This website uses cookies.

By clicking the "Accept" button or continuing to browse our site, you agree to first-party and session-only cookies being stored on your device to enhance site navigation and analyze site performance and traffic. For more information on our use of cookies, please see our Privacy Policy.

  1. Home
  2. Journals
  3. American Economic Review
  4. May 2017
  5. Shale Gas Development and Drinking Water Quality

Shale Gas Development and Drinking Water Quality

  • Elaine Hill
  • Lala Ma
American Economic Review
vol. 107, no. 5, May 2017
(pp. 522-25)
Download Full Text PDF

Abstract

Recent studies have linked shale gas development (SGD) to ground water contamination. The extent of these environmental externalities, to date, remains uncertain. To address this gap, we examine whether shale gas development systematically affects drinking water quality by creating a novel dataset that relates SGD to public drinking water samples in Pennsylvania. Our difference-in-differences strategy finds evidence that additional well pads drilled within 1 kilometer of a community water system intake increases shale gas-related contaminants in drinking water. These results are striking considering that our data are based on water sampling measurements taken after municipal treatment.

Citation

Hill, Elaine, and Lala Ma. 2017. "Shale Gas Development and Drinking Water Quality." American Economic Review, 107 (5): 522-25. DOI: 10.1257/aer.p20171133

Additional Materials

JEL Classification

  • I12 Health Behavior
  • Q25 Renewable Resources and Conservation: Water
  • Q35 Hydrocarbon Resources
  • Q51 Valuation of Environmental Effects
  • Q53 Air Pollution; Water Pollution; Noise; Hazardous Waste; Solid Waste; Recycling