Shale gas development and respiratory health

"Hydraulic fracturing, or ""fracking"" has rapidly increased in areas rich in shale gas and oil in the years 2006 onwards. Areas that have undergone shale gas development are likely to be largely rural with few other air pollution point sources. Fracking operations such as well drilling, gas processing, and increased truck traffic are all predicted to contribute to localized air pollution in areas where fracking has been intensifying. Using the natural experiment of the New York fracking ban and intensifying fracking in Northeastern Pennsylvania, oil and gas well data and state inpatient respiratory records are combined to estimate the effect of various levels of shale gas development on respiratory admissions. A border exclusion was applied to account for air pollution spillovers. We find that the presence of fracking wells affects elderly respiratory hospital admissions by increasing admission rates 16-31%, and the results are robust across different levels of fracking and border exclusions."

Name thesis:degree_name

M.S.

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Agricultural & Applied Econ

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2016

Author dc:creator

• Grajdura, Sarah Allison

Contributors dc:contributor

• Ando, Amy
• Myers, Erica
• Khanna, Madhu

• Fracking
• Health

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2016 Sarah Grajdura

Language dc:language

en

Handle dc:identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/92844

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/92844