Repository for Oil and Gas Energy Research (ROGER)

Abstract:
We examined community perspectives and experiences with fracking in Doddridge County, West Virginia, USA as part of a larger assessment to investigate the potential health impacts associated with fracking in neighboring Maryland, USA. In November 2013, we held two focus groups with community residents who had been impacted by fracking operations and conducted field observations in the impacted areas. Employing grounded theory, we conducted qualitative analysis to explore emergent themes related to direct and indirect health impacts of fracking. Three components of experience were identified, including (a) meanings of place and identity, (b) transforming relationships, and (c) perceptions of environmental and health impacts. Our findings indicate that fracking contributes to a disruption in residents' sense of place and social identity, generating widespread social stress. Although community residents acknowledged the potential for economic growth brought about by fracking, rapid transformations in meanings of place and social identity influenced residents' perceptions of environmental and health impacts. Our findings suggest that in order to have a more complete understanding of the health impacts of fracking, future work must consider the complex linkages between social disruption, environmental impacts, and health outcomes through critical engagements with communities undergoing energy development.

Abstract:
The US and Canada have been at the forefront of shale oil and gas development via hydraulic fracturing. Understanding public perceptions is important given the role that they may play in future policy decisions in both North America and other parts of the world where shale development is at a much earlier stage. We review 58 articles pertaining to perceptions, published between 2009 and 2015. Studies report mixed levels of awareness of shale operations, tending towards higher awareness in areas with existing development. While individuals tend to have negative associations with the term ‘fracking’, views on shale development are mixed as to whether benefits outweigh risks or vice versa: perceived benefits tend to be economic (e.g., job creation, boosts to local economies) and risks more commonly environmental and/or social (e.g., impacts on water, increased traffic). Some papers point to ethical issues (e.g., inequitable risk/benefit distribution, procedural justice) and widespread distrust of responsible parties, stemming from perceived unfairness, heavy-handed corporate tactics, and lack of transparency. These findings point to the contested, political character of much of the debate about hydraulic fracturing, and raise questions of what constitutes ‘acceptable’ risk in this context. We compare these results with research emerging in the UK over the same period. Future research should focus on nuanced inquiry, a range of methodologies and explore perceptions in varied social and geographical contexts. Both this and future research hold the potential to enhance public debates and decisions about shale gas and oil development.

Abstract:
With a long history of oil and gas production and potentially significant reserves of unconventional gas, Scotland represents a notable case amid the growing international controversy over unconventional gas development (UGD). This article applies argumentative discourse analysis to the Scottish debate over UGD and identifies several important storylines which have mobilised different discourse coalitions and shaped public opinion as well as policy-making. For now, anti-UGD storylines appear more encompassing and have achieved greater resonance. Of particular interest, however, is the role of the Scottish government as a third discourse coalition. Through a moratorium on all forms of UGD and a cautious ‘evidence-based approach', the government has established a form of discursive dominance and has successfully minimised electoral risks. But its anti-Westminster storyline – created in the run-up to the Scottish independence referendum in 2014 – has undermined the government's pragmatic strategy by invoking Scottish resistance to the UK’s pursuit of shale gas. While the evidence-based approach persists as the preeminent storyline, its interpretation has ‘drifted’ from (1) a modestly reformed planning policy to (2) an exercise in scientific fact-finding combined with a public consultation and, arguably, (3) to a precautionary approach that might lay the foundation for an extended moratorium.

Abstract:
There is growing recognition of the need to understand public attitudes to energy sources, such as shale gas, and to feed these into decision-making. This study represents the first detailed UK experimental survey of public perceptions of shale gas fracking, including analysis of the effects of different messages and the relative influence of different audience, message and contextual factors on support and risk perceptions in respect of shale gas fracking. Using an online survey (N = 1457) of the UK public, we find considerable ambivalence about shale gas, but also greater awareness of potential risks than benefits. Prior knowledge is associated with more favourable attitudes, although demographics, political affiliation and environmental values are strongest influences on perceptions. When provided with environmental or economic information about shale gas, participants became more positive – irrespective of their prior values or whether information is framed in terms of losses or gains. As expected, prior attitudes predict how information is received, with more attitude change amongst the most ambivalent respondents. We conclude that additional information about shale gas is more likely to be effective changing attitudes if focussed on this ’undecided’ group. Studies of this type are important for policy makers and industry alike.

Abstract:
A survey was conducted on West Virginia land owners with completed shale gas wells located on their property. The research objective was to determine how the separation of mineral from surface rights impacted reported problems and satisfaction with natural gas drilling. Empirical results of theoretical models showed that split estate owners had a statistically greater number of reported problems with drilling. Surface owner dissatisfaction with drilling outcomes was explained primarily by the number of reported problems and nonmonetary compensation. Our results provide motivation for policies to strengthen surface owner rights. (JEL K11, Q48)

Abstract:
Unconventional gas development (UGD) is growing rapidly in the United States. Drawing on insights from risk perception and risk governance theories and recent public opinion surveys, we find that UGD is an emerging technology that is likely to be perceived as risky, even though objective risk assessments suggest that risks are low and controllable through best risk management practices. Perceived risk varies significantly depending on the state and locality but perceptions of risk appear to be increasing as the technology is used more widely in the United States and as organized opponents of the technology intensify their efforts. Risk perceptions are attenuated somewhat because of the perceived benefits of UGD and compensation schemes for individuals and communities. The types of triggering events necessary for large-scale social amplification and stigmatization have not yet occurred but awareness of UGD is growing and organized opposition has been sufficient to cause prohibitions of UGD in some U.S. states and localities. Additional directions for social science research on public reactions to UGD are recommended.

Abstract:
This paper describes a fully independent public participation and review process on the environmental, economic, health, community and social risks and benefits of hydraulic fracturing for the development of unconventional gas and oil resources. We describe the approach taken to maximise public engagement in the process and how that participation informed the work of an independent panel charged with examining the scientific evidence and related legal issues. The major findings from the review are presented, including a risk matrix which summarises the frequency, severity and mitigation measures for 16 potential hazards associated with hydraulic fracturing, as they may pertain to the province of Nova Scotia in Canada. We discuss the complexity of managing public perceptions of novel risks such as hydraulic fracturing and conclude with brief observations on the contribution of the review to public policy.

Abstract:
The rapid expansion of shale gas exploration worldwide is a significant source of environmental controversy. Successful shale gas policy-making is dependent upon a clear understanding of the dynamics of competing stakeholder perspectives on these issues, and so methods are needed to delineate the areas of agreement and conflict that emerge. This empirical study, based in the United Kingdom, examines emergent perspectives on a range of environmental, health and socio-economic impacts associated with shale gas fracking using Q-methodology: a combined qualitative–quantitative approach. The analysis reveals three typologies of perspectives amongst key industry, civil society and non-affiliated citizen stakeholders; subsequently contextualised in relation to Dryzek's typology of environmental discourses. These are labelled (A) ‘Don't trust the fossil fuels industry: campaign for renewables’ (mediating between sustainable development and democratic pragmatism discourses), (B) ‘Shale gas is a bridge fuel: economic growth and environmental scepticism’ (mediating between economic rationalism and ecological modernisation discourses) and (C) ‘Take place protective action and legislate in the public interest’ (reflecting a discourse of administrative rationalism). The implications of these competing discourses for nascent shale gas policy in the UK are discussed in light of recent government public consultation on changes to national planning policy.

Abstract:
New technologies and rising energy prices have resulted in many energy companies investing significant amounts of capital in rural America. Much of the recent focus of energy companies has been on the development of shale oil and natural gas. We examine the differences in levels of support and opposition to shale oil and gas development, building on the literatures of the growth-machine coalition, polluter-industrial complex, and environmental justice. Specifically, we examine different frames of shale development held by government leaders and the public who reside above the New Albany shale play in Southern Illinois and Northwest Kentucky. Using a combination of interview, survey, and participant observation data, we find that government officials emphasize economic growth and many support shale development. While most government leaders claimed that there was not a major division in their communities about shale development, we found the public to be split, with a large countercoalition to shale development in existence.

Abstract:
The prospect of fracking in the United Kingdom has been accompanied by significant public unease. We outline how the policy debate is being framed by UK institutional actors, finding evidence of a dominant discourse in which the policy approach is defined through a deficit model of public understanding of science and in which a technical approach to feasibility and safety is deemed as sufficient grounds for good policymaking. Deploying a deliberative focus group methodology with lay publics across different sites in the north of England, we find that these institutional framings are poorly aligned with participants’ responses. We find that unease regularly overflows the focus on safety and feasibility and cannot be satisfactorily explained by a lack of understanding on the part of participants. We find that scholarship from science and technology studies productively elucidates our participants’ largely sceptical positions, and orientates strategies for responding to them more effectively.

Abstract:
Governmental agencies, regulators, health professionals, and the public are faced with understanding and responding to new development practices and conditions in their local and regional environment. While hydraulic fracking (fracking) for shale gas has been practiced for over 50 years in some states, it is a relatively recent event in the northeastern United States. Providing environmental health information to the public about fracking requires understanding both the knowledge base and the perceptions of the public. The knowledge, perceptions, and concerns of college students about fracking were examined. Students were interviewed at Rutgers University in New Jersey, a state without any fracking, although fracking occurs in nearby Pennsylvania. Objectives were to determine (1) knowledge about fracking, (2) rating of concerns, (3) trusted information sources, (4) importance of fracking relative to other energy sources, and (5) the effect of a 15-min lecture and discussion on these aspects. On the second survey, students improved on their knowledge (except the components used for fracking), and their ratings changed for some concerns, perceived benefits, and trusted information sources. There was no change in support for further development of natural gas, but support for solar, wind, and wave energy decreased. Data suggest that students' knowledge and perceptions change with exposure to information, but many of these changes were due to students using the Internet to look up information immediately after the initial survey and lecture. Class discussions indicated a general lack of trust for several information sources available on the Web.

Abstract:
Hydraulic fracturing (HF) is a focal topic in discussions about domestic energy production, yet the American public is largely unfamiliar and undecided about the practice. This study sheds light on how individuals may come to understand hydraulic fracturing as this unconventional production technology becomes more prominent in the United States. For the study, a thorough search of HF photographs was performed, and a systematic evaluation of 40 images using an online experimental design involving participants was conducted. Key indicators of hydraulic fracturing support and beliefs were identified. Participants showed diversity in their support for the practice, with 47 percent expressing low support, 22 percent high support, and 31 percent undecided. Support for HF was positively associated with beliefs that hydraulic fracturing is primarily an economic issue and negatively associated with beliefs that it is an environmental issue. Level of support was also investigated as a perceptual filter that facilitates biased issue perceptions and affective evaluations of economic benefit and environmental cost frames presented in visual content of hydraulic fracturing. Results suggested an interactive relationship between visual framing and level of support, pointing to a substantial barrier to common understanding about the issue that strategic communicators should consider.

Abstract:
Pennsylvania Marcellus Shale region residents have reported medical symptoms they believe are related to nearby Unconventional Natural Gas Development (UNGD). Associations between medical symptoms and UNGD have been minimally explored. The objective of this descriptive study is to explore whether shale region Pennsylvania residents perceive UNGD as a health concern and whether they attribute health symptoms to UNGD exposures. A questionnaire was administered to adult volunteers with medical complaints in a primary-care medical office in a county where UNGD was present. Participants were asked whether they were concerned about health effects from UNGD, and whether they attributed current symptoms to UNGD or to some other environmental exposure. There were 72 respondents; 22% perceived UNGD as a health concern and 13% attributed medical symptoms to UNGD exposures. Overall, 42% attributed one or more of their medical symptoms to environmental causes, of which UNGD was the most frequent. A medical record review conducted on six participants who attributed their medical symptoms to UNGD revealed that only one of these records documented both the symptoms in question and the attribution to UNGD. The results of this pilot study suggest that there is substantial concern about adverse health effects of UNGD among Pennsylvania Marcellus Shale residents, and that these concerns may not be adequately represented in medical records. Further efforts to determine the relationship between UNGD and health are recommended in order to address community concerns.

Abstract:
The recent push to develop unconventional sources of oil and gas both in the U.S. and abroad via hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) has generated a great deal of controversy. Effectively engaging stakeholders and setting appropriate policies requires insights into current public perceptions of this issue. Using a nationally representative U.S. sample (N=1061), we examine public perceptions of hydraulic fracturing including: “top of mind” associations; familiarity with the issue; levels of support/opposition; and predictors of such judgments. Similar to findings on other emerging technologies, our results suggest limited familiarity with the process and its potential impacts and considerable uncertainty about whether to support it. Multiple regression analysis (r2=.49) finds that women, those holding egalitarian worldviews, those who read newspapers more than once a week, those more familiar with hydraulic fracturing, and those who associate the process with environmental impacts are more likely to oppose fracking. In contrast, people more likely to support fracking tend to be older, hold a bachelor's degree or higher, politically conservative, watch TV news more than once a week, and associate the process with positive economic or energy supply outcomes. Based on these findings, we discuss recommendations for future research, risk communication, and energy policy.

Abstract:
Environmental controversy over unconventional natural gas development utilizing horizontal drilling and hydraulic "fracking" has been on the rise in recent years. While most of the media attention has been focused on the conflicts in states like Pennsylvania, New York, Texas, and Colorado, the discovery of huge natural gas reserves in the Haynesville Shale formation in 2008 set off a drilling rush that has resulted in differential benefits and risks for various residents. Drawing on current research and extensive interview data collected from a relevant cross-section of community stakeholders, this study offers a descriptive and comparative analysis of the types of benefits and opportunities perceived to accompany increased unconventional natural gas development, the range of perceived negative impacts and threats associated with such development, and the extent to which respondents viewed the benefits of the Haynesville boom as outweighing the costs. While most stakeholders perceived that natural gas development offered the community a host of positive socioeconomic benefits in the form of increased jobs, tax revenues, services, and new economic opportunities for local businesses and landowners, a substantial minority of residents also associated shale development with a larger number of negative social, economic, and environmental impacts. Those included the degradation of water resources; increased road damage, noise, and traffic accidents; and other assorted threats to public health, animals, and the rural landscape. Moreover, while most Haynesville residents believed that the socioeconomic benefits of development had outweighed the collective socioeconomic/environmental costs to the region, a substantial minority of respondents was also skeptical or disagreed that the benefits to date had been worth the risks. These findings both support and extend existing sociological research in several key respects. The implications of the study, both for the region and the national debate over fracking, are discussed.

Abstract:
Introduction: Concerns for health and social impacts have arisen as a result of Marcellus Shale unconventional natural gas development. Our goal was to document the self-reported health impacts and mental and physical health stressors perceived to result from Marcellus Shale development. Methods: Two sets of interviews were conducted with a convenience sample of community members living proximal to Marcellus Shale development, session 1 March–September 2010 (n=33) and session 2 January–April 2012 (n=20). Symptoms of health impacts and sources of psychological stress were coded. Symptom and stressor counts were quantified for each interview. The counts for each participant were compared longitudinally. Results: Participants attributed 59 unique health impacts and 13 stressors to Marcellus Shale development. Stress was the most frequently-reported symptom. Over time, perceived health impacts increased (P=0.042), while stressors remained constant (P=0.855). Discussion: Exposure-based epidemiological studies are needed to address identified health impacts and those that may develop as unconventional natural gas extraction continues. Many of the stressors can be addressed immediately.

Abstract:
This study is a replication of Theodori et al.’s (2009)research on public perception of desalinated produced water from oil and gas field operations. The data used in this paper were collected in twelve Texas counties. Overall, the findings of this investigation paralleled those uncovered in Theodori et al.’s original exploration. Our data reveal that small percentages of respondents are extremely familiar with the process of desalination and extremely confident that desalinated water could meet human drinking water quality and purity standards. Our data also indicate that respondents are more favorably disposed toward the use of desalinated water for purposes where the probability of human or animal ingestion is lessened. Lastly, our data show that individuals with higher levels of familiarity with the process of desalination were more likely than those with lower levels of familiarity to agree that desalinated water from oil and gas field operations could safely be used for each of nine proposed purposes. Possible implications of these findings are advanced.

Abstract:

Abstract:
Researchers have found that the economic, social, and environmental impacts of energy development vary with both the type and location of development. Previous studies have highlighted impacts associated with the conventional energy development that occurred in the western United States in the 1970s and 1980s, and with offshore oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. Recently, however, unconventional natural gas development has become a more common type of energy development, the impacts of which are not yet well understood. To assess these impacts, as part of a larger quantitative study conducted within two Texas counties, survey respondents were invited to share “additional comments” as desired. I analyzed these comments using open coding and constant comparison to identify prominent themes for each county. Themes ranged from positive to negative, and reflected economic, social, and environmental impacts accompanying unconventional natural gas development. Findings may inform theory and be of interest to community leaders and others interested in the impacts of unconventional gas development.