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FRACTRACKER FAQ

General Information

FracTracker Alliance is a leading source of information related to social and environmental impacts of oil, gas, and petrochemical development in the United States. 

The concept originated in 2010, when a group of students and faculty at the University of Pittsburgh began receiving questions about new wells drilled in southwest Pennsylvania. They began researching the health and environmental impacts of the unconventional drilling process and tracking well proposals, leading to the creation of the FracTracker website. Today, FracTracker Alliance is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization with a broader mission to document, examine, and communicate extraction-related concerns across the United States. 

FracTracker focuses on public health effects and environmental justice implications on communities from oil and gas development, and the negative impacts from industry activities that deplete natural resources and intensify the climate crisis. 

We provide technical expertise and services – like useful, real-world data, scientific analyses, interactive maps, an app for users to document oil and gas concerns, and various visual tools – to help activists, researchers, and the public better understand the environmental, economic, and social problems driven by extractive industries. Our resources assist campaigns seeking solutions through community organizing and regulatory, legislative, or legal efforts to resist the industry’s expansion. 

FracTracker Alliance maps, analyzes, and communicates the risks of oil, gas, and petrochemical development to advance just energy alternatives that protect public health, natural resources, and the climate.

FracTracker has an amazing staff of eight people working from California, New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. A small but mighty team – get to know them! 

While much of our work focuses on the regions we live in, we provide resources for every state where oil and gas development is occurring. And we work in collaboration with concerned residents, grassroots organizations, nonprofits, media professionals, researchers, and other partners across the country. 

FracTracker’s maps, data, and analyses are trusted resources for advocates working for safe and healthy communities, cleaner energy, and a just transition to a sustainable economy.

FracTracker’s tools and services are a great resource for residents, medical professionals, public officials, and anyone else looking to learn more about the impacts of the industry. Most of our work covers the environmental and human health impacts of the oil, gas, and petrochemical industry, but we also study other types of energy systems, like renewables or coal. 

Here are some of the resources we provide:

We also provide customized services upon request. We can build a map of a region you’re concerned about, provide a dataset for your research, visit with a community group to support your campaign, collaborate on a storytelling project, and more. Learn more about our custom services here. 

Frontline groups and allied organizations make use of our tools to bolster their campaigns towards environmental justice. Here are some examples:

  • FracTracker contributed maps and analyses to support a grassroots-led campaign fighting for stronger setbacks between oil and gas wells and communities in California. This successful campaign led to policy change on the state-level!
  • FracTracker conducted a risk analysis of a proposed petrochemical facility to identify vulnerable sites and the health and safety risks to them, which were used in public comment periods and resistance efforts to the plant.
  • FracTracker has mapped various resistance movements, such as municipal bans on fracking, to provide visual evidence of the strength of the clean energy movement. 

We’re eager to support your work in any way we can! Click here to request FracTracker’s services 

Not sure how FracTracker can help? 

Schedule a brainstorm call to discuss your ideas with someone at FracTracker.

General Inquiries: Reach FracTracker’s main office at 216 Franklin St, Suite 400, Johnstown, PA 15901,  (717) 303-0403, or email info@fractracker.org.

Press: If you are a media professional with an inquiry or questions for FracTracker, please contact Shannon Smith, Executive Director, by phone (412) 212-7436, or email smith@fractracker.org. 

Donate: Want to support our work? You can donate anytime at fractracker.org/donate. Learn more here about how you can join the Alliance by signing up as a recurring monthly donor.

Follow:  Follow us on social media to see our latest content and receive updates on energy justice issues across the country! You can find us by searching @FracTracker on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. 

Be sure to also check out our media content on Youtube, @FracTrackerVideos

If you are looking for custom datasets, maps, or any other FracTracker service, please submit a request or schedule a time to talk about your project.

To stay updated on our latest maps, articles, photos and events, sign up for our monthly newsletter.

There are endless datasets on energy infrastructure available online, but we know the people with the best data are those on the ground. We encourage everyone who sees, smells, or feels the impacts of the oil and gas industry to document them on the FracTracker app. This data is used for our analyses of the impacts of the industry, to educate the public, and can be extracted to produce custom maps for your campaigns. The app also allows you to explore a map of fossil fuel infrastructure and reports from other app users. Search for “FracTracker” on Android or iOS to download and use for free. You can also explore the app from a laptop or desktop computer at https://app.fractracker.org/

Learn more & download the app

FracTracker also looks for ways to celebrate and strengthen the movement for clean energy solutions. As part of this effort, we host the Community Sentinel Award for Environmental Stewardship, which honors those who address the root causes of environmental injustice in the United States, with a strong focus on racial justice in the face of oil, gas, and petrochemical activity. You can learn more and nominate someone you know (when the nomination period is open) here!

Yes! Every spring, FracTracker offers college and graduate-level students with a passion for the environment and experience working with data the chance to intern with us. We also periodically host environmental and public health fellows.

Learn more about internship and fellowship opportunities.

To stay in the know about future internship or job opportunities at FracTracker, please sign up for our newsletter.

The FracTracker App allows anyone to document the impacts of the oil and gas industry, contributing on-the-ground insights to analyses and campaigns for healthier energy alternatives. The app also allows you to explore a map of fossil fuel infrastructure and reports from other app users.

Search for “FracTracker” on Android or iOS to download and use for free. Or, access the web-based version of the app here.

Oil and Gas 101

If you’re concerned about existing or potential oil and gas infrastructure near you, there are several ways FracTracker can help you learn more: 

  • To view a map of wells near you, click on your state on our Oil and Gas Activity by State landing page
  • To view other types of energy infrastructure, including power plants, compressor stations, processing stations, and pipelines, visit our national map

You can also download the FracTracker mobile app to view a map of oil and gas infrastructure and upload reports and photos of sites that concern you, as well as see submissions from other users in your area. 

And be sure to sign up for the FracTracker newsletter for monthly updates on the latest oil and gas news and research.

Please visit our Oil and Gas Drilling 101 pages, where you can find common terms and definitions, learn about the fracking process, and gain a deeper understanding of the industries’ effects on public health and the environment.

Use FracTracker’s advanced search tool to explore  articles and maps on a wide range of topics. The search function allows you to search by category or location, or limit your search to only show results with maps.

Don’t know where to start? No worries! We are on standby and happy to answer your questions. Reach out to us at  (717) 303-0403, or email info@fractracker.org.

Maps and Data

FracTracker has an interactive map of oil and gas wells for every state where drilling occurs. Visit our Oil and Gas Activity by State landing page to explore.

We also maintain a national map of various types of energy infrastructure, including power plants, compressor stations, processing stations, and pipelines. Explore our national map.

In addition to those, we are constantly creating new maps to explore timely energy issues. Search through FracTracker’s maps here!

View FracTracker’s mapping tutorial here.

If you’d like us to walk you through how to use our mapping tools, we’re happy to do so!  Request training or support for mapping resources.

Yes, we can build maps specific to what you are looking for,such as a map of oil and gas wells in a certain county, or the path of a pipeline through a certain area. We map energy infrastructure and the environment around it, which could be anything from rivers and forests, to schools and population numbers.

Request a FracTracker map.

Yes! The easiest way is to email us with your request. In your request, please explain which map you need and what you need it for.

Email FracTracker


If you are planning to use maps or information from our site, here is how you should cite FracTracker’s content:

(Title). (Date Posted). (Mapped/provided) by FracTracker Alliance on FracTracker.org.

Please include a link to the original data source if available. If you have questions about how to cite our work, or you would like to collaborate on a project with us, please email us.

You can press the “Print” icon on the top toolbar on the map, which will generate a pdf that can be downloaded and printed. You could also take a screenshot of a map, following the instructions of your device. 

We also can design a custom map to fit your specific needs; request a map on our service request page.

One of our guiding principles is to promote and advocate for data transparency. We use data to analyze the way energy infrastructure impacts ecosystems, public health, and social justice.

You can find data sources and links to download datasets listed at the end of articles and blog posts, and by clicking the “Details” section in our maps. If you are looking for data for a particular state, you can select that state from our Oil and Gas Activity by State landing page, then scroll to the bottom for a list of available datasets to download.

You can also view a list of our most commonly used data sources here.

If there are energy datasets and questions you cannot find on your own, we’re happy to assist you. 

We can share datasets in different formats, including:

  • Spreadsheets (excel or google sheets)
  • Mapping files compatible with ArcGIS, such as shapefiles
  • Mapping files compatible with Google Earth, such as .kml 
  • Links to original data sources

Request FracTracker’s assistance with data

Most of FracTracker’s data comes from publicly available websites, such as environmental regulatory agencies and mapping databases. You can view a list of our most frequently used datasets, here.  

Ways people have used FracTracker data: 

  • A college student requested pipeline mapping data to conduct research on forest fragmentation 
  • An organizer requested a list of all active unconventional wells owned by an operator that was under investigation
  • A partner organization requested mapping data of ethylene crackers in the United States for work on a petrochemical campaign

Click here to request data assistance from FracTracker.

Audiovisual Resources

Yes, we provide these resources free for non-commercial use! We maintain albums of photos, videos, and aerial and drone footage of energy infrastructure from sites across the United States, and even some international locations. We encourage you to use and share our imagery of energy infrastructure.

Explore FracTracker’s imagery platform


Usage and citation guidelines are listed in the About section.


If you have a request for specific multimedia resources, or have any questions about using our imagery, we encourage you to contact us using this form.

We appreciate your contribution!

Send FracTracker your imagery via email. Please include a brief description of the image, where it was taken, the date it was taken, and the photographer’s name if they would like attribution. Please note that by submitting your imagery, you are allowing them to be used in accordance with FracTracker’s copyright policy.

Making a Donation to FracTracker

Thank you for your interest in supporting our work! You can click here to make a donation to FracTracker. You can also sign up to be a member of The Alliance, a special group of donors that provide ongoing, monthly gifts that help form a steady stream of resources we know we can count on. 

Yes! We would be happy to direct your donation to the program area of your choosing. Please reach out to Shannon Smith, Executive Director, at smith@fractracker.org or 412-212-7436 to discuss your contribution. 

Yes, and we very much appreciate it! We welcome you to join The Alliance, a special group of donors that provide ongoing, monthly gifts that help form a steady stream of resources we know we can count on. Thank you for your support!

FracTracker uses data to empower meaningful environmental stewardship and activism. Our findings increase public awareness and understanding of the fossil fuel industry’s onslaught and its impacts on our communities, public health, and the climate and environment. All proceeds benefit FracTracker’s ongoing work to decarbonize our economy, amplify local activism, and support environmental justice initiatives with informative and useful resources.

Your contributions help to make tangible changes, such as decreasing the number of oil and gas wells in the US, protecting public health from toxic and radioactive chemicals, and stopping petrochemical expansion into vulnerable communities.

FracTracker Alliance is a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. Your contribution is tax deductible. After donating to FracTracker, you will receive a thank-you letter that includes a tax receipt. We welcome you to reach out to us with any questions. Please contact Shannon Smith, Executive Director, at smith@fractracker.org or 412-212-7436.

Did you know that your gifts to FracTracker may be eligible for a 100% tax deduction under the CARES Act legislation? Anyone who donates up to $300, whether they itemize or not, can deduct that against other income for donations in 2021. The amount is increased to $600 for married individuals filing joint returns.

Financial & Legal

FracTracker’s tax ID number (EIN) is 80-0844297.

FracTracker Alliance is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. Additional financial information can be found at the bottom of our annual reports page, or by visiting GuideStar.

FracTracker Alliance is a supported organization of the Community Foundation for the Alleghenies.

The majority of FracTracker’s funding comes from foundation grants, but we also receive funds from fee-for-service projects, individual donors, and sponsorships.

To see the breakdown of our funding in the past calendar year, please see our most recent annual report.

View FracTracker’s Terms of Service

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