Marcellus Shale Research Assignment
David Kiersnowski
Research Assignment
Beverly Peters
Washington Semester - GEB II
6/4/12
Introduction
Each spring, I spend a week in Tioga County, Pennsylvania on a fishing trip with the men in my dad’s family. Our small cabin sits on peaceful, serene pine creek, a subsidiary of the Susquehanna River. For decades we have visited the cabin to vacation, and escape reality in the beautiful Pennsylvania wilderness. At night, we gather around the fire and often times witness a friendly discussion of today’s issues turned confrontational amongst the uncles. An important issue political issue made its way into discussions on several occasions: the drilling for natural gas in the Marcellus Shale. Tioga County was one of the first counties in Pennsylvania to experience Marcellus Shale drilling activity. It ranks second by number of Marcellus wells in PA, with a total of 388 drilling wells between 2008 and 2010 (including 266 in 2010) (DEP). Once disgusted by the inherent wrongs of drilling on bountiful land, I have become open to the potential benefits that natural gas provides through shale, domestically and internationally.
Natural gas is a critical element to many chemical production processes, and has many environmental benefits over coal as a fuel for electricity generation. But to produce natural gas from shale has some questionable economic, environmental, and health and safety risks. The practice of shale drilling has been in place for decades, but there is always speculation and attempts to regulate the industry. Drilling for shale makes use of hydraulic fracturing, which has quickly become the most controversial drilling technique in history. ‘Fracking’ fluids contain small amounts of toxic chemicals, and there have been allegations in Pennsylvania, where fracking has been reported to contaminate groundwater. “The federal rules have loopholes and the state rules are too weak, says Amy mall, a senior policy analyst for the Natural Resources Defense
Research Assignment
Beverly Peters
Washington Semester - GEB II
6/4/12
Introduction
Each spring, I spend a week in Tioga County, Pennsylvania on a fishing trip with the men in my dad’s family. Our small cabin sits on peaceful, serene pine creek, a subsidiary of the Susquehanna River. For decades we have visited the cabin to vacation, and escape reality in the beautiful Pennsylvania wilderness. At night, we gather around the fire and often times witness a friendly discussion of today’s issues turned confrontational amongst the uncles. An important issue political issue made its way into discussions on several occasions: the drilling for natural gas in the Marcellus Shale. Tioga County was one of the first counties in Pennsylvania to experience Marcellus Shale drilling activity. It ranks second by number of Marcellus wells in PA, with a total of 388 drilling wells between 2008 and 2010 (including 266 in 2010) (DEP). Once disgusted by the inherent wrongs of drilling on bountiful land, I have become open to the potential benefits that natural gas provides through shale, domestically and internationally.
Natural gas is a critical element to many chemical production processes, and has many environmental benefits over coal as a fuel for electricity generation. But to produce natural gas from shale has some questionable economic, environmental, and health and safety risks. The practice of shale drilling has been in place for decades, but there is always speculation and attempts to regulate the industry. Drilling for shale makes use of hydraulic fracturing, which has quickly become the most controversial drilling technique in history. ‘Fracking’ fluids contain small amounts of toxic chemicals, and there have been allegations in Pennsylvania, where fracking has been reported to contaminate groundwater. “The federal rules have loopholes and the state rules are too weak, says Amy mall, a senior policy analyst for the Natural Resources Defense