Program Aims to Educate Public on Shale Drilling
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
18 January 2011
By Don Hopey
A new program to help the public monitor Marcellus Shale well
development and report problems at drill sites has been launched by the
University of Pittsburgh's Center for Healthy Environments and
Communities and a Fayette County environmental group.
The Marcellus Citizens Stewardship Project will offer free training to
individuals on how to assess the sights, sounds and smells produced by
shale drilling operations in their communities and report their
observations via online forms to an interactive Marcellus drilling data
site, "FracTracker," established by the university center.
The "visual assessment trainings" will also provide participants with
information on permitting and drilling regulations, air and water
pollution, safety issues and how to file a complaint.
"The natural gas extraction industry is complicated and sophisticated,"
said Charles Christen, director of operations at Pitt's Center for
Healthy Environments and Communities. "Having an informed public is
good public health ... "
Veronica Coptis, community organizer for Mountain Watershed
Association, an environmental organization based in Fayette County,
said the program will provide people living near gas well drilling
operations with field training and a venue for reporting what they see.
"This would be a watchdog-type program to keep an eye on the drilling
operations and keep those companies on their toes and following
regulations," she said.
After completing the basic training course, participants can sign up
for additional instruction in air and water monitoring. The project
will be launched in the Youghiogheny River watershed, but backers
expect it will spread throughout southwestern Pennsylvania.
Krissy Kasserman, Youghiogheny riverkeeper with the Mountain Watershed
Association, said rural residents are knowledgeable about their
landscapes and waterways and have a vested interest in their
preservation.
"If area residents are vigilant, our natural amenities will have an
additional layer of protection as drilling proceeds," Ms. Kasserman
said.
Marcellus Shale, a sedimentary rock formation a mile or more beneath
about 95,000 square miles in Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio, West
Virginia and Maryland, contains an estimated 500 trillion cubic feet of
natural gas. Its extraction could be an economic boon for the region,
but the extraction process, which involves injection of chemicals and
large amounts of water to fracture the shale and release the gas, also
raises safety and environmental concerns.
The Mountain Watershed Association will host the first training session
Jan. 27 from 6 to 9 p.m. in Room 114 of the Burnett Building at
Washington & Jefferson College, in Washington, Pa. A second session
is scheduled Feb. 24 from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Quality Inn &
Conference Center in Somerset.
Sessions will be held later this spring in Fayette and Westmoreland
counties.
To inquire about scheduling training or for more information about the
Marcellus Citizen Stewardship Project, call Ms. Coptis at 724-455-4200
or visit http://www.mtwatershed.com
Don Hopey: dhopey@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1983.