We have recently updated the PA Shale Viewer, our map of unconventional wells in Pennsylvania. As I updated the statistics to reflect the updated data, I noticed that the number of wells with an active status ticked downward, just as it had for the previous update. Pennsylvania Shale Viewer View map fullscreen | How FracTracker maps […]
Award to be presented to three environmental stewards addressing oil and gas impacts at reception held in Pittsburgh, PA, November 18th WASHINGTON, DC – October 5, 2017 – Three community advocates were recently selected by a panel of judges to receive the 2017 Community Sentinel Award for Environmental Stewardship, presented this year by Americans Against […]
Are you a college or graduate student in the U.S.? Do you enjoy working with datasets, visualizations, maps, and researching oil and gas issues? If so, please consider applying to be one of our Data and GIS interns this spring in Oakland, California and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Nature of Work FracTracker internships are dedicated to current […]
The application of liquid oil and gas waste from conventional wells onto roadways for dust control and road stabilization is permitted in Pennsylvania, provided that operators adhere to plans approved by the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). There are brine spreading guidelines that operators are required to follow, but overall, DEP considers roadspreading to be a beneficial […]
By Kirk Jalbert, Manager of Community-Based Research and Engagement and Matt Kelso, Manager of Data and Technology FracTracker recently updated its Pennsylvania Shale Viewer to reflect the latest data on unconventional oil and gas permits and active wells in the state. Within this data, we noticed an increase in permitting over the past year for Allegheny County, […]
Last week, a judge with the PA Environmental Hearing Board granted a two week halt to horizontal directional drilling (HDD) operations pertaining to the construction of Sunoco Logistics’ Mariner East 2 (ME2) pipeline. The temporary injunction responds to a petition from the Clean Air Council, Mountain Watershed Association, and the Delaware Riverkeeper Network. It remains in effect until […]
Recently, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) started to offer additional data resources with the introduction of the Open Data Portal. This development, along with the continued evolution of the ArcGIS Online mapping platform that we utilize has enabled some recent enhancements in our mapping of Pennsylvania oil and gas infrastructure. We’ve made changes […]
An Ohio family took joy in raising their kids and cattle at their farmhouse, built in 1853 with crooked walls and no indoor bathrooms. When they leased land to fracking activity, however, the “beep, beep, beep” of heavy truck traffic kept them up all night, and a cow died after drinking a strange fluid flowing […]
In this forest fragmentation analysis, FracTracker looked at existing vegetation height in the northern portion of Pennsylvania’s Susquehanna River Basin. The vegetation height data is available from LANDFIRE, a resource used by multiple federal agencies to assess wildfire potential by categorizing the vegetation growth in 30 by 30 meter pixels into different categories. In the […]
How fragmented approvals and infrastructure favor petrochemical development By Leann Leiter and Lisa Graves-Marcucci Let’s think back to 2009, when oil and gas companies like Range Resources began drilling the northeast shale plays in earnest. Picture the various stages involved in drilling – such as leasing of land, clearing of trees, boring of wells, siting […]
About the Award The impacts of the oil and gas industry are expanding across the United States. Thousands of volunteers work in their communities and cherished places to document, limit, and prevent harms caused by oil and gas development. The Community Sentinel Award for Environmental Stewardship honors the efforts of three of these tireless sentinels […]
The fifth annual Shale & Public Health Conference is presented by the League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania and hosted by the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health at the Pitt University Club. The event will be held on November 13, 2017 in Pittsburgh, PA from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Registration/sign-in will […]
