About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

22 Duke Envtl. L. & Pol'y F. 303 (2011-2012)
Can Volunteers Pick up the Slack? Efforts to Remedy Knowledge Gaps about the Watershed Impacts of Marcellus Shale Gas Development

handle is hein.journals/delp22 and id is 307 raw text is: CAN VOLUNTEERS PICK UP THE SLACK? EFFORTS TO REMEDY KNOWLEDGE GAPS ABOUT THE WATERSHED IMPACTS OF MARCELLUS SHALE GAS DEVELOPMENT ABBY J. KINCHY & SIMONA L. PERRYt INTRODUCTION Since 2008, a natural gas boom has been underway in Pennsylvania and West Virginia, as oil and gas companies are pursuing a source of natural gas that was previously considered too difficult to access-the Marcellus Shale.' Activities associated with development of the Marcellus Shale, including the handling of large quantities of hazardous waste water, and land use changes leading to soil erosion and runoff, are likely to pose significant environmental risks and cause contamination of streams, ponds, and other surface water if not managed properly. In response to the relative lack of regulatory or professional monitoring of watershed degradation, private citizens are increasingly taking the task of environmental monitoring into their own hands, forming volunteer watershed monitoring groups and using an array of tests to detect water pollution. Public agencies, such as the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, and university scientists, such as researchers at Pennsylvania State University, are encouraging these activities as a supplement to monitoring by regulatory scientists and as a source of data for environmental research. Many water t Abby Kinchy is a sociologist whose research deals with questions about science, technology, agriculture, and the environment. She has a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and has been an assistant professor in the Science and Technology Studies Department at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute since 2007. Simona Perry is a social and environmental scientist, currently working as a research scientist in the Science and Technology Studies Department at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. She received her Ph.D. in Wildlife and Fisheries Conservation from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2009. 1. U.S. ENERGY INFO. ADMIN., Pennsylvania Drives Northeast Natural Gas Production Growth (Aug. 30, 2011), available at http://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.cfm?id=2870; Jonathan D. Silver, The Marcellus Boom / Origins: The Story of a Professor, a Gas Driller and Wall Street, PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, Mar. 20, 2011, http://www.post-gazette.com/ pg/11079/1133325-503.stm/. 303

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most