Known for its dramatic beauty and valuable natural resources, Appalachia has undergone significant technological, economic, political, and environmental changes in recent decades. Home to distinctive traditions and a rich cultural heritage, the area is also plagued by poverty, insufficient healthcare and education, drug addiction, and ecological devastation. This complex and controversial region has been examined by generations of scholars, activists, and civil servants―all offering an array of perspectives on Appalachia and its people. In this innovative volume, editors William Schumann and Rebecca Adkins Fletcher assemble both scholars and nonprofit practitioners to examine how Appalachia is perceived both within and beyond its borders. Together, they investigate the region's transformation and analyze how it is currently approached as a topic of academic inquiry. Arguing that interdisciplinary and comparative place-based studies increasingly matter, the contributors investigate numerous topics, including race and gender, environmental transformation, university-community collaborations, cyber identities, fracking, contemporary activist strategies, and analyze Appalachia in the context of local-to-global change. A pathbreaking study analyzing continuity and change in the region through a global framework, Appalachia Revisited is essential reading for scholars and students as well as for policymakers, community and charitable organizers, and those involved in community development. / https://dc.etsu.edu/etsu_books/1152/thumbnail.jpg

The process of natural gas extraction known as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is a controversial energy acquisition technique often viewed with disdain by the public, due to its potential for environmental harm. However, the mental health and psychological well-being of fracking communities, including potential benefits and detriments, are often overlooked. We reviewed the literature on the association between fracking and psychological functioning, finding that although persons living in fracking communities may experience some minimal, initial benefits such as land lease income or infrastructure development, they may also experience worry, anxiety, and depression about lifestyle, health, safety, and financial security, as well as exposure to neurotoxins and changes to the physical landscape. Indeed, entire communities can experience collective trauma as a result of the “boom/bust” cycle that often occurs when industries impinge on community life. Impacted communities are often already vulnerable, including poor, rural, or indigenous persons, who may continue to experience the deleterious effects of fracking for generations. An influx of workers to fracking communities often stokes fears about outsiders and crime; yet, it must be recognized that this population of mobile workers is also vulnerable, often ostracized, and without social support. Practitioners, researchers, and policy makers alike should continue to investigate the potential psychological ramifications of fracking, so that effective and targeted intervention strategies can be developed, disseminated, and implemented to improve mental health in fracking communities.

Each hydraulic fracturing well uses up to 5,000 tons of silica-containing sand, or proppant, during its operational lifetime. Over one million wells are currently in operation across the continental United States. The resulting increase in demand resulted in the production of 54 million metric tons of sand for use as hydraulic fracturing proppant in 2015. The goal of this study was to determine the relative risk of occupational exposure to respirable crystalline silica to workers performing tasks associated with mining, processing, and transport of proppant. Sand samples were aerosolized in an enclosed chamber. Bulk and respirable samples were submitted to a commercial lab for silica analysis. A risk ratio was calculated by comparing respirable dust concentrations to the current occupational safety regulations. Raw sand produced higher concentrations of respirable dust and a higher risk ratio (3.2), while processed dust contained higher percentages of respirable crystalline silica but a lower risk ratio (0.5). When vibration was introduced prior to aerosolization, concentrations tended to increase as vibration times increased, resulting in an increase of the associated risk ratio (2.3). Results of the study indicate that workers in sand mines and workers exposed to proppant that has undergone low-frequency vibration are at increased risk of exposure to respirable crystalline silica compared to workers who are exposed to proppant that has not undergone vibration.

As the landscape of the United States changes and world resources face depletion, shale gas development has become a major social justice issue. Social workers may be called upon to help support communities undergoing change from industry as well as the environmental and social justice concerns that are arising in areas with rich natural resource supplies. This research examines how a rural population perceives change when industry enters an area. It explores community change and social justice concerns that are occurring with shale gas development in order to help determine implications for social work practice. Using a phenomenological approach, this work examined the perceptions of 20 residents of the Pennsylvania community of the Laurel Highlands who live within 10 miles of where fracking has occurred. In depth interviews were carried out with this population to explore their perceptions of community change from shale gas development. Residents of the Laurel Highlands report anxiety about the future of their environment, including negative impacts to the air and water. They are angry about the outsourcing of local natural resources to other areas in both the United States and abroad. Residents feel a loss of power and sense of control due to shale gas development and the large corporations which support its growth. These factors are negatively impacting their quality of life. Shale gas development and the changes it brings are influencing residents' decisions about investing in the Laurel Highlands as well as staying in the area long term. As a result of these factors, community action is increasing to help build support during industrial development in the area. This work examines these themes and concludes with a discussion of how social work practice can help assist rural residents with their changing communities.

This thesis explores two ways of developing a fracture diagnostics tool capable of estimating hydraulic fracture propped length and orientation. Both approaches make use of an electrically conductive proppant. The fabrication of an electrically conductive proppant is believed to be possible and an option currently on the market is calcined petroleum coke. The first approach for tool development was based on principles of antenna resonance whereas the second approach was based on low frequency magnetic induction. The former approach had limited success due to the lack of resonant features at the stipulated operating conditions. Low frequency induction is a more promising approach as electromagnetic fields showed measurable changes that were dependent on fracture length in simulations. The operation of a logging tool was simulated and the data showed differences in the magnetic field magnitude ranging from 2% to 107% between fracture sizes of 20m, 50m, 80m, and 100m. Continuing research of the topic should focus not only on simulating more diverse fracture scenarios but also on developing an inversion scheme necessary for interpreting field data. / text

The reliance upon and depletion of fossil fuels as an energy source puts pressure on individuals, communities, energy companies, and policy-makers. Hydraulic fracturing – known colloquially as fracking – as a method of drilling for oil and natural gas temporarily alleviates this pressure since it allows for the extraction previously inaccessible fossil fuels in shale rock deposits deep beneath the Earth’s surface. This has resulted in a nationwide “fracking boom,” which has come with its share of economic benefits. However, the process of fracking can be detrimental to human and environmental health. In reaction to the increasing development of this practice, many communities across the country are mobilizing against fracking. This thesis will focus on the grassroots activism against fracking in New York, where fracking was banned in December 2014, and in California, which is largely slated as the next frontier for the expansion of fracking and thus battleground for the fight against fracking. Using grassroots academic literature, media coverage of fracking and activism in each state, and interviews from organizers working in each state, this thesis will examine the motivations, frameworks, strategies, and tactics used in each grassroots campaign in order to offer lessons in successes and opportunities for improvement within these anti-fracking efforts and others across the country.

The drive to find reliable sources of fuel that follow our green concerns and reduce our dependence on foreign sources of fossil fuels has pushed exploration and recovery of natural gas from within the United States to a top priority. Earthquakes generated from the use of hydraulic fracturing techniques and/or use of high pressure injection wells are occurring at an alarming rate due to increases in hydrocarbon exploration and recovery. While the link between earthquakes and hydrocarbon production is still uncertain, earthquake induced changes to groundwater chemistry are clear. Yet it has not been determined if repetitive, smaller earthquakes, i.e. earthquakes with magnitudes less than Mw<4.5, can result in similar disturbances to water chemistry as the more significant events have been proven to cause. Two known earthquake swarms, each having repetitive, small earthquake events, occurred in an intraplate setting in Faulkner County, Arkansas. Testing for groundwater chemical changes related to the timing of earthquake events and total energy released show that small earthquakes indeed create changes to groundwater chemistry most probably due to fluid intrusion from deep, chloride, calcium, and magnesium rich waters. The reduction of the United States dependence on foreign sources or finding green sources of fuel should not be the only mitigating factor for our decisions concerning our natural resources.

abstract: Hydraulic fracturing is an effective technique used in well stimulation to increase petroleum well production. A combination of multi-stage hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling has led to the recent boom in shale gas production which has changed the energy landscape of North America. During the fracking process, highly pressurized mixture of water and proppants (sand and chemicals) is injected into to a crack, which fractures the surrounding rock structure and proppants help in keeping the fracture open. Over a longer period, however, these fractures tend to close due to the difference between the compressive stress exerted by the reservoir on the fracture and the fluid pressure inside the fracture. During production, fluid pressure inside the fracture is reduced further which can accelerate the closure of a fracture. In this thesis, we study the stress distribution around a hydraulic fracture caused by fluid production. It is shown that fluid flow can induce a very high hoop stress near the fracture tip. As the pressure gradient increases stress concentration increases. If a fracture is very thin, the flow induced stress along the fracture decreases, but the stress concentration at the fracture tip increases and become unbounded for an infinitely thin fracture. The result from the present study can be used for studying the fracture closure problem, and ultimately this in turn can lead to the development of better proppants so that prolific well production can be sustained for a long period of time. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Mechanical Engineering 2014

The rapid expansion of hydraulic fracturing(fracking) over the past two decades has led to an increasing interest in the relationship between natural resource booms and crime. Since the onset of the fracking boom, numerous anecdotal accounts and an increasing body of empirical studies have suggested that fracking has a significant, positive impact on crime. However, the mechanisms behind this relationship are poorly understood. This study uses a high-resolution dataset and a unique, fixed-effects approach to decompose the effect that fracking has on crime into increases due to the introduction of new wells and increases due to the presence of existing wells. The findings suggest that new wells have a different impact on crime than existing wells. Specifically, new wells result in greater increases in violent crimes. These results may indicate that the relationship between fracking and crime is largely driven by the influx of non-local, transient, fracking labor.

Hydraulic fracturing is a novel technological development that has pushed the extraction of energy resources forward. As technology improves and world oil and gas markets shift, more shale formations are being uncovered, and new drilling activities are seen as economically viable. I examine the ways in which residents perceive environmental and health risks of hydraulic fracturing in the Eagle Ford Shale region of Texas, and how these perceptions differ depending on social position and where the resident is receiving their information. To understand how residents perceive the environmental and health risks associated with the Eagle Ford Shale oil and gas boom, or if these perceptions differ by social status and information sources, I conducted a qualitative analysis of key informant and focus group interview data, coding for major themes found in interview transcripts. I found that groups in lower social positions had increased concern regarding environmental and health risk perceptions than those in higher social positions. Additionally, respondents in lower social positions discussed all environmental and health risk perceptions with a relatively higher breadth and depth than those in higher social positions. Regarding information sources, those in higher social positions tend to receive more of their information on hydraulic fracturing from government officials and industry. Those in lower social positions receive more information from interpersonal networks, although they generally discussed a general lack of information concerning oil and gas development. These findings contribute to a relatively small field of growing research on resident perceptions in a hydraulic fracturing context. This research also brings attention to rural populations who are being uniquely impacted by hydraulic fracturing and provides insight into a region, the Eagle Ford Shale, where there is a need for more scholarly research.