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Background/Objective: Unconventional natural gas shale drilling (UNGD) development has grown dramatically since 2007, peaking in 2011 thus raising concerns about the health impact on children. Although latency for cancer can be 50 years in adults, some childhood cancers may be sensitive to both in utero and early perinatal exposures. We examined incidence of childhood cancer in fracking and non-fracking counties in Pennsylvania as a possible surveillance tool for environmental exposures from fracking.
Method: Three cancer types (childhood Leukemia, Lymphoma and CNS tumor) known to be associated with environmental risk factors were examined. Average age-adjusted incidence rates were calculated for each cancer type in 4 year intervals from 1985-2013 in PA and were compared among exposed and unexposed counties. Correlation matrix and stepwise multivariate regression were used to examine other concomitant risk factors (smoking rate and sociodemographic characteristics by county) that may affect childhood cancer rates along with a measure of fracking density on county level.
Results: The total number of childhood cancer cases (age<20yrs) with 12 cancer categories (according to ICD-O-3/WHO2008) in PA was 17,947 (male 51%, female 49%) during the year 1985-2013. A dramatic increase in the age-adjusted incidence rates of brain and CNS tumors among exposed counties (66.0%), which represented 1.5 times significantly higher (RR 1.5, 95%CI 1.4,1.6) in exposed counties than unexposed counties during the year 2007 to 2013. UNGD density was not correlated with any cancer adjusted incidence rates on county level in correlation matrix but was correlated with poverty percentage and negative correlated with median income and urban percentage on county level. Adults smoking rate by county remained in three of the four final models that contributed to the incidence rate of overall cancer, Lymphoma and brain/CNS tumor on the county level in PA.
Conclusion: The incidence of childhood brain/CNS tumor was dramatically higher in exposed counties after year 2007 but was not associated with UNGD density. Results also showed exposure to second-hand smoking was a risk factor for childhood cancers (overall, Lymphoma and brain/CNS tumor). UNGD development in PA represents an environmental injustice which can pose public health risks on vulnerable population.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TOC \o "2-4" \h \z \t "Heading 1,1,Appendix,1,Heading,1" HYPERLINK \l "_Toc449375897" preface PAGEREF _Toc449375897 \h xi
HYPERLINK \l "_Toc449375898" 1.0 Introduction PAGEREF _Toc449375898 \h 1
HYPERLINK \l "_Toc449375899" 1.1 Unconventional Natural Gas Drilling PAGEREF _Toc449375899 \h 1
HYPERLINK \l "_Toc449375900" 1.2 UNCONVENTIONAL NATURAL GAS DRILLING AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT PAGEREF _Toc449375900 \h 2
HYPERLINK \l "_Toc449375901" 1.3 Childhood cancer environmental risk factors PAGEREF _Toc449375901 \h 4
HYPERLINK \l "_Toc449375902" 1.4 CANCER DATA AND LATENCY PERIOD PAGEREF _Toc449375902 \h 5
HYPERLINK \l "_Toc449375903" 1.5 PUBLIC HEALTH SIGNIFICANCE PAGEREF _Toc449375903 \h 6
HYPERLINK \l "_Toc449375904" 1.6 objective PAGEREF _Toc449375904 \h 7
HYPERLINK \l "_Toc449375905" 2.0 Methods PAGEREF _Toc449375905 \h 8
HYPERLINK \l "_Toc449375906" 2.1 study population PAGEREF _Toc449375906 \h 8
HYPERLINK \l "_Toc449375907" 2.2 data source PAGEREF _Toc449375907 \h 8
HYPERLINK \l "_Toc449375908" 2.2.1 Pennsylvania Cancer Registry (PCR) PAGEREF _Toc449375908 \h 8
HYPERLINK \l "_Toc449375909" 2.2.2 Oil and Gas Spud Data PAGEREF _Toc449375909 \h 9
HYPERLINK \l "_Toc449375910" 2.2.3 Census Data, Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) and UNGD Density PAGEREF _Toc449375910 \h 9
HYPERLINK \l "_Toc449375911" 2.3 DATA ANALYSes PAGEREF _Toc449375911 \h 10
HYPERLINK \l "_Toc449375912" 2.3.1 Definition of Exposed and Unexposed PAGEREF _Toc449375912 \h 10
HYPERLINK \l "_Toc449375913" 2.3.2 Age-Adjustment PAGEREF _Toc449375913 \h 10
HYPERLINK \l "_Toc449375914" 2.3.3 Spearman Correlation Matrix PAGEREF _Toc449375914 \h 11
HYPERLINK \l "_Toc449375915" 2.3.4 Stepwise Multiple Linear Regression PAGEREF _Toc449375915 \h 12
HYPERLINK \l "_Toc449375916" 2.3.5 Spatial regression PAGEREF _Toc449375916 \h 12
HYPERLINK \l "_Toc449375917" 3.0 Results PAGEREF _Toc449375917 \h 13
HYPERLINK \l "_Toc449375918" 3.1 DESCRiPTIVE Characteristics PAGEREF _Toc449375918 \h 13
HYPERLINK \l "_Toc449375919" 3.2 Age-adjusted incidence rates PAGEREF _Toc449375919 \h 14
HYPERLINK \l "_Toc449375920" 3.3 Correlation Matrix PAGEREF _Toc449375920 \h 16
HYPERLINK \l "_Toc449375921" 3.4 Stepwise multiple linear regression results PAGEREF _Toc449375921 \h 17
HYPERLINK \l "_Toc449375922" 3.5 Spatial linear regression model PAGEREF _Toc449375922 \h 18
HYPERLINK \l "_Toc449375923" 4.0 Discussion PAGEREF _Toc449375923 \h 19
HYPERLINK \l "_Toc449375924" Appendix A : TABLES AND FIGURES PAGEREF _Toc449375924 \h 26
HYPERLINK \l "_Toc449375925" APPENDIX B: TECHNICAL NOTES PAGEREF _Toc449375925 \h 44
HYPERLINK \l "_Toc449375926" bibliography PAGEREF _Toc449375926 \h 46
List of tables
TOC \h \z \c "Table" HYPERLINK \l "_Toc449375927" Table 1. Generic Hydraulic Fracturing Chemical Usage PAGEREF _Toc449375927 \h 26
HYPERLINK \l "_Toc449375928" Table 2. Environmental Risk Factors for Childhood Cancers and the Range of Latency Time for Three Main Cancer Types PAGEREF _Toc449375928 \h 27
HYPERLINK \l "_Toc449375929" Table 3. Childhood Cancer Category and ICD-O-3/WHO2008 codes PAGEREF _Toc449375929 \h 28
HYPERLINK \l "_Toc449375930" Table 4. Demographic characteristics for Pennsylvania Cancer Registry Data: 1985-2013 PAGEREF _Toc449375930 \h 29
HYPERLINK "C:\\Graduation\\sample\\Yisi Wang_MPH_Essay.doc" \l "_Toc449375931" Table 5. Age-adjusted Incidence Rates for All Cancer Types (2007-2013), UNGD Density, Important PA Population Characteristics (Census 2000) and Personal Risk Factor (BRFSS 2000) by Exposed Counties PAGEREF _Toc449375931 \h 30
HYPERLINK \l "_Toc449375932" Table 6. Age-adjusted Incidence Rate for All Cancer Types (2007-2013), UNGD density, Important PA Population Characteristics (Census 2000) and Personal Risk Factor (BRFSS 2000) by Unexposed Counties PAGEREF _Toc449375932 \h 31
HYPERLINK \l "_Toc449375933" Table 7. Average age-adjusted cancer incidence rates of all counties in PA: 1985-1992, 1993-1999, 2000-2006, and 2007-2013 (age <20 years old, Standard population: Census 2000) PAGEREF _Toc449375933 \h 32
HYPERLINK \l "_Toc449375934" Table 8. Correlation Matrix of Age-adjusted Incidence Rate for all cancer types with UNGD density and important PA Population Sociodemographic Characteristics: 2007-2013 (n=67) PAGEREF _Toc449375934 \h 33
HYPERLINK \l "_Toc449375935" Table 9. Correlation between Age-adjusted incidence rates of Leukemia, Lymphoma, CNS tumor, UNGD density and Important PA Population Sociodemographic Characteristics: 2007-2013 (n=67) PAGEREF _Toc449375935 \h 34
HYPERLINK \l "_Toc449375936" Table 10. Summary of Step-wise Multiple Linear Regression Models of the effect of UNGD Density on Age-Adjusted incidence rate of overall childhood cancer, brain/CNS, Leukemia and Lymphoma (2007-2013) by PA counties (n=67) Adjusted for Sociodemographic Characteristics and Personal Risk Factor PAGEREF _Toc449375936 \h 35
List of figures
TOC \h \z \c "Figure" HYPERLINK \l "_Toc449375937" Figure 1. Trend of Unconventional natural gas drilling (UNGD) Development in PA: 1985-2013 PAGEREF _Toc449375937 \h 36
HYPERLINK \l "_Toc449375938" Figure 2. Number of UNGD active wells in each county of PA: 1985-2013 PAGEREF _Toc449375938 \h 37
HYPERLINK \l "_Toc449375939" Figure 3. Number of UNGD active wells by county in PA, 2007-2013 PAGEREF _Toc449375939 \h 38
HYPERLINK \l "_Toc449375940" Figure 4. Age-adjusted incidence rates (per 100,000) of all cancer types (age <20 yrs) for exposed counties and unexposed counties in PA: 1985-1992, 1993-1999, 2000-2006, and 2007-2013 PAGEREF _Toc449375940 \h 39
HYPERLINK \l "_Toc449375941" Figure 5. Age-adjusted incidence rates (per 100,000) of Leukemia (age <20 yrs) for exposed counties and unexposed counties in PA: 1985-1992, 1993-1999, 2000-2006, and 2007-2013 PAGEREF _Toc449375941 \h 40
HYPERLINK \l "_Toc449375942" Figure 6. Age-adjusted incidence rates (per 100,000) of Lymphoma (age <20 yrs) for exposed counties and unexposed counties in PA: 1985-1992, 1993-1999, 2000-2006, and 2007-2013 PAGEREF _Toc449375942 \h 41
HYPERLINK \l "_Toc449375943" Figure 7. Age-adjusted incidence rate (per 100,000) of CNS tumors (age <20 yrs) for exposed counties and unexposed counties in PA: 1985-1992, 1993-1999, 2000-2006, and 2007-2013 PAGEREF _Toc449375943 \h 42
HYPERLINK \l "_Toc449375944" Figure 8. Trend of US National Childhood Cancer Age-Adjusted Incidence Rate (Per 1,000,000) for All Cancer Types, Leukemia, Lymphoma and Brain/CNS tumor: 1999-2012, Standard Population: US Census 2000. Data Source: Child Cancer Statistics PAGEREF _Toc449375944 \h 43
preface
I would like to thank to my family for their continuous support and understanding during my time in Pittsburgh and throughout my graduate education. My deepest gratitude goes to my advisor Dr. Nancy Glynn for her guidance, patience, and reassurance for the entirety of my graduate career. I would also like to extend my appreciation to my essay committee of Dr. Evelyn Talbott and Dr. Jill Kriesky as well as to my internship supervisor Dr. Marshal Ma for their constructive feedback and encouragement throughout this process. All of your support has paved the way for my future as a Public Health professional and I am truly grateful for all of your time and effort towards my success.
Introduction
Unconventional Natural Gas Drilling
According to the US geological survey, there is about 15,164 million barrels of technically recoverable natural gas in contiguous North America, most of which are located in the East (Antrim Shale and Collingwood-Utica Shale in Michigan, Conesauga Shale and Floyd Shale in Alabama, Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania and New York, Utica Shale in New York and Ohio), Southwest and Midwest (Woodford Shale in Oklahoma, Chattanooga and Ohio Shales, New Albany Shale, Illinois Basin) and Gulf Coast.
Among those shale formation regions, Marcellus shale, the largest shale plays which potentially hold more than 400 trillion cubic feet of natural gas (United States Geological Survey, 2012), is a rock formation of mud and organic compositions buried thousands of feet deep under the ground stretching from New York through two-thirds of Pennsylvania, West Virginia and to some parts of OhioADDIN CSL_CITATION { "citationItems" : [ { "id" : "ITEM-1", "itemData" : { "DOI" : "10.1306/eg.09281111008", "ISBN" : "1075-9565", "ISSN" : "10759565", "abstract" : "Pennsylvania is not only the birthplace of the modern petroleum industry but also the focus of the modern Marcellus Shale gas play. For more than 150 yr, Pennsylvania has experienced a rich history of oil and gas exploration and production, witnessed the advent of modern petroleum regulations, and now sits deep in the heart of the largest domestic shale gas play the United States has ever seen. Although a known source rock for decades, the Marcellus Shale was not considered a viable gas reservoir until Range Resources Corporation (Range) discovered the play with its completion of the Renz No. 1 well in Washington County in October 2004. Using horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing techniques used by operators working the Barnett Shale gas play, Range has gone on to complete hundreds of horizontal shale gas wells in Washington County alone. Other operators have followed suit in counties from one corner of the state to the other, and as of June 2011, the Commonwealth has issued nearly 6500 Marcellus Shale gas well permits. Based on publicly reported well completion and production data, an average Marcellus Shale gas well requires 2.9 million gal of water during the hydraulic fracturing process and produces 1.3 mmcf gas/day. Furthermore, the U.S. Energy Information Administration has estimated that as of mid-2011, daily Marcellus Shale gas production in Pennsylvania exceeds 2.8 bcf. Because of the level of drilling activity and production associated with the Marcellus play, Pennsylvania has become the nexus of shale gas production and water management issues. 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The modern Marcellus shale play in Pennsylvania was not considered as a feasible gas and oil reservoir until 2004 when Range Corporation finished the first well in Washington County. Shortly after that, hundreds of similar corporations followed its foot step and built thousands of wells in the next decade. As of 2011, the Commonwealth has issued approximately 6,000 unconventional natural gas/oil drilling permits in PennsylvaniaADDIN CSL_CITATION { "citationItems" : [ { "id" : "ITEM-1", "itemData" : { "DOI" : "10.1306/eg.09281111008", "ISBN" : "1075-9565", "ISSN" : "10759565", "abstract" : "Pennsylvania is not only the birthplace of the modern petroleum industry but also the focus of the modern Marcellus Shale gas play. For more than 150 yr, Pennsylvania has experienced a rich history of oil and gas exploration and production, witnessed the advent of modern petroleum regulations, and now sits deep in the heart of the largest domestic shale gas play the United States has ever seen. Although a known source rock for decades, the Marcellus Shale was not considered a viable gas reservoir until Range Resources Corporation (Range) discovered the play with its completion of the Renz No. 1 well in Washington County in October 2004. Using horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing techniques used by operators working the Barnett Shale gas play, Range has gone on to complete hundreds of horizontal shale gas wells in Washington County alone. Other operators have followed suit in counties from one corner of the state to the other, and as of June 2011, the Commonwealth has issued nearly 6500 Marcellus Shale gas well permits. Based on publicly reported well completion and production data, an average Marcellus Shale gas well requires 2.9 million gal of water during the hydraulic fracturing process and produces 1.3 mmcf gas/day. Furthermore, the U.S. Energy Information Administration has estimated that as of mid-2011, daily Marcellus Shale gas production in Pennsylvania exceeds 2.8 bcf. Because of the level of drilling activity and production associated with the Marcellus play, Pennsylvania has become the nexus of shale gas production and water management issues. 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Hydraulic fracturing (HF) developed since 1940s is an innovative technique using water pressure to create fractures in the shale formations to increase or stimulate natural gas productionADDIN CSL_CITATION { "citationItems" : [ { "id" : "ITEM-1", "itemData" : { "DOI" : "10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.02.030", "ISSN" : "00489697", "author" : [ { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Meng", "given" : "Qingmin", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" } ], "container-title" : "Science of The Total Environment", "id" : "ITEM-1", "issued" : { "date-parts" : [ [ "2015" ] ] }, "page" : "198-206", "publisher" : "Elsevier B.V.", "title" : "Spatial analysis of environment and population at risk of natural gas fracking in the state of Pennsylvania, USA", "type" : "article-journal", "volume" : "515-516" }, "uris" : [ "http://www.mendeley.com/documents/?uuid=629f9059-fed4-4b04-9cff-17b0d28e3ef7" ] } ], "mendeley" : { "formattedCitation" : "2", "plainTextFormattedCitation" : "2", "previouslyFormattedCitation" : "2" }, "properties" : { "noteIndex" : 0 }, "schema" : "https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json" }2. It was not until the 2000s that horizontal drilling (coupled with directional drilling) became both economical and technically feasible in the oil and gas industry as a standard practiceADDIN CSL_CITATION { "citationItems" : [ { "id" : "ITEM-1", "itemData" : { "URL" : "http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/05/08/3656456/fracking-in-poor-pennsylvania/", "author" : [ { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Atkin", "given" : "Emily", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" } ], "container-title" : "ClimateProgress", "id" : "ITEM-1", "issued" : { "date-parts" : [ [ "2015" ] ] }, "title" : "In Pennsylvania, Fracking Is Most Likely To Occur In Poor Communities", "type" : "webpage" }, "uris" : [ "http://www.mendeley.com/documents/?uuid=b691b50b-805d-4849-9fde-605df7d3b0fe" ] } ], "mendeley" : { "formattedCitation" : "3", "plainTextFormattedCitation" : "3", "previouslyFormattedCitation" : "3" }, "properties" : { "noteIndex" : 0 }, "schema" : "https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json" }3. The unconventional natural gas drilling (UNGD) activities are characterized by injection of a mass volume of pressurized water mixed with sand and types of undisclosed toxic chemical agents to open up the rock formation and let the oil or gas flow more quickly compared to conventional extraction methodsADDIN CSL_CITATION { "citationItems" : [ { "id" : "ITEM-1", "itemData" : { "DOI" : "10.1306/eg.09281111008", "ISBN" : "1075-9565", "ISSN" : "10759565", "abstract" : "Pennsylvania is not only the birthplace of the modern petroleum industry but also the focus of the modern Marcellus Shale gas play. For more than 150 yr, Pennsylvania has experienced a rich history of oil and gas exploration and production, witnessed the advent of modern petroleum regulations, and now sits deep in the heart of the largest domestic shale gas play the United States has ever seen. Although a known source rock for decades, the Marcellus Shale was not considered a viable gas reservoir until Range Resources Corporation (Range) discovered the play with its completion of the Renz No. 1 well in Washington County in October 2004. Using horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing techniques used by operators working the Barnett Shale gas play, Range has gone on to complete hundreds of horizontal shale gas wells in Washington County alone. Other operators have followed suit in counties from one corner of the state to the other, and as of June 2011, the Commonwealth has issued nearly 6500 Marcellus Shale gas well permits. Based on publicly reported well completion and production data, an average Marcellus Shale gas well requires 2.9 million gal of water during the hydraulic fracturing process and produces 1.3 mmcf gas/day. Furthermore, the U.S. Energy Information Administration has estimated that as of mid-2011, daily Marcellus Shale gas production in Pennsylvania exceeds 2.8 bcf. Because of the level of drilling activity and production associated with the Marcellus play, Pennsylvania has become the nexus of shale gas production and water management issues. 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UNCONVENTIONAL NATURAL GAS DRILLING AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
Despite the fact that hydraulic fracturing has resulted in significant economic growth and job opportunities increase in the shale regions, the environmental issues have risen including the water and soil contaminants from chemicals and radionuclides, noise and air pollution, accidents and traffics from the gas handlingADDIN CSL_CITATION { "citationItems" : [ { "id" : "ITEM-1", "itemData" : { "DOI" : "10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.02.030", "ISSN" : "18791026", "PMID" : "25727517", "abstract" : "Hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking, has been increasing exponentially across the United States, which holds the largest known shale gas reserves in the world. Studies have found that the high-volume horizontal hydraulic fracturing process (HVHFP) threatens water resources, harms air quality, changes landscapes, and damages ecosystems. However, there is minimal research focusing on the spatial study of environmental and human risks of HVHFP, which is necessary for state and federal governments to administer, regulate, and assess fracking. Integrating GIS and spatial kernel functions, we study the presently operating fracking wells across the state of Pennsylvania (PA), which is the main part of the current hottest Marcellus Shale in US. We geographically process the location data of hydraulic fracturing wells, 2010 census block data, urbanized region data, railway data, local road data, open water data, river data, and wetland data for the state of PA. From this we develop a distance based risk assessment in order to understand the environmental and urban risks. We generate the surface data of fracking well intensity and population intensity by integrating spatial dependence, semivariogram modeling, and a quadratic kernel function. The surface data of population risk generated by the division of fracking well intensity and population intensity provide a novel insight into the local and regional regulation of hydraulic fracturing activities in terms of environmental and health related risks due to the proximity of fracking wells.", "author" : [ { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Meng", "given" : "Qingmin", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" } ], "container-title" : "Science of the Total Environment", "id" : "ITEM-1", "issued" : { "date-parts" : [ [ "2015" ] ] }, "page" : "198-206", "publisher" : "Elsevier B.V.", "title" : "Spatial analysis of environment and population at risk of natural gas fracking in the state of Pennsylvania, USA", "type" : "article-journal", "volume" : "515-516" }, "uris" : [ "http://www.mendeley.com/documents/?uuid=47d7e536-5369-46d5-966f-d9283a728fc2" ] } ], "mendeley" : { "formattedCitation" : "4", "plainTextFormattedCitation" : "4", "previouslyFormattedCitation" : "4" }, "properties" : { "noteIndex" : 0 }, "schema" : "https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json" }4. Many chemicals are used during the operation process for different purposes (Table 1). Chemicals are added to increase the weight of the fluid, to facilitate the boring and drilling process and to shorten the time of gas escapingADDIN CSL_CITATION { "citationItems" : [ { "id" : "ITEM-1", "itemData" : { "DOI" : "10.1080/10807039.2011.605662", "ISSN" : "1080-7039", "author" : [ { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Colburn", "given" : "Theo", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" }, { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Kwiatkowski", "given" : "Carol", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" }, { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Shultz", "given" : "Kim", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" }, { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Bachran", "given" : "Mary", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" } ], "container-title" : "Human and Ecological Risk Assessment", "id" : "ITEM-1", "issued" : { "date-parts" : [ [ "2011" ] ] }, "page" : "1039-1056", "title" : "Natural Gas Operations from a Public Health Perspective", "type" : "article", "volume" : "17" }, "uris" : [ "http://www.mendeley.com/documents/?uuid=004e531c-6a77-46ed-947e-6623c9919ecf" ] } ], "mendeley" : { "formattedCitation" : "5", "plainTextFormattedCitation" : "5", "previouslyFormattedCitation" : "5" }, "properties" : { "noteIndex" : 0 }, "schema" : "https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json" }5. Biocides are one of the essential chemical agents also added into the chemical mixed fluid to inhibit the bacteria growth in the hydraulic fluid. Many of these chemicals are either carcinogenic or related to major health problems affecting multiple organs: kidney, skins, lung, nervous system and brainADDIN CSL_CITATION { "citationItems" : [ { "id" : "ITEM-1", "itemData" : { "DOI" : "10.1021/es903811p", "author" : [ { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Kargbo", "given" : "D M", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" }, { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Wilhelm", "given" : "R G", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" }, { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Campbell", "given" : "D J", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" } ], "container-title" : "Environmental Science and Technology Feature", "id" : "ITEM-1", "issue" : "15", "issued" : { "date-parts" : [ [ "2010" ] ] }, "page" : "5679-5684", "title" : "Natural gas plays in the Marcellus Shale : Challenges and potential solutions", "type" : "article-journal", "volume" : "44" }, "uris" : [ "http://www.mendeley.com/documents/?uuid=60e6eeab-8224-43af-8fd9-64fecbf340ac" ] } ], "mendeley" : { "formattedCitation" : "6", "plainTextFormattedCitation" : "6", "previouslyFormattedCitation" : "6" }, "properties" : { "noteIndex" : 0 }, "schema" : "https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json" }6. Each fracking well in the Marcellus shale region in PA typically needs huge amounts (approximately 4.5 million gallon) of water on average according to the US geological surveyADDIN CSL_CITATION { "citationItems" : [ { "id" : "ITEM-1", "itemData" : { "ISBN" : "2012-3028", "abstract" : "Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated means of 565 billion barrels of conventional oil and 5,606 trillion cubic feet of undiscovered conventional natural gas in 171 priority geologic provinces of the world, exclusive of the United States.", "author" : [ { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "United States Geological Survey", "given" : "", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" } ], "container-title" : "USGS Fact Sheet", "id" : "ITEM-1", "issue" : "March", "issued" : { "date-parts" : [ [ "2012" ] ] }, "page" : "6", "title" : "An Estimate of Undiscovered Conventional Oil and Gas Resources", "type" : "article-journal", "volume" : "2012\u20133042" }, "uris" : [ "http://www.mendeley.com/documents/?uuid=e00683cc-46aa-4fda-9dfe-b3429fc7ddc6" ] } ], "mendeley" : { "formattedCitation" : "7", "plainTextFormattedCitation" : "7", "previouslyFormattedCitation" : "7" }, "properties" : { "noteIndex" : 0 }, "schema" : "https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json" }7. During the fracturing process, gas is extracted by forcing chemical mixed water at a very high pressure into the ground, which leads to water contamination when the chemical-water injections returns to the ground surfaceADDIN CSL_CITATION { "citationItems" : [ { "id" : "ITEM-1", "itemData" : { "author" : [ { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Gas", "given" : "Natural", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" }, { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "From", "given" : "Extraction", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" }, { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Marcellus", "given" : "T H E", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" }, { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Leasing", "given" : "Marcellus Shale", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" } ], "id" : "ITEM-1", "issued" : { "date-parts" : [ [ "1859" ] ] }, "title" : "Marcellus Shale Development", "type" : "article-journal" }, "uris" : [ "http://www.mendeley.com/documents/?uuid=baf13333-af8a-4ed6-8160-fb47b0e2285e" ] } ], "mendeley" : { "formattedCitation" : "8", "plainTextFormattedCitation" : "8", "previouslyFormattedCitation" : "8" }, "properties" : { "noteIndex" : 0 }, "schema" : "https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json" }8. The returning mixed fluid not only contains chemicals but also radioactive materialsADDIN CSL_CITATION { "citationItems" : [ { "id" : "ITEM-1", "itemData" : { "abstract" : "ABSTRACT Radium activity data for waters co-produced with oil and gas in New York and Pennsylvania have been compiled from publicly available sources and are presented together with new data for six wells, including one time series. When available, total dissolved solids (TDS), and gross alpha and gross beta particle activities also were compiled. Data from the 1990s and earlier are from sandstone and limestone oil/gas reservoirs of Cambrian-Mississippian age; however, the recent data are almost exclusively from the Middle Devonian Marcellus Shale. The Marcellus Shale represents a vast resource of natural gas the size and significance of which have only recently been recognized. Exploitation of the Marcellus involves hydraulic fracturing of the shale to release tightly held gas. Analyses of the water produced with the gas commonly show elevated levels of salinity and radium. Similarities and differences in radium data from reservoirs of different ages and lithologies are discussed. The range of radium activities for samples from the Marcellus Shale (less than detection to 18,000 picocuries per liter (pCi/L)) overlaps the range for non-Marcellus reservoirs (less than detection to 6,700 pCi/L), and the median values are 2,460 pCi/L and 734 pCi/L, respectively. A positive correlation between the logs of TDS and radium activity can be demonstrated for the entire dataset, and controlling for this TDS dependence, Marcellus shale produced water samples contain statistically more radium than non-Marcellus samples. The radium isotopic ratio, Ra-228/Ra-226, in samples from the Marcellus Shale is generally less than 0.3, distinctly lower than the median values from other reservoirs. This ratio may serve as an indicator of the provenance or reservoir source of radium in samples of uncertain origin.", "author" : [ { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Rowan", "given" : "E.L.", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" }, { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Engle", "given" : "M.a.", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" }, { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Kirby", "given" : "C.S.", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" }, { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Kraemer", "given" : "T.F.", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" } ], "container-title" : "USGS Scientific Investigations Report", "id" : "ITEM-1", "issued" : { "date-parts" : [ [ "2011" ] ] }, "page" : "38 pp.", "title" : "Radium Content of Oil- and Gas-Field Produced Waters in the Northern Appalachian Basin (USA): Summary and Discussion of Data", "type" : "article-journal" }, "uris" : [ "http://www.mendeley.com/documents/?uuid=186f3ebc-37d4-48b3-97a1-a710eb81a19d" ] } ], "mendeley" : { "formattedCitation" : "9", "plainTextFormattedCitation" : "9", "previouslyFormattedCitation" : "9" }, "properties" : { "noteIndex" : 0 }, "schema" : "https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json" }9. Although the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) concluded that most of HF activity from 2000 to 2013 did not occur in the proximity to the public water sourceADDIN CSL_CITATION { "citationItems" : [ { "id" : "ITEM-1", "itemData" : { "author" : [ { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "USEPA", "given" : "", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" } ], "id" : "ITEM-1", "issue" : "June", "issued" : { "date-parts" : [ [ "2015" ] ] }, "page" : "67", "title" : "Assessment of the Potential Impacts of Hydraulic Fracturing for Oil and Gas on Drinking Water Resources (External Review Draft)", "type" : "article-journal" }, "uris" : [ "http://www.mendeley.com/documents/?uuid=5a665346-b464-43d9-a5f0-11ee9b782d20" ] } ], "mendeley" : { "formattedCitation" : "10", "plainTextFormattedCitation" : "10", "previouslyFormattedCitation" : "10" }, "properties" : { "noteIndex" : 0 }, "schema" : "https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json" }10, methane, BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethyl benzene, xylenes) and arsenic as well as radioactive materials such as uranium, radium, and radon that can cause cancer and serious ill have been found in the public and private wells near the Marcellus shaleADDIN CSL_CITATION { "citationItems" : [ { "id" : "ITEM-1", "itemData" : { "DOI" : "10.1111/j.1539-6924.2011.01757.x", "ISBN" : "1539-6924", "ISSN" : "02724332", "PMID" : "22211399", "abstract" : "In recent years, shale gas formations have become economically viable through the use of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing. These techniques carry potential environmental risk due to their high water use and substantial risk for water pollution. Using probability bounds analysis, we assessed the likelihood of water contamination from natural gas extraction in the Marcellus Shale. Probability bounds analysis is well suited when data are sparse and parameters highly uncertain. The study model identified five pathways of water contamination: transportation spills, well casing leaks, leaks through fractured rock, drilling site discharge, and wastewater disposal. Probability boxes were generated for each pathway. The potential contamination risk and epistemic uncertainty associated with hydraulic fracturing wastewater disposal was several orders of magnitude larger than the other pathways. Even in a best-case scenario, it was very likely that an individual well would release at least 200 m3 of contaminated fluids. Because the total number of wells in the Marcellus Shale region could range into the tens of thousands, this substantial potential risk suggested that additional steps be taken to reduce the potential for contaminated fluid leaks. To reduce the considerable epistemic uncertainty, more data should be collected on the ability of industrial and municipal wastewater treatment facilities to remove contaminants from used hydraulic fracturing fluid.", "author" : [ { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Rozell", "given" : "Daniel J.", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" }, { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Reaven", "given" : "Sheldon J.", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" } ], "container-title" : "Risk Analysis", "id" : "ITEM-1", "issue" : "8", "issued" : { "date-parts" : [ [ "2012" ] ] }, "page" : "1382-1393", "title" : "Water Pollution Risk Associated with Natural Gas Extraction from the Marcellus Shale", "type" : "article-journal", "volume" : "32" }, "uris" : [ "http://www.mendeley.com/documents/?uuid=a87a73bd-4714-43ae-b1d0-367b0c96a7fe" ] } ], "mendeley" : { "formattedCitation" : "11", "plainTextFormattedCitation" : "11", "previouslyFormattedCitation" : "11" }, "properties" : { "noteIndex" : 0 }, "schema" : "https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json" }11. Some of the well operators reuse the chemical-water for other fracturing sites, yet most of them do not reuse it due to the cost of filtrationADDIN CSL_CITATION { "citationItems" : [ { "id" : "ITEM-1", "itemData" : { "author" : [ { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "USEPA", "given" : "", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" } ], "id" : "ITEM-1", "issue" : "June", "issued" : { "date-parts" : [ [ "2015" ] ] }, "page" : "67", "title" : "Assessment of the Potential Impacts of Hydraulic Fracturing for Oil and Gas on Drinking Water Resources (External Review Draft)", "type" : "article-journal" }, "uris" : [ "http://www.mendeley.com/documents/?uuid=5a665346-b464-43d9-a5f0-11ee9b782d20" ] } ], "mendeley" : { "formattedCitation" : "10", "plainTextFormattedCitation" : "10", "previouslyFormattedCitation" : "10" }, "properties" : { "noteIndex" : 0 }, "schema" : "https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json" }10.
Air pollution is another issue in addition to water contamination. At each stage of the fracking, mass of volatile compounds (VOCs), BETX, hydrocarbons, methane ( 2.937 tons/day per wellADDIN CSL_CITATION { "citationItems" : [ { "id" : "ITEM-1", "itemData" : { "DOI" : "10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.02.030", "ISSN" : "18791026", "PMID" : "25727517", "abstract" : "Hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking, has been increasing exponentially across the United States, which holds the largest known shale gas reserves in the world. Studies have found that the high-volume horizontal hydraulic fracturing process (HVHFP) threatens water resources, harms air quality, changes landscapes, and damages ecosystems. However, there is minimal research focusing on the spatial study of environmental and human risks of HVHFP, which is necessary for state and federal governments to administer, regulate, and assess fracking. Integrating GIS and spatial kernel functions, we study the presently operating fracking wells across the state of Pennsylvania (PA), which is the main part of the current hottest Marcellus Shale in US. We geographically process the location data of hydraulic fracturing wells, 2010 census block data, urbanized region data, railway data, local road data, open water data, river data, and wetland data for the state of PA. From this we develop a distance based risk assessment in order to understand the environmental and urban risks. We generate the surface data of fracking well intensity and population intensity by integrating spatial dependence, semivariogram modeling, and a quadratic kernel function. The surface data of population risk generated by the division of fracking well intensity and population intensity provide a novel insight into the local and regional regulation of hydraulic fracturing activities in terms of environmental and health related risks due to the proximity of fracking wells.", "author" : [ { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Meng", "given" : "Qingmin", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" } ], "container-title" : "Science of the Total Environment", "id" : "ITEM-1", "issued" : { "date-parts" : [ [ "2015" ] ] }, "page" : "198-206", "publisher" : "Elsevier B.V.", "title" : "Spatial analysis of environment and population at risk of natural gas fracking in the state of Pennsylvania, USA", "type" : "article-journal", "volume" : "515-516" }, "uris" : [ "http://www.mendeley.com/documents/?uuid=47d7e536-5369-46d5-966f-d9283a728fc2" ] } ], "mendeley" : { "formattedCitation" : "4", "plainTextFormattedCitation" : "4", "previouslyFormattedCitation" : "4" }, "properties" : { "noteIndex" : 0 }, "schema" : "https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json" }4) will go into the atmosphere and mix with nitrogen oxides (NOx) through leaking of a wellADDIN CSL_CITATION { "citationItems" : [ { "id" : "ITEM-1", "itemData" : { "DOI" : "10.1080/10807039.2011.605662", "ISSN" : "1080-7039", "author" : [ { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Colburn", "given" : "Theo", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" }, { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Kwiatkowski", "given" : "Carol", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" }, { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Shultz", "given" : "Kim", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" }, { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Bachran", "given" : "Mary", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" } ], "container-title" : "Human and Ecological Risk Assessment", "id" : "ITEM-1", "issued" : { "date-parts" : [ [ "2011" ] ] }, "page" : "1039-1056", "title" : "Natural Gas Operations from a Public Health Perspective", "type" : "article", "volume" : "17" }, "uris" : [ "http://www.mendeley.com/documents/?uuid=004e531c-6a77-46ed-947e-6623c9919ecf" ] } ], "mendeley" : { "formattedCitation" : "5", "plainTextFormattedCitation" : "5", "previouslyFormattedCitation" : "5" }, "properties" : { "noteIndex" : 0 }, "schema" : "https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json" }5. In Texas, Wyoming and Colorado, researchers have found that the release of VOCs and ground-level ozone is the major source of air pollution in the fracking well areaADDIN CSL_CITATION { "citationItems" : [ { "id" : "ITEM-1", "itemData" : { "DOI" : "10.1021/es903811p", "author" : [ { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Kargbo", "given" : "D M", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" }, { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Wilhelm", "given" : "R G", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" }, { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Campbell", "given" : "D J", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" } ], "container-title" : "Environmental Science and Technology Feature", "id" : "ITEM-1", "issue" : "15", "issued" : { "date-parts" : [ [ "2010" ] ] }, "page" : "5679-5684", "title" : "Natural gas plays in the Marcellus Shale : Challenges and potential solutions", "type" : "article-journal", "volume" : "44" }, "uris" : [ "http://www.mendeley.com/documents/?uuid=60e6eeab-8224-43af-8fd9-64fecbf340ac" ] } ], "mendeley" : { "formattedCitation" : "6", "plainTextFormattedCitation" : " 6 " , " p r e v i o u s l y F o r m a t t e d C i t a t i o n " : " <