Grushecky Shawn T, Harris Kevin J, Strager Michael P, Wang Jingxin, Mesa Anthony N
Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, 26506, USA.
Environ Manage. 2022 Nov;70(5):869-880. doi: 10.1007/s00267-022-01702-y. Epub 2022 Aug 29.
Unconventional oil and gas (UOG) wells from the Marcellus and Utica shale plays have expanded greatly across the Appalachian region of the United States (US) since the early 2000s. This region is now the single largest natural gas producing area of the US. The local and regional impacts of this industry on the landscape make it critical to understand for future planning efforts. This study investigated land cover change associated with over 21,000 unconventional wells representing 4,240 well pads permitted from 2007 to 2017 in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ohio. The goal was to characterize UOG disturbance to document development patterns and extents in the region. Supervised classification was used to map land use and land-cover changes within a 25-ha buffer of well pads identified in the region. On average, disturbance related to unconventional development impacted 6.2 ha in Pennsylvania, 4.7 ha in Ohio and 4.4 ha in West Virginia and 5.6 ha over the region. Forest and grassland were found to be the most impacted cover types, with increases in impervious surface areas being a significant contributor to land-use classification change. These conversions can contribute to increased forest fragmentation and edge, which can in turn adversely impact biodiversity indicators at the regional level. Additionally, increases in impervious surface in small headwater watersheds can lead to increased sediment and runoff loads in receiving streams. Local and regional land use planning should be implemented during the well pad permit review process to help minimize environmental impacts over larger geographic scales.
自21世纪初以来，来自马塞勒斯和尤蒂卡页岩气田的非常规油气（UOG）井在美国阿巴拉契亚地区大幅扩张。该地区现已成为美国最大的天然气产区。该行业对当地和区域景观的影响，使得了解其情况对于未来的规划工作至关重要。本研究调查了2007年至2017年在宾夕法尼亚州、西弗吉尼亚州和俄亥俄州获批的4240个井场中，超过21000口非常规井相关的土地覆盖变化。目标是描述非常规油气开发造成的干扰，以记录该地区的开发模式和范围。利用监督分类法绘制了该地区确定的井场25公顷缓冲区内的土地利用和土地覆盖变化情况。平均而言，与非常规开发相关的干扰在宾夕法尼亚州影响了6.2公顷，在俄亥俄州影响了4.7公顷，在西弗吉尼亚州影响了4.4公顷，在整个地区影响了5.6公顷。森林和草地被发现是受影响最大的覆盖类型，不透水表面积的增加是土地利用分类变化的重要因素。这些转变可能导致森林破碎化和边缘增加，进而对区域层面的生物多样性指标产生不利影响。此外，小源头流域不透水表面的增加可能导致受纳溪流中的沉积物和径流负荷增加。应在井场许可审查过程中实施地方和区域土地利用规划，以帮助在更大的地理尺度上尽量减少环境影响。
