Pipeline projects are crisscrossing our region so that natural gas can get to market. One rural community in coal country is struggling to keep up with all the construction while trying to protect its natural resources.
Shell’s $6 billion ethane cracker in Beaver County could be the first of several large chemical plants in the region. That’s because there’s enough ethane being produced to provide the chemical industry with the raw material without any additional drilling.
Since energy companies have been fracking, they've been trying to figure out the best way to deal with the chemical and mineral-laced water that gurgles out of the wells. Some of the wastewater is transported to Ohio where it is injected thousands of feet into the ground, and where it's been known to cause earthquakes. But a new company in thinks it can do better by building on an old technology.
Residents who thought they lived far outside drilling country are increasingly discovering the boom in pipeline construction is bringing the fracking debate to their doorsteps.
If a gas company wants to sell you a drilling lease, you have every right to turn them down. But when it comes to building gas pipelines on private land, the same rules may not apply.
A new report is shedding light on how states can better manage the social and economic impacts of fracking—including how to protect workers against boom-and-bust cycles.