Effects of Marcellus Gas Extraction On Fishes, Salamanders and Crayfish in Headwater Streams in North-Central Pennsylvania

The recent increase in hydro-fracturing to extract Marcellus shale gas has raised concerns about potential environmental impacts on terrestrial , aquatic, and ground water systems resulting from construction and operation of well pads, wells, access roads, pipelines, water withdrawal and water storage lagoons. In 2011, we sampled 27 streams in the Susquehanna Drainage. Study watersheds had >90% forest cover and a range of well pad densities, including reference.  We did not consider spill or violation history at well pads in selecting sites. The study watersheds are mainly on Public lands which have regulations on well pad placement, and the range of well pad densities was lower than the regional range. Depletion reach sampling was done by electrofishing, with additional salamander surveys. Complementary studies were done on water chemistry, attached algae, and macroinvertebrates. Virtually all sites had similar assemblages of native, cold water fish, salamanders and crayfish. We found no statistically significant relationships between macrofaunal measures and well pad densities. We are analyzing the causes of differences at a few sites.  This study investigated effects of construction, drilling, and maintenance on aquatic communities, but didn’t measure longer term effects or terrestrial impacts. In 2012, we re-sampled some of the 2011 sites and sampled sites in more developed watersheds with a greater range of well pad densities.