Skip to main content

Understanding Eagle Ford shale’s impact on air quality

This morning,the Weather Channel, InsideClimate News, and the Center for Public Integrityreleased a documentary on the air quality impacts oil and gas development in Texas’s Eagle Ford shale.

This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American


This morning, the Weather Channel, InsideClimate News, and the Center for Public Integrity released a documentary on the air quality impacts oil and gas development in Texas's Eagle Ford shale. They also released a series of infographics on sources of air emissions during development, including the following:

 

According to a new documentary, the air quality impacts of development in Texas's Eagle Ford shale are not well monitored or documented. Those involved in the 8-month investigation by the Weather Channel, InsideClimate News, and the Center for Public Integrity claim that the five permanent air monitors in the 20,000 square mile Eagle Ford shale development region were not enough to accurately track the impacts of higher drilling activity. In their press release, they made no comment on whether or not air quality monitoring throughout the United States - in their opinion - is sufficient.


On supporting science journalism

If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.


To see the entire documentary - link.

Note: infographic by InsideClimate News and used with permission.