Marcellus natural gas trend
[2] The shale play encompasses 104,000 square miles and stretches across Pennsylvania and West Virginia, and into eastern Ohio and western New York.
[4] The speculated total volume of the Marcellus field is even greater; Chesapeake Energy places its estimate at 410 TCF of shale gas.
[11] The gas is produced by thermogenic decomposition of organic materials in the sediments under the high temperature and pressure generated after the formation was buried deep below the surface of the earth.
[18] Drilling horizontally through the Marcellus shale perpendicular to the vertical fractures better connected the natural pathways for gas flow.
[23] Early experiments in Mount Pleasant Township led to lengthy legal battles over pollution of well water and air.
[24] Range Resources spokesperson claimed that more than 2,100 Marcellus wells had been drilled in Pennsylvania by 2010 and at that time of there were "thousands of landowners across the state who have signed leases allowing gas companies to produce on or under their properties" who had not complained and "numerous happy landowners among the hundreds of Range leaseholders in Washington County... are enjoying the economic benefits".
[27] Building for infrastructure projects was reported in West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Ohio to accommodate the growth during 2008–2009, including for pipeline and water treatment services.
Nevertheless, the first to come forward with an enormous number was Terry Engelder (a Pennsylvania State University geosciences professor, and also co-principal with Gary G. Lash of the company Appalachian Fracture Systems Inc., a consulting firm[42]) who announced his startling calculation of natural gas in 2008.
This energy density is a little smaller than the power production of a solar farm, relative to area occupied, in one year in this part of the US.
According to the Financial Post, the boom in US shale oil production, using horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, created thousands of jobs and reduced United States dependence on imported gas.
[54] New York state reported oil and natural gas drilling permit growth doubling from 2000 to 2008,[55] contributing to 36,000 employment positions and an $8 billion economic impact in 2008.
[24] In July of that year, the U.S. Department of Labor announced a $5 million grant to train workers for Marcellus shale drilling.
[66] A June 2011 New York Times investigation of industrial emails and internal documents found that the financial benefits of unconventional shale gas extraction may be less than previously thought, due to companies intentionally overstating the productivity of their wells and the size of their reserves.
[71] A large portion of the Marcellus formation underlies the environmentally sensitive Chesapeake Bay Watershed as well as the Delaware River Basin.
[75] The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PA DEP) has made many changes since 2008, including doubling the number of oil and gas inspection staff and implementing new water quality standards.
Other associated issues include disposal of produced water, drilling safety, forest fragmentation, encroachment on residential communities, methane emissions, and land reclamation.
[85][86] In many cases, there is a significant lack of baseline data to determine if methane migration can be attributed gas extraction or if it is naturally occurring.
[86][83] Analyses have also been done to test for the presence of diesel fuel compounds to understand if aquifer contamination came from surface infiltration or underground migration.
The authors concluded that "This finding suggests that shale-gas extraction in northeastern Pennsylvania has not resulted in regional gas impacts on drinking water resources".
It is also disputed by other long-term area residents who noted that high methane levels had been present for more than 60 years prior to hydraulic fracturing in Dimock.
[92] There are also impacts from heavier traffic and construction around extraction and injection wells that can increase erosion and result in sedimentation in surrounding streams.
In addition to causing road damage, when heavy trucks and tankers drive over farmland, they compact the subsoil, which increases runoff and decreases crop productivity for years.
The Marcellus Shale is the second-largest carbon bomb in the United States the researchers identified, with a total of 26.7 gigatons of CO2 if full developed and used.
[101] The reliance on untreated well water in the rural regions of the Marcellus leaves communities at a strong disadvantage if aquifer contamination would occur.
[83] Produced water includes naturally occurring radioactive materials, as well as high levels of brine, barium, strontium, and radium.
[103] Volatile organic compounds, diesel particulate matter, and methane are found in elevated levels around producing wells, often in concentrations that exceed EPA guidelines for carcinogenic health risks.
Gas field community members experience increased anxiety, depression, concern about lifestyle, health of children, safety, financial security, landscape changes, and exposure to toxins.
