Community Socioeconomic Deprivation and Unconventional Natural Gas Development in Pennsylvania

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Past research has analyzed proximity to unconventional natural gas development (UNGD) in Pennsylvania in relation to adverse birth outcomes, asthma exacerbations, and migraine headache, but few studies have considered issues of environmental justice. Here, we investigated if higher UNGD density or shorter distances to UNGD were related to community socioeconomic deprivation (CSD). METHODS: The location of all UNGD wells in the Marcellus Shale from 2005-2019 were retrieved from Enverus DrillingInfo data aggregation service. An index of CSD was created from county subdivision-level data from the 2005-2009 American Community Survey. The CSD index measures the proportions of the population not in the labor force, in poverty, without car ownership, on public assistance, unemployed, and those with less than a high school education. Population-weighted centroids of county subdivisions were constructed from census block population estimates. We assessed exposure to wells within 5 km of each population center, accounting for both density of wells and distance to the nearest well. RESULTS:Overall, the number of new wells drilled annually decreased through the study period, from 4626 wells in 2005 to 483 in 2019. Over the entire study period, more wells were drilled in communities in the highest quartile (most deprived) of the CSD index (mean: 31.9 wells, SD: 53.7 wells) compared to the lowest quartile (mean: 23.7, SD: 50.2). Distance to the nearest drilled well was also shortest among the most deprived areas (mean: 10.7 km, SD: 17.4 km) and farthest among the least deprived areas (mean: 15.8 km, SD: 23.5 km). CONCLUSIONS:We observed disproportionately high exposure to UNGD among areas with the highest degrees of social deprivation, underscoring impacts in vulnerable communities. KEYWORDS: Socioeconomic status, Marcellus Shale, Natural Gas Drilling