This report was presented by an environmental consultant to the parties involved in hydraulic drilling for natural gas. It is a good background report on environmental factors that should be considered in such drilling operations.

Website: http://www.wvgs.wvnet.edu/www/datastat/GWPC_092008_Marcellus_Frac_Arthur_et_al.pdf

Website: http://www.aps.anl.gov/Safety_and_Training/User_Safety/oshatoxicchem.html

This report is produced by the Oil and Gas Accountability Project (OGAP). OGAP was founded in 1999 to work with communities to prevent and reduce the impacts caused by oil and gas development. In 2005 OGAP merged with EARTHWORKS, formerly the Mineral Policy Center. Together, there are 5,000 members and offices in Bozeman, MT Durango, CO and Washington, D.C. This group works with communities and grassroots groups to reform government policies, improve corporate practices, and influence investment decisions. They work to encourage conservation, recycling, responsible materials policies, fuel efficiency, and renewable energy sources. They expose the health, environmental, economic, social and cultural impacts of irresponsible mineral development through work informed by sound science. This is an excellent report and is well-referenced with scientific and lay reports on this subject

Website: http://www.earthworksaction.org/publications.cfm?pubID=354

This article in Scientific American describes the impact of hydraulic drilling for natural gas in Sublette County, WY and the environmental problems that were subsequently created through such drilling. Abraham Lustgarten is an investigative reporter for ProPublica, a publication focused on issues of public interest.

Article on this website under Magazine section of www.preservethefingerlakes.com

5. Preparing For Natural Gas Development: Understanding Impacts And Protecting Public Assets: A Gas Drilling Research Task Force Report For Sullvian County, February 13, 2009

This report prepared by a Task Force for Sullivan County, NY has a set of recommendations to the county for actions to be taken in preparation for drilling for natural gas in the county. Many of the recommendations focus on transportation issues related to bringing water to drilling sites and the removal of waste water from the sites. Recommendations for distributing revenues and monitoring are also included.

These videos are amateur recordings of discussions with residents who apparently signed leases with drilling companies and then lived to regret their decisions. They are poignant reminders of how this process does not work to the advantage of the leasers.

Websites:

 http://ec.environmentalcountdown.org/_Gas-Drilling-Polluted-Well-Water/video/208820/4315.html

This DVD is previewed on the website below and documents the problem facing the nation and the residents of the Rocky Mountain regions as a result of the Bush Administration agreements to allow drilling for gas and oil on federal lands.

This is the material that the New York State Department of Conservation has posted on the Marcellus Shale exploration and issues that the NYSDEC is addressing. There are a number of useful links on this site to other studies and issues regarding this exploration including the Generic Environmental Impact Statement (GEIS) and the Final scope for the DRAFT GEIS. There is a link to this latter document which should be reviewed by all interested parties and responded to directly to the NYSDEC. Links are also available to all the scoping meetings held on the Final Draft during the latter part of 2008

Website: http://www.dec.ny.gov/energy/46288.html

An article written by Stanley Scobie, Ph.D. about the natural gas rush to the Marcellus Shale and the responsibilities that the Federal government should undertake in this exploration.

Website:

http://www.newyork.sierraclub.org/Sierra%20Atlantic/SierraAtlantic-2009-Spring.pdf

10. Marcellus Shale: What Local Government Officials Need to Know, Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences, Agricultural and Research and Cooperative Extension, January, 2009

Local government officials concerned about the impact of Marcellus shale development on their community need to greatly expand and upgrade their comprehensive community planning efforts. The fast pace of gas drilling-and all its related activities means that planning must be done on a continuous, daily basis. Every new well that is drilled causes small changes in the community. Monthly meetings of the planning commission are not sufficient to keep up with these changes. We also need a new way to think about how communities plan for gas exploration.

Website :

http://downloads.cas.psu.edu/naturalgas/pdf/MarcellusShaleWhatLocalGovernmentOfficialsneedtoknow.pdf