Some Background on Marcellus Shale

Marcellus Shale is an enormous natural gas bearing layer of shale rock approximately 1 mile beneath the earth’s surface, extending from New York’s Southern Tier, through the western half of Pennsylvania and into Ohio and West Virginia. It is estimated to be the second largest natural gas bearing shale formation in the world. 

Small-scale drilling in Marcellus Shale has occurred for decades with rigs boring vertical wells into the shale bed that intersect with horizontal fractures in the formation where the gas is contained. In the early 2000s, however, advances in drilling technology enabled rigs to drill deep into the shale layer and then to drill horizontally along fracture lines. The gas is recovered using a technique called hydraulic fracturing (or "fracking") in which large quantities of water, sand and chemicals are forced into the well, causing the shale layers to break apart along fracture lines, releasing the gas contained within the rock. 

Marcellus development will almost certainly have significant economic impacts for Pennsylvania.  In Pennsylvania in 2008 alone, 14,000 new jobs were created through Marcellus development with another 15,000 new jobs created in secondary economic sectors associated with the new development and influx of workers. By 2020 Marcellus-related development could contribute $13.5 billion to the state’s economy. Most of the development is taking place in rural and poorer parts of the state, and many landowners have already found themselves suddenly wealthy as they sell drilling leases to gas companies for many thousands of dollars per acre in addition to percentage fees for gas recovered from the wells.
 

Controversy Surrounding Marcellus Shale Natural Gas Development

Despite the potential economic benefits associated with natural gas development,  Marcellus development has been surrounded by controversy on several fronts. 

First, critics point to what they see as significant environmental risks associated with hydraulic fracturing, a procedure that can result in groundwater and surface contamination.  Much of the water used in hydraulic fracturing  must be processed as wastewater in sewage treatment plants that are not designed to treat fracking fluid chemicals or the naturally occurring radioactivity originating from rock layers deep beneath the surface.  Critics also note that large drilling rigs, frackwater holding ponds, and compression stations contribute to noise and air pollution, and that gas pipelines in heavily developed areas will fragment farmland and forested areas. Much of the drilling activity has also occurred in Pennsylvania's state forest land, state game lands and the Allegheny National Forest.

Second, rapid development has already placed significant stresses on many rural communities. Secondary roads not build for significant heavy truck traffic have experienced considerable wear and tear, and truck traffic has, in some instances, also created safety concerns for schools and local residents.  Movement of new workers into heavily developing areas has also tightened housing markets, increasing rental prices and decreasing housing availability. 

Third, many observers in Pennsylvania have noted that because there is no severance tax on natural gas production in Pennsylvania, only a small proportion of revenues from natural gas development funnel back to local schools, municipalities and public services which are ill-equipped to handle increases in traffic and new populations.

Center of Rural Education and Communities Engages in Marcellus Research

Marcellus development will fundamentally change the social, economic and environmental conditions across much of rural Pennsylvania, an area that in recent decades has lagged economically and provided few opportunities for young people entering the labor force. To date, however, no assessment that we are aware of has investigated how schools are affected by or are responding to these recent changes. The center on Rural Education and Communities through funding from Penn State's Marcellus Center for Outreach and Research (MCOR) and the Social Science Research Institute, and in collaboration with Penn College, is currently conducting a statewide survey of educational leaders from Career and Technology Centers and secordary schools across Pennsylvania's Marcellus region. This pilot study investigates the extent to which schools and Career and Technology Centers have responded in terms of workforce preparation, what local stakeholders see as the key opportunities and challenges Marcellus development poses for rural communities, and what this implies for the ways in which Pennsylvania’s rural schools may best serve their youth and communities. Watch this space for updates concerning this work.

For More Information on Marcellus Shale and Natural Gas Development in the Marcellus Region...

Penn State's Marcellus Center for Outreach and Research

Marcellus Shale Education and Training Center

Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection Marcellus Shale Page

Fractracker

The Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center's Severance Tax Resource Page

Cornell University Economic Development and Planning Marcellus Shale Gas Drilling Working Papers

Center for Healthy Environments and Communities

USGS Research Brief on Marcellus Shale and Natural Gas

Natural Gas Operations from a Public Health Perspective

The New York Times has published a special series of several articles in February and March, 2011 on Marcellus Shale Development, focusing in large part on environmental and community risks.

See Part 1 here

See Part 2 here

See Part 3 here