PENNSYLVANIA MARCELLUS SHALE DRILLING SURFACE WATER IMPACTS

Working as an intern for SkyTruth I helped design a surface water impacts study involving field sampling of water quality and GIS map making to select watersheds ideal for study. Using data provided by the DEP I have built maps detailing the explosive growth of Marcellus wells in Pennsylvania since 2005. Constructing load maps, where the permits are counted per county and calculated by density, the watersheds, and subwatersheds which are being heavily exploited are highlighted. Flying with LightHawk, we were able to view the extent of drilling activity taking place in our three watersheds of interest in northern PA. This aerial photography, combined with the maps made in GIS highlight an area where drilling activity is at an incredible rate.

GIS enables us to look at the big picture, enabling detailed data analysis on big scale. We can see that many watersheds are being overburdened by drilling activity and using the concept of load maps, estimated the amount of sediment each stream basin will receive. Our field data was used to bring additional value to what the GIS maps show us, and explore the relationship between density of drilling and water quality.