All might not be well with Marcellus Shale

While drilling into the Marcellus Shale puts a tremendous strain on local water resources, there is no scientific data to say just how damaging — or not — a spill from that drilling could be. Jeffrey Featherstone, director of Temple's Center for Sustainable Communities, says there are two scenarios that could impact not only the Delaware River, but also the local communities. "One spill with one well probably doesn't do anything, except impact people locally," Featherstone says. "But cumulatively, if there were a whole bunch of wells, and a whole bunch of activity, and a whole bunch of accidents all at one time, well, that could be another story. It's not an unreasonable scenario."
Philadelphia Magazine | June 2011