Fracking & Air Pollution
Oil and gas development negatively impacts air quality. Construction, drilling, storage, transportation, processing, and the burning of fossil fuels are all sources of serious air pollutants known to harm humans and the environment. The articles below reflect FracTracker’s work as it relates fracking and air pollution.
Tour Visible Air Emissions
Often times we wonder what might be coming off of an oil and gas well pad or out of a compressor station. While many of the emissions might be invisible to the naked eye, there are situations when it is possible to see such cases of air pollution. Let us take you on a digital tour of a few examples of visible air emissions.
FracTracker Air Articles
Explore the links below to learn about fracking and air pollution through visualizations such as maps, digital atlases of critical watersheds, and aerial photography.
Air Pollution from Pennsylvania Shale Gas Compressor Stations – REPORT
/0 Comments/in Air, Articles, Compressor Stations, Infrastructure /by Guest AuthorAir pollution from Pennsylvania shale gas compressor stations is a significant, worsening public health concern. By Cynthia Walter, Ph.D. Dr. Walter is a retired biology professor who has worked on shale gas industry pollution since 2009 through Westmoreland Marcellus Citizens Group, Protect PT and other groups. Contact: walter.atherton@gmail.com Executive Summary Compressor Stations (CS) in the […]
Allegheny County Air Quality Monitoring Project
/0 Comments/in Air, Articles, Health & Safety /by Erica JacksonA 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 […]
Idle Wells are a Major Risk
/2 Comments/in Air, Articles, Data and Analysis, Health & Safety, Infrastructure, Legislation & Politics, Water, Wells /by Kyle Ferrar, MPHDesignating a well as “idle” is a temporary solution for operators, but comes at a great economic and environmental cost to Californians Idle wells are oil and gas wells which are not in use for production, injection, or other purposes, but also have not been permanently sealed. During a well’s productive phase, it is pumping […]
Literally Millions of Failing, Abandoned Wells
/8 Comments/in Air, Articles, Health & Safety, Infrastructure, Water, Wells /by Kyle Ferrar, MPHBy Kyle Ferrar, Western Program Coordinator, FracTracker Alliance In California’s Central Valley and along the South Coast, there are many communities littered with abandoned oil and gas wells, buried underground. Many have had homes, buildings, or public parks built over top of them. Some of them were never plugged, and many of those that were […]
PTTGC’s Ethane Cracker Project: Risks of Bringing Plastic Manufacturing to Ohio
/in Air, Articles, Health & Safety, Petrochemicals & Plastics /by Erica JacksonIn 2012, a battle between Ohio, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania was underway. Politicians and businesses from each state were eagerly campaigning for the opportunity to host Royal Dutch Shell’s “world-class” petrochemical facility. The facility in question was an ethane cracker, the first of its kind to be built outside of the Gulf Coast in 20 […]
Can Californians Escape Oil and Gas Pollution?
/in Air, Articles, Health & Safety, Social /by Kyle Ferrar, MPHThe city of Los Angeles is considering a 2,500-foot setback safety buffer between residences and oil and gas wells. Support for the proposal is being led by the grassroots group Stand Together Against Neighborhood Drilling (STAND-LA). The push for a setback follows a recent report by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. According […]