Hello everyone! It’s time again for the weekly update on all that is research and fracking!  Last week, Claire and I had been brainstorming ideas and formulating our plan of attack. We researched the basics and were ready to dive into it. We began by speaking with one of our university’s librarians on Thursday. With her help, we found informative books throughout our library and we ended up leaving with three books regarding the history of fracking and the effects of natural gas drilling on communities, as well as, a novel written by one of our English professors! Since I went back home for the extended weekend, I decided to bring two of the books home with me so I could begin more in-depth research.

The first book I flipped through was called Hydraulic Fracturing and Natural Gas Drilling: Questions and Concerns by Aarick Schultz.  This book dives into the history of fracking, starting from the 1940’s, and discusses how natural gas drilling has increased significantly as oil and gas reservoirs decline. This book also discusses different regulations and laws passed regarding fracking. One thing that caught my attention was that Pennsylvania falls under the EPA Underground Injection Control Regulatory Program. This program identified six different types of wells for fracking and laid out strict requirements that each type of well must meet to protect underground sources of drinking water. These requirements refer to site characterization, site monitoring, post-injection site care, well construction, and financial responsibility. This newly acquired knowledge led me to looking up the different classifications of wells in our area, Tioga County. I happened to stumble upon a state impact website during my search. This website showed a map of our county, stating that we have 661 wells and 507 violations in terms of the regulations set by the United States. This website also included the fines the companies received as well as a comparison of each county in Pennsylvania from 2009 to the present. Turns out, Tioga County has the fourth highest number of violations out of all of the counties in Pennsylvania with wells. From this, Claire and I hope to learn how these violations can be prevented and how they were fixed over the years.

The second book I chose to bring home was Pedaling the Sacrifice Zone by Jimmy Guignard, who is a professor at our university. This novel is Dr. Guignard’s first-hand account of the impacts of fracking in our community. The novel begins in April, 2009, which was during the Marcellus Shale natural gas boom. Tioga county was one of the busiest counties during this time as trucks lined Mansfield’s streets, well plates were placed in the surrounding area, and drill rigs sprouted in the fields. As I read more of this novel, I learned of the physical changes to the landscape and community. Dr. Guignard also mentioned the company behind the drilling, Royal Dutch Shell. I hope to learn more about this company as we continue our research.

During the week, Claire and I hope to reach out to Dr. Guignard, after we finish reading the book, to speak with him about the novel and his experiences further. To move forward with this project, we hope to read the other three books and set a basis for our website. We also plan to organize the information we have collected and move forward with community interviews. We definitely have our work cut out for us, but it will be a great learning experience!