Kristen Baumlier

I’ll admit –when I hear the word fracking  – I get confused about what it is exactly, ad what its real impact is on the environment.  Last night I attended  The Promise and Peril of Energy from Shale Formations, at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, and leaned about the current state of fracking in PA, and what this can mean for Ohio and other states.

The keynote speaker was Nels Johnson from the international organization, the Nature Conservancy, who spoke about energy use and the impact on land use, habitat, and water n Pennsylvania – and what can be learned from this.  Johnson led a research project to explore the land use and habitat impacts of fracking, natural gas, wind and other energy sources.

Ok – what is fracking exactly, and why is it increasingly being discussed and debated? Fracking is a slang term for “hydraulic fracturing” which refers to the procedure of creating fractures in rocks and rock formations by injecting fluid into cracks to force them further open. The larger fissures allow more oil and gas to flow out of the formation and into the well, where it can be extracted. This method of extraction has existed since the late 1940’s.

Directional drilling – when a drilling is done in an angle that is not vertical – has been done since the 1930s.  In 2003, these two methods were combined – using water and horizontal drilling – and has resulted in fracking – where many oil and gas wells attaining a state of economic viability, due to the level of extraction that can be reached.

Johnson began his talk by stating that, “Major shifts in energy production have started and will likely accelerate even without national energy or climate legislation.” His introduction went on to describe how the Appalachian Basin is an epicenter for several forms of energy development including the Marcellus Shale natural gas, wind, wood biomass, etc.

“All energy has consequences,” Johnson said, “and Pennsylvania is only in its early stages of impact.”  He went on to talk about how the Marcellus shale natural gas formation, which is in PA and OH,  is the 2^nd largest reserve in the world, which was just recently discovered.  The Utica formation – which is a deeper formation under the Marcellus shale formation – is thought to be even bigger than Marcellus – and includes other states such as NY,NJ, WV, and some other states.

“The impact of the extraction of gas from this affects water withdrawal, water quality, air quality, land-use and the natural habitat,” Johnson explained.  Johnson and his team of a dozen researchers did a study that used informed scenarios (not predictions he emphasized) of energy development that would occur in 20 years, based on continuing current trends and patterns of energy development.

His team projected over 60-100 million acres will get shifted to energy development of shale natural gas, wind, wood biomass, and other forms in the U.S. (which is twice the size of the state of PA.)

Johnson’s organization is especially interested in the environmental impact of energy extraction.  In his presentation, Johnson talked about how the spatial impact of an energy source affects not just the land used for the energy use- but also the area around the site.  Approximately 3 acres around the edge of a site are changed due to changes in humidity, light, and other factors that affect the forests and natural regions.  Today there are 250 horizontal fracking wells in PA – and his team determined that in 20 years 60,000 new wells would be drilled by 2030.

Johnson talked about the importance of determining indicator species – wildlife that can are sensitive to water quality, temperature, etc. This is helpful in helping determining the affect of energy development on the environment.  Similar to a canary in a coalmine idea – it is important to find a wildlife species to help measure the health and welfare of the natural environment.   In PA, the brook trout is a good species indicator to see what the impact is on natural wildlife.

The team project that there will be more land clearing for pipelines.  Analysis forecasts that 10,000 to 20,000 miles of new pipeline will be built in PA in the next 20 years, clearing 60,000-150,000 acres of natural habitat.  This will affect both agriculture and natural areas.

“Gas development will happen and it is going to be big,” Johnson stated.  The last part of his presentation stressed the importance of finding ways to mitigate the impacts of gas development and energy extraction.

He suggested that this can be done by looking at states like PA, which was one of the first states to be impacted by fracking and other new forms of energy extraction.  He said, “The good, bad, and the ugly can be learned by looking at PA.”  He stressed the importance of mapping areas that are of high conservation value- and that these should be linked to high scrutiny with permits and land use.

Johnson concluded by talking about how energy extraction affects areas not just for a few years, but for a long time.  He stressed the importance of planning and establishing baselines before the drilling and extraction is underway.  He stated that education about this is important, especially to to help landowners make informed choices.  If we know what we want – we can work to try to mitigate the impacts of energy production.

I had to leave before the rest of the panel talked about Ohio  – but I left with a better understanding of fracking, and the future of energy use.

The Pennsylvania Energy Impacts Assessment that Johnson presented can be viewed on the Nature Conservancy website.

Links:

Pennsylvania Energy Report – by Johnson and his Team

Map of the Existing and Projected Marcellus Shale Natural Gas Wells in PA

Interactive Map of the PA Energy Impacts Asessment

Nature Conservancy Website – http://www.nature.org/

The promise and peril of Ohio and PA’s fracking for gas Event – GreenCityBlueLake