Is the water quality of local streams affected by marcellus shale drilling?

Authors

  • Jessie Feather WVAS
  • Tyler Groves
  • Phil Yeager
  • Mark Flood

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.55632/pwvas.v88i1.122

Abstract

Throughout recent years, the water quality near Marcellus Shale drill sites has been questioned. The hypothesis of the experiment was that the surface water quality would be negatively affected by Marcellus Shale Drilling. The abiotic properties tested were pH, turbidity,

% total dissolved solids, conductivity, and redox potential for above and below the drilling sites for all the creeks. Benthic macroinvertebrates from each sight were collected from each site to draw comparisons, and Daphnia magna were exposed to water samples obtained from each one of the stream locations. A fecal coliform test was also administered for each water sample. The results of the water quality test were obtained from the above sites and compared to the corresponding below sites. Some conclusive results were obtained from the daphnia magna exposure test when the Daphnia magna placed in the water obtained from the cherry camp road below site had a much less survival rate than the water fleas exposed to the same creek water above the drilling site as did both Franks Run locations. Even though some locations showed negative effects, the results obtained did not allow a strict conclusion to be drawn in regards to whether or not all drill sites were detrimental to the quality of the surface water in the Harrison, Wetzel, and Doddridge County areas due to variation.

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Published

2016-07-26

How to Cite

Feather, J., Groves, T., Yeager, P., & Flood, M. (2016). Is the water quality of local streams affected by marcellus shale drilling?. Proceedings of the West Virginia Academy of Science, 88(1). https://doi.org/10.55632/pwvas.v88i1.122

Issue

Section

Meeting Abstracts-Poster