The New Pennsylvania: It's All About Natural Gas Development

Well pad next to a cemetery in Independence, PA

Pennsylvania has seen many new gas wells drilled since 2008.  The state has 46,000 square miles of land/water.  Here are a few facts about the drilling:

There are currently 14,413 permitted Marcellus gas
wells in the state located on 4,533 well-pads.
12,422 are horizontal wells, 8,109 are reported
as active, and 5,080 have reported production values.

In the past week, we've (MarcellusGas.org)  added 245 inspection
reports, bringing the total number of inspection
events at our site to 51,244.

So, if we averaged out the number of wells per square mile, it would come to 3 wells per square mile.  However, there are multiple wells on most well pads.  Another way to think about it: There is one well pad for every 10 square miles in PA.  Well permits continue to be applied for and issued.  This is only the beginning. Well pads are put in near schools, cemeteries, people's homes, nursing homes, just about anywhere. 

Well pads come with another bad thing:  pipelines and compressor stations.  These cause all kinds of pollution- air, soil, noise, water.  Eventually PA will look like a huge web covered with gas wells and the infrastructure needed for them.  It is indeed a grim vision for the future.  And in many cases, the future is now.