Impact of Hydraulic Fracturing on the Susquehanna and Delaware Watersheds

Virtually Maker Faire 2020

May 22nd-23rd

Chemical by-products from the hydraulic fracturing industry are known to contaminate
bodies of water, often putting human health at risk. To prevent this issue, the
Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) enacted a legislation,
which required all hydraulic fracturing sites to be more than 1,000 feet away from a water
body. However, during rain events, these chemicals can be washed downstream and
travel more than 1,000 feet, finding their way into distant waterways. This chemical
accumulation may negatively affect the environment and integrity of our public drinking
water. ESRI’s ArcGIS, a computer software used for analyzing geographical and spatial
data, was used to study this topic. Publicly available geographic layers from PASDA,
PADOH, and OpenDataPhilly were used in this study. Locations of hydraulic fracturing
wells in PA were geocoded over areal layers of the Delaware and Susquehanna
watersheds, and county-level layer of the State of Pennsylvania. Spatial analyst tools such
as Hydrology Fill and Flow Direction/Accumulation tools in ArcGIS were used to
analyze elevation data and assess risk of chemical drainage into bodies of water via
watersheds and tributaries. Key findings from this project were that forty-eight hydraulic
fracturing sites are at risk for contaminating water with dangerous chemicals.

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Video Link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JiiNRnQKEvk