Gallery: Powerful Photos Go Deep Inside America's Fracking Boom
Photo: Nina Berman01Nina Berman 02
Jodie Simons and Jason Lamphere demonstrate how their tap water ignites. They have lived since 2010 without well water to drink or bathe in, attributing it to Chesapeake’s nearby gas-drilling activities. Monroeton, Bradford County 2011.
Photo: Martha Rial02martha rial 02
Marcellus Shale well in the Tiadaghton State Forest in Lycoming County. The state made close to $400 million in gas-drilling leases over a four-year period, mainly in places like Tiadaghton State Forest.
Photo: Scott Goldsmith03scott goldsmith 02
After workers hauled away two water tanks that supplied three homes from his backyard, John “Denny” Fair went inside his small home and became teary-eyed. When Fair reconnected his water well, it pumped out orange-brown water that he and the neighbors don’t want to use. Fair said the water turned brown and “stinky” shortly after the fracking started.
Photo: Noah Addis04noah addis 02
A Chevron gas rig, Franklin Township, PA. May 1, 2012.
Photo: Lynn Johnson05lynn johnson 02
IPhone images for the project were gathered from all corners of Pennsylvania — from the Northeast Susquehanna watershed to north of Pittsburgh to serve as "impressions."
Photo: Scott Goldsmith06scott goldsmith 01
Natural gas bubbling up from a natural spring is lit on fire for this photo. This gas showed up in the spring after David Headley’s property was fracked in Smithfield, PA. Headley, who owns horses, discovered the bubbles when his horses stopped drinking water from this location after the fracking.
Photo: Noah Addis07Noah Addis 01
Carol Jean “Jeannie” Moton says she has had health problems including skin lesions and rashes, hot flashes, and bone pain since the first Marcellus Shale well was drilled near her home in 2006. “This is not a safe practice,” she says. “I’ve been through hell.”
Photo: Nina Berman08Nina Berman 01
A gas-drilling site in Springville, Susquehanna County, PA.
Photo: Martha Rial09Martha Rial 01
Well flaring in Jefferson Township, Greene County. Flaring is done to test well performance and can last anywhere from one to several days.
Photo: Lynn Johnson10lynn johnson 01
These iPhone images are “impressions” gathered in all corners of Pennsylvania—from the Northeast Susquehanna watershed to north of Pittsburgh. Dimock, Evans City, Benton, Jersey Shore, Milton, Towanda, Moshannon State Forest, Tunkhannock. These are only a few of the myriad places in our state where homes, lands, and lives are deeply affected by the shale gas “boom.”
Photo: Brian Cohen11brian cohen 02
Janet McIntyre meets with Emily Collins of the University of Pittsburgh Environmental Law Clinic. 01/30/2012.
Photo: Brian Cohen12brian cohen 01
A frack water pipe traverses a field belonging to Tim Grossik. The pipe ran between two Rex Energy sites on either side of a small stream that feeds in to Crab Run Creek lower down the hill. 01/15/2012.
