than most “surface methanes.”  Jackson also noted that most homeowners do not typically have problems.  “What is the cause of this difference?” The issue is something that can be addressed first by fixing the most likely mechanism for the leaks – poorly constructed wells.

Jackson then went on to discuss some of the new regulatory changes to well construction and cementing in PA. There is not a consensus on the possibility of an intermediary fracture that connects with a fissure that leads to the surface and groundwater, and most agree this pathway is less likely than issues with well construction. Faulty casing and cementing is the likely to be the most common source of groundwater contamination.

Jackson discussed the state of future unconventional drilling in his home state of North Carolina, if NC legalizes horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing. His recommendations for NC included to collect generous pre-drilling data, have aggressive zone and setbacks to protect property, to plan for water disposal, to require full disclosure of chemicals, have fees to cover monitoring, and provide landowners with better information as there are not any oil and gas lawyers in NC.

Other work that Jackson and researchers at Duke are pursuing includes using isotopic ratios to investigate sources of methane seeps. The surface seeps do not appear to look like Marcellus Shale deep methane. Using a mobile air monitor, methane leaks and losses from pipelines have also been mapped with colleagues at Boston University by driving the monitor around city blocks. In Boston there were hundreds of leaks identified that need to be fixed. Air quality is also being researched as methane extraction leads to the release of precursors of ozone.

Jackson finished his presentation with recommendations. There are certain data needs that should be filled, including: identifying mechanism for migration (such as well casing failures), making more data publically available, gas isotope data, chemical and isotopic profiles with depth, data disclosure (including “frac” fluid constituents). Health studies still need to be conducted, including the following studies: chronic, low-level exposure to methane have not to his knowledge been completed; air quality effects, including VOC’s; longitudinal health studies; and green-house gas accounting. There also needs to be better collaboration among industry, universities, and regulators.

Allen Robinson, PhD
Professor, Carnegie Mellon University, Engineering and Public Policy and Mechanical Engineering, Center for Atmospheric Particle Studies

“Regional air pollution emissions from the development and production of Marcellus Shale”

There is a lot of attention on water quality impacts from Marcellus, and rightly so, however, we also need to consider the impacts on air quality from the natural gas boom especially when considering our already pollutant saturated region. There are certainly end-use benefits to natural gas usage over coal and other fuel sources, and these benefits must be considered into the prudence of energy production types. There are many sources of emissions throughout the complete cycle of unconventional gas drilling to production and those sources are distributed all over Pennsylvania. Impacts can be localized to nearby communities, but also air pollution can travel and mix with other sources across larger spatial scales. “The emissions are all interconnected in a way, whether its distance or a functional connection such as a pipeline, regardless there are good reasons for emissions to be aggregated,” says Robinson. The emissions are also distributed across a very large area, so we also need to consider the contribution to other areas such as Philadelphia, New York, etc. The pollutants of concern with oil and gas development are:

    • Criteria Pollutants
      • Ozone
      • PM2.5
    • Hazardous Air Pollutants/ Air Toxics
      • Diesel particulate matter
      • Benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylenes
      • Formaldehyde, acrolein
    • Climate Change
      • Methane
      • Black Carbon

Unconventional gas drilling has occurred in other areas of the US, and significant research has occurred in the last 10 years on the impacts in these areas. NOx and VOC emissions in the Barnett Shale region in the Dallas-Fort Worth area are a large source of pollution once the sources are aggregated. The combined emissions of NOx and VOCs for the aggregate emissions in the areas of shale development are comparable to the mobile emissions from cars and trucks in the metro area of Dallas-Fort Worth (Armendariz, 2009). The synergy between meteorology (weather) and emissions plays a major role in ozone concentrations in general. This synergy was apparent in the Jonah-Pinedale Anticline in Wyoming where for the first time, ozone levels in the winter were above the health-based NAAQS, putting this area in non-attainment for 8-hour ozone concentrations (Pinto, 2009). Some of the rural areas around some of these operations are experiencing elevated levels of benzene for example. These levels are not incredibly high, but in some of these areas it is 4-5 times higher than it should be. Living in Grand Junction, CO is therefore somewhat comparable to living next to Neville Island.

To estimate the relative contribution of emissions from natural gas operations in Pennsylvania, emissions inventories for all the sources, their activities and respective emissions factors must be calculated, estimated, and averaged. Once these estimations are verified, computer model simulations can predict the relative contribution or perturbations of pollutants concentrations in the air to their respective sources. The majority of the emissions of NOx are related to drilling activities as calculated in 2009, but emissions in 2020 is predicted to be caused more by production activities such as compressor stations. The regional median NOx emissions increase was estimated to be about 5% attributable to Marcellus Shale drilling operations in 2009. In 2020, the median increase is predicted to be around 17.5% current NOx emissions. In developing a state implementation plan (SIP), these contributing sources must certainly be taken into account.

Adam Law, MD
Owner, IthacaMed; Clinical Assistant Professor, Weill Cornell Medical College; Founding board member, Physicians, Scientists and Engineers for Healthy Energy

“Endocrine and Metabolic Disruption”

As a clinical endocrinologist, Law treats many chronic diseases of the endocrine system. The endocrine system consists of the pituitary, thyroid, and adrenal glands as well as the ovaries and testes. Law is concerned with Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals (EDC) in the environment which can interfere with the body’s natural estrogen, androgen, and thyroid hormone production and functionality.

Law is concerned that some gas companies are less than forthright with revealing all chemicals in their proprietary fracking fluid. This limits the ability of scientists to determine effects of these chemicals in our environment. There are three chemicals in hydrofracking fluid that are known EDCs: cadmium, arsenic, and thiourea. Cadmium causes prostate cancer in rats; arsenic interacts with seven hormone receptors and has been linked to Type II diabetes; and thiourea reduces production of the thyroid hormone, as well as causing adverse pregnancy outcomes.

EDCs are also of great concern because of their non-linear dose-response curves and their ability to bioaccumulate in fat deposits. A non-linear dose-response curve means that a small dose of these chemicals has unusually large effects on the body. Accumulation in fat deposits leads to these chemicals being released again into the body when fat is used for energy – namely during pregnancy, breast feeding, and during illnesses. Additionally, there likely are unknown synergistic effects of many of these chemicals acting together.

In light of this information, Law would like to see industry disclose all of the chemicals in their fracking fluid. This would allow scientists to further study, identify, and restrict the EDCs being released into our environment.

Charles Werntz, DO, MPH
Associate Professor, Clinical Emphasis, West Virginia University, School of Medicine, Community Medicine & the Institute of Occupational & Environmental Health department

“Worker Health Concerns in Marcellus Shale Work”

In his presentation, Werntz from the Institute for Occupational and Environmental Health (IOEH) at the University of West Virginia considered the health impacts of a group that is significantly affected by the Marcellus Shale but not often discussed: the people who work on the well sites themselves. Werntz’ occupational health data comes from people who have come into the IOEH seeking medical attention from a variety of afflictions, from events occurring throughout the entire life cycle of the well from the development of the well pad through post production activities.

Common health issues include injuries from slips and falls, traumatic accidents related to heavy equipment and ATV usage, and skin and respiratory ailments due to chemical exposures. Werntz indicates that there has been some progress in this last category, as the industry has trended away from hand mixing of hazardous chemicals for the hydraulic fracturing process of well stimulation. According to Werntz, it was common for workers to mix these chemicals by hand, protected only with surgical style latex gloves, whereas now such tasks are completed in enclosed mechanical mixers. The IOEH hasn’t had a hand mixing injury in two years, he said, reflected improved practices in the field.

Werntz also asserted that in an environment such as an active drilling site, the nature of injuries cannot always be predicted. To exemplify this point, he discussed the so-called sparkly cloud incident, in which three of six workers on site were hospitalized after being exposed to a cloud that is thought to have occurred from an exploding lithium battery. Two years after the incident, two of the three hospitalized workers still cannot work on drill sites without triggering chemical asthma.

Many steps can be taken to improve the health and safety of workers on the job site. And while not all chemical exposure injuries can be prevented, Werntz indicates that treatments can be dramatically improved by fully disclosing the chemicals used for each hydraulic fracturing action, so that physicians do not have to sift through the potential reactions of hundreds of different chemicals on the approved list of hydraulic fracturing chemicals.

William Burket, CFPS
Regulatory Affairs Manager, EOG Resources, Inc.

“Industry Safety Initiatives and Community Emergency Preparedness”

Burket outlined multiple elements of the Marcellus Shale Coalition’s Industry Safety Initiative in his remarks. Burket prefaced this discussion with a quick summary of the regulations already in place at the upstream (well development), midstream (gas production), and downstream (delivery to homes and businesses for use) phases of natural gas production. He then explained that the Marcellus Shale Coalition is an organization with includes 260 companies, about 40 of which are producers, and the rest of which are contractors which provide services to producers.

The Coalition participates as a state chapter of the national STEPS (Service, Transmission, Exploration, Production, Safety Network). Its members are asked to adopt best management practices that have been developed in the industry. Burket provided illustrations of these best practices, which typically exceed regulatory requirements, in each area of activity. For example, transportation regulations specify speed limits, hours during which headlight use is required, and requirements for logging hours worked for long-distance drivers. The STEPS best practice standard calls for lower speed limits in inclement weather, use of headlights whenever in transit, and logging requirements for local and well as long-distance drivers.

Burket explained that the industry is seeking “green chemistry” to use in the drilling mud and hydro-stimulation processes. He also noted that while flaring will continue to be used in emergency situations, the industry is working toward the development of “green completions.” Finally, Burket summarized the efforts the Coalition has made in the area of emergency preparedness. In the last 3 years, in collaboration with the State Fire Academy and State Fire Chief, the Coalition has helped to facilitate the training of 2200 county-based emergency responders from 42 counties and has worked on other community preparedness measures.

Simona Perry, PhD 
Research Scientist, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

” ‘It’s like we’re losing our love’: Documenting and Evaluating Social Change in Bradford County, PA during the Marcellus Shale Gas Boom (2009-2011)”

Perry presented on the ongoing ethnographic research she began in July 2009 in Bradford County, PA. Perry seeks to explore the relationship that the marginalized residents of Bradford County have with the Susquehanna River and surrounding area. The timing of her study is propitious in that it began at roughly the same time as the Marcellus Shale gas drilling boom. Over the last 2 years, the county has been virtually “occupied” by the natural gas industry, changing both the landscape and the lives of those interviewed one-on-one and in focus groups conducted by Perry.

Bradford County is a rural community. It has a history of land-based and extractive industries (agriculture, lumber, and mining), racial homogeneity, and a population whose families had lived in the community for generations (with declining population in recent decades). Their ties to the land and the value they placed on clean air and water, fertile soil, and a rural way of life were well-established prior to the arrival of the gas drilling activities in 2009. Initially residents believed that local government would be able to regulate the increase in traffic and out-of-town workers, and light and noise pollution resulting from around-the-clock drilling, and that the industry would improve the local economy. Residents even saw it as their patriotic duty to welcome the industry which promised to make the country energy independent.

Within the next year, their experiences with traffic, destruction of roads, noise, toxic chemical releases in water and air, and destruction of the landscape created such stress among residents that Perry characterizes their impact as similar to the trauma suffered by domestic abuse on the individual level, and collectively like the trauma observed in communities experiencing significant natural disasters. She has observed that the cycle of abuse observed in intimate relations – tension building, leading to an incident, followed by reconciliation, the a calm period followed again by tension building – is evident in the community at large in her field notes over the last 2 years. Perry concludes that the residents who have chosen or have no choice but to remain in the community need the assistance of mental health and environmental professionals who can help them protect their rights and prepare them for future impacts.

Kathy Brasier, PhD
Associate Professor of Rural Sociology, Pennsylvania State University, Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology department

“Community Impacts of Natural Gas Development in the Marcellus Shale: A Research Summary”

Over the last 2 years, Brasier has worked with a team of researchers in her institution to study community impacts of Marcellus Shale drilling using mixed qualitative and quantitative methods. She has a particular interest in community risk perception and trust in social institutions. Brasier’s research team is seeking to conduct longitudinal research in communities across Pennsylvania starting with “pre- or early state-Marcellus Shale boom period” forward. The team is using the “boom town” literature developed in the 1970s and 80s in the western US, although it recognizes that its applicability to the East may be limited.

Using case studies conducted in 6 counties and a geographically broader household survey, the research explores the social disruption caused by stress on infrastructure and social relations in areas of Marcellus Shale activity. Results from both types of investigation indicate that the deterioration of roads, increased traffic, housing shortages and concern about the future environmental and community impacts are greatest community concerns. Changes in the population – more and different kinds of people with a different connection to place – are both changing relationships in the community and increasing stress on local human service systems.

The economic impacts are viewed as favorable insofar as the drilling boom has brought jobs and income to previously depressed communities. The opportunities for young people to remain in their home communities upon completing their education are improving. Yet there is also evidence that the gas industry’s higher wages have bid skilled workers away from existing employers creating shortages in some places. Additionally, it is not clear whether existing struggling industries, such as dairy farming, will survive. While some farmers use income acquired from leasing mineral rights to revive their farms, others use it to get out the business and/or community completely. The future of tourism is likewise uncertain, depending upon the impact of drilling on the quality of the environment.

The survey data collected thus far indicates that respondents’ assessments of the impact of Marcellus Shale drilling depend on location. Considerations of access to a metro area, the history of extractive industries, whether the community is a hub for company headquarters or drilling activity all influence perceptions. Overall, about twice as many people have a positive attitude toward the industry compared to a negative assessment (45% vs. 21%). But Brasier notes that this leaves one-third of the sample undecided about their perception, and that responses to this question differ regionally as well. The research will continue to explore whether the industry, regulators, and other institutional players are viewed as competent to manage risks and predictable in how they do so. These factors contribute to institutional trust which is critical to the future of the industry.

Tom Biksey, MPH
Director Risk Assessment, EHS Support, Inc.; Doctorate Candidate, University of Pittsburgh, Graduate School of Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health department

“A Risk Assessment of Fracing Fluid Flowback Water from an Operation in an Asian Pacific Setting”

Biksey presented a risk assessment model of exposure pathways from a Marcellus Shale well pad. He began the presentation with an explanation of the Risk Assessment paradigm and the importance of risk assessment for regulatory processes. The model was based on the conservative assumption that a drill rig can be placed next to a residence. It was also assumed that the residence had potable groundwater source, as well as a surface water, or stream, adjacent to the site, to include pathways including surface water contamination. Multiple scenarios were tested. They included dermal contact by a trespasser exposed to the surface water, workers repairing lines, and the impact on livestock and native fauna, such as cattle drinking from the surface water source. Two phases of exposure were modeled. First, a mass balance was calculated for the hydraulic fracturing chemicals returning to the surface as flowback . At that point the water quality monitoring program was not yet established for sampling sources of the water. Material safety data sheets (MSDS) and other specifications of chemical risks were used to derive a cumulative risk., Next, modeling was designed to track the fate and transport of the chemicals in the flowback to determine where they go and at what concentration.

Three scenarios with different flowback fluids of differing contaminant concentrations were included in the model. One exemplified flowback fluid prior to any type of treatment, the second a blended mixture of wastewater streams, and the third flowback water after reverse osmosis. Biksey presented a diagram of the model to show exposure source locations. The five modeled receptors included a trespasser, worker, livestock, wildlife (medium sized such as a deer), wildlife (small mammal), each with their own exposure time frame and dermal contact (exposure route).

There is a necessity for transparency of these evaluations due to the many variables. The EPA has an approved worksheet for presentation of the data. All the data for a receptor goes into an intake equation all info in gives you dose and what type of exposure. An unknown variable was the amount of mass that would be recovered/returned from the well, so both 20% and 80% return were included. Inputs included an empirical list of detected chemicals of particular concern (COPCs) including constituents from the formation materials. The only poly-aromatic hydrocarbon was naphthalene. For certain COPC’s, oral RfD’s for the Toxicity Assessment had to be derived.

For the risk characterization, a cumulative carcinogenic risk was evaluated. A risk of less than 1×10-6 was considered acceptable. A risk of less than 1×10-4 requires a best practice control measure for reduction, and a risk of greater than 1×10-4 is unacceptable. The maximum carcinogenic risk determined from the model with maximum exposure was 3.7×10-5 from surface water. This theoretical showed a limited risk for maximum exposures at the well-site but there is room for improvement with the model.

Myron Arnowitt, MPH
PA State Director, Clean Water Action

“Review of the Citizens Marcellus Shale Commission board report”

Arnowitt is the Pennsylvania director for Clean Water Action. His presentation took a look at the efforts of the Citizens Marcellus Shale Commission board report and discussed the reason for its formation. The 16-member commission was set up by numerous nonprofit organizations, and is co-chaired by two former state representatives, Dan Surra (D-Clearfield and Elk Counties) and Carole Rubley (R-Chester and Mongomery Counties).

The Citizens Marcellus Shale Commission was set up to provide an independent perspective and provide an opportunity for the public to participate in the review process, features that were notably lacking from the process for Governor Corbett’s Marcellus Shale Advisory Commission. To this end, the commission conducted 5 public hearings, attracting over 400 participants from 48 counties in Pennsylvania, according to Mr. Arnowitt.

Largely based on this public participation, the Commission have put forth a number of recommendations on their report, including air quality issues, the handling of public lands, ground and surface water contamination, economic issues and health issues. Arnowitt says that much of the report can be summarized by the phrase “slow it down”. This applies both to the expedited permitting process as well as the frenetic pace of the industry in general.

Summary Writers

  • Kyle Ferrar, MPH
  • Matt Kelso, BA
  • Jill Kriesky, PhD
  • Lynne Marshall, MS
  • Drew Michanowicz, MPH, CPH

Study Offers 7 Safeguards For Hydraulic Fracturing

Duke University Press Release

A new report by Duke University researchers offers several health and environmental measures for North Carolina lawmakers to consider as they debate legalizing horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing for natural gas.

The study, which has been accepted for publication in the journal Duke Environmental Law and Policy Forum, looks at potential environmental hazards and how lawmakers in other states are factoring health and environmental risks into regulatory approaches targeting the natural gas extraction method.

”If North Carolina legalizes shale gas extraction, we need to consider what’s worked best in other states and avoid what hasn’t,” said Rob Jackson, Nicholas professor of global environmental change at the Nicholas School of the Environment. “That’s the only way to get it right.”

Legislation passed earlier this year has moved North Carolina closer to producing shale gas, and is directing the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to complete a study on the effects of hydraulic fracturing, often called “fracking,” by May, 2012.

Authors of Duke’s own study say if North Carolina legislators allow natural gas production through hydraulic fracturing, they should consider seven measures to help avoid and mitigate any possible negative effects. These include:

  1. Securing baseline data on groundwater prior to shale gas production and at each stage of the drilling process;
  2. Funding for regulatory programs and an agency to carry them out;
  3. Planning for withdrawals from area water supplies related to the production;
  4. Minimizing the risks of spills and contamination caused by equipment failure and human error by implementing safety requirements;
  5. Thinking through options for the disposal and treatment of wastewater resulting from the hydraulic fracturing process;
  6. Assessing the impacts on air quality and assure attainment of federal ground-level ozone standards; and
  7. Requiring some degree of disclosure regarding the chemicals used in fracturing fluid.

“Lawmakers have the unique opportunity to decide whether or not hydraulic fracturing is appropriate for the state,” said Jonas Monast, director of the climate and energy program for the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions. “Before making a decision, we need to understand the full range of potential economic, environmental, and health impacts.”

The paper “Considering Shale Gas Extraction in North Carolina: Lessons Learned in Other States,” is written by Sarah Plikunas, Brooks Rainey Pearson and Jonas Monast of Duke’s Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions and Rob Jackson and Avner Vengosh of the Nicholas School of the Environment. To read it, click here.