What is Marcellus Shale, how is it different, & why the sudden interest in it?
The Marcellus Shale is a rock formation that underlies much of PA & portions of New York & West Virginia; it is believed to hold trillions of cubic feet of natural gas. Until the recent advances in drilling technology & the rise in gas prices, this formation has long been considered prohibitively expensive to access. This means that northcentral & northeastern regions of PA may see increases in gas well drilling. Extracting natural gas from the Marcellus Shale formation requires both vertical & horizontal drilling, combined with a process known as ‘hydraulic fracturing’ that uses far greater amounts of water than traditional natural gas exploration. Drillers pump large amounts of water mixed with sand & other fluids into the shale formation under high pressure to fracture the shale around the well, which allows the natural gas to flow freely. Once the hydraulic fracturing process is completed, the used water, often referred to as “frac fluid,” must be treated to remove chemicals & mine
