Marcellus Shale

Drilling for natural gas in the Marcellus Shale is making the news almost daily in the Pittsburgh region, which isn't surprising because our region lies right on top of it. Below are websites to help you understand what it is and why the drilling method of hydraulic fracturing is so controversial among environmentalists.

Pittsburgh and Pennsylvania

• Carnegie Mellon University: A Research Guide to the Marcellus and Utica Shales
  The purpose of this project by CMU and the Pennsylvania State Association of Boroughs is to catalogue the literature on natural gas extraction by hydraulic fracturing in order to help policymakers and researchers comprehend the existing research on this topic and identify issues for further study.
• Allegheny Front: How It All Began: The Geology of the Marcellus Shale
  June 1, 2011: How the Marcellus Shale was formed - its geologic history.
• Allegheny Front: 2 Professors Plus 1 Calculation = Gas Rush
  June 1, 2011: Terry Engelder and Gary Lash are the geology professors who brought attention to the Marcellus Shale in Western Pennsylvania.
• Cleveland Plain Dealer: Waste-water injection well caused 12 earthquakes in Ohio, investigation shows
  A March 09, 2012 article about a 24-page preliminary report of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources' investigation into the cause of a series of 12 earthquakes in Youngstown last year.
• FracTracker
  FracTracker provides citizens with a common place to learn about & share their Marcellus Shale drilling experiences. FracTracker is managed by CHEC (University of Pittsburgh's Center for Healthy Environments & Communities), hosted by the Foundation for PA Watersheds, built by Rhiza Labs, & funded by the Heinz Endowments.
• Go Marcellus Shale
  All people, companies & places related to the Marcellus Shale. Check here for local news and online forums.
• Keystone Wild! Notes: What's All the Fuss About Marcellus?
  Information from the Wild Resource Conservation Program of the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.
• Marcellus Shale Coalition
  The Canonsburg-based Marcellus Shale Coalition (MSC), formerly known as the Marcellus Shale Committee, is made up of over forty natural gas exploration and production companies with an interest in Marcellus shale development in Pennsylvania. "Fully developed, the Marcellus Shale has the potential to be the second largest natural gas field in the world, behind only the South Pars/Asalouyeh field shared between the nations of Iran and Qatar."
  • Marcellus on Main Street
    This business directory is designed to support responsible Shale Gas Development by connecting the Natural Gas Industry to local vendors, suppliers, and services.
• Marcellus Shale Protest
  MarcellusProtest.org is an information clearing house about Marcellus Shale gas drilling and activism and related issues whose primary geographic focus is Western Pennsylvania, including a ban on drilling in Pittsburgh.
• Mountain Watershed Association: Marcellus Shale Drilling
  The Marcellus Citizen Stewardship Project is a new initiative at the Mountain Watershed Association which protects the Youghiogheny River watershed. In conjunction with Three Rivers Waterkeeper, GASP Pittsburgh, Clean Water Action, The University of Pittsburgh's Center for Healthy Environments and Communities, PennEnvironment and the Fayette County Conservation District, they are developing a pilot project to educate and empower citizens throughout the region.
• Penn State Marcellus Center for Outreach and Research (MCOR)
  The Center is "committed to expanding research capabilities on technical aspects of developing this resource and to providing science-based programming while protecting the Commonwealth's water resources, forests and transportation infrastructure."
• Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection: Marcellus Shale
  Includes informational documents and links to other sites.
  • Marcellus Shale Advisory Commission
    Includes their final report released July 22, 2011.
  • Southwestern Pennsylvania Marcellus Shale Short-Term Ambient Air Sampling Report
    This November 1, 2010 report also offers a background about shale gas drilling.
• Pennsylvania Environmental Council (PEC): Developing the Marcellus Shale
  PEC has released a policy report based upon findings and recommendations from the Marcellus Shale Conference.
• Pennsylvania Groundwater Association
  Composed of companies or persons engaged in drilling or constructing water wells, the Pennsylvania Groundwater Association is concerned with protecting groundwater quality.
• Pipeline
  A Pittsburgh Post-Gazette website for Marcellus Shale coverage, resources, comments and more. Check out the permits granted on a map.
• Pittsburgh Business Times: Search Marcellus production database for July-Dec 2011
  Offers a quick look at Marcellus totals in Pennsylvania by county.
• Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: PG coverage of the Marcellus Shale issue 2008-2010
  An index to the Post-Gazette's news coverage, editorials and opinion pieces on Marcellus Shale.
  • Seismic event: Caution is warranted at frackwater disposal sites
    Ohio's environmental officials made the right call in closing five deep wastewater disposal sites, which experts from Columbia University blamed for causing earthquakes, the latest near Youngstown on New Year's Eve. (1/6/2012)
  • Radiation in fracking fluid is a new concern
    This Tuesday, March 01, 2011 article follows up on a story by the New York Times reporting that "116 of 179 Marcellus wells in Pennsylvania had high levels of radiation in wastewater samples and that wastewater discharges into rivers and streams were untested for radiation even though government agencies and the industry knew of the risks."
• Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Special Report: Drilling Down Marcellus Shale
  Articles, background, interviews etc. on Marcellus Shale in Southwestern Pennsylvania.
• PopCity: What's the Impact of the Marcellus Shale on our Environment?
  A June 02, 2010 article by Debra Diamond Smit, with interviews from local experts and concerned organizations.
• Scientific American: Ohio Earthquake Likely Caused by Fracking Wastewater
  "Injecting wastewater deep underground is the prime suspect, potentially widening earthquake worries linked to hydraulic fracturing." (1/4/2012)
• Shale Gas and America's Future
  "Shale Gas and America's Future" provides a unique look at how local communities in Pennsylvania are balancing the trade offs related to gas drilling for themselves and the nation." A 30-minute feature film produced by the American Clean Skies Foundation in support of hydraulic fracturing and aired on WTAE.
• Southwest Pennsylvania Environmental Health Project
  A nonprofit addressing the health effects of natural gas drilling in Southwest Pennsylvania, funded by the Heinz Endowments, the Pittsburgh Foundation and the Claneil Foundation. Read more at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: First-ever shale health office opens
• University of Pittsburgh's Center for Healthy Environments & Communities (CHEC)
  CHEC's Marcellus Shale Gas Extraction (MSGE) page provides information on the Center's current efforts to monitor & research effects of MSGE.
• Westmoreland County Planning Department: Drilling Impact Fee
  "Users can learn basic terminology associated with the industry, see locations where wells have been drilled through 2011, and learn how much money specific municipalities in the county will earn from the new, Unconventional Gas Well Impact Fee." -- Pittsburgh Tribune Review.

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Videos

Gasland
Gasland is a documentary film by Pennsylvanian Josh Fox presenting the environmental problems created by natural gas drilling by hydraulic fracturing, which forces the gas out of the rock with water and chemicals, polluting the water supply. Watch a report from PBS Now about the movie.

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Other Web Sites

• America's Natural Gas Alliance
  A lobbying organization representing 30 of North America's largest independent natural gas exploration and production companies and the leading developers of the shale extraction industry.
  • The Economic and Employment Contributions of Shale Gas in the United States
• American Clean Skies Foundation
  "Supporting energy independence and a cleaner, low-carbon environment through expanded use of natural gas, renewables and efficiency." A gas advocacy group interested in Marcellus Shale gas extraction.
• The Breakthrough Institute: Where the Shale Gas Revolution Came From: Government's Role in the Development of Hydraulic Fracturing in Shale
  "This revolution in natural gas -- unleashed by a flood of recently accessible shale gas reserves, once thought to be unrecoverable -- is the product of over 25 years of federal agencies and programs driving technology development in collaboration with private gas companies."
• FracFocus
  FracFocus, the hydraulic fracturing chemical registry website, is a joint project of the Ground Water Protection Council and the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission. You can search for information about the chemicals used in the hydraulic fracturing of oil and gas wells.
• My Range Resources
  This is a public relations site directed towards Pennsylvania from a pioneer in shale gas extraction, Range Resources, headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, where it has explored the Barnett Shale.
• National Geographic: The Great Shale Gas Rush
  This October 2010 Special Report includes information on Pennsylvania.
• NPR: The Fracking Boom: Missing Answers
  "A natural gas boom is under way in the United States, with more than 200,000 wells drilled in just under a decade. But people living on the front door step of the natural gas bonanza have a question: Are these wells creating harmful pollutants? NPR explores why there isn't an answer yet."
• ProPublica: Fracking, Gas Drilling's Environmental Threat
  ProPublica is an independent, nonprofit newsroom that produces investigative journalism in the public interest. They have a series on Fracking.
• Wikipedia: Marcellus Formation
  Learn what the Marcellus Shale is and even more than you ever wanted to know about it!

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Other Shale Drilling Locations

• Utica Shale
  Oh, oh. There's another shale layer located a few thousand feet below the Marcellus Shale that might have even more natural gas in it. It lies under most of New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia.
• Barnett Shale Energy Education Council
  The Barnett Shale formation is located under the Fort Worth, Texas area. The council is composed of natural gas drilling companies and attempts to address some environmental concerns on their website.

Last updated Wednesday January 16 2013.