If you were to create a map of every well drilled into the Marcellus Shale formation in Pennsylvania you would find the bulk of them clustered in the northeast near Scranton, and in southwest, near Pittsburgh. No state rules regulate how many natural gas wells can be drilled within a specific area. Researchers at the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia are trying to figure out if there should be such regulations on the books.
David Keller is a researcher for the Academy and he is leading a team of researcher who are counting and identifying salamanders, brook trout, crayfish and a tiny hammer-headed looking creature called slimy sculpin in creeks and rivers in the state. The team measures out one hundred meters of stream, and then put down nets on either end to trap any living creature swimming in the water at that moment.
Find out what the researchers are learning by reading or listening to the rest of the story at or partner, State Impact Pennsylvania's, website.