Cássio Krüger de Freitas

Fall 2015_ Fundamentals of GIS

August 03, 2015
Lab_1

INTRODUCTION
The objective of this analysis is to identify counties in Pennsylvania, along the Allegheny River,
where the activity of Hydraulic Fracturing shows more risk. Moreover, the study used, as the parameter
of analysis, the distance between the Allegheny River and unconventional well sites. As a result, the
investigation identified all the counties which presented unconventional well sites that are within 0.02
decimal degree of the river as risk counties.

METHODS
The analysis was conducted in the software ArcGIS 10, and used three shapefiles as fount of
resources.
 PA_Counties_2010: Containing the shape of the counties in Pennsylvania State.
 PA_Rivers: Containing the shape of the in Pennsylvania state.
 PA_UnconvWells_12_NAD83: Containing the location of unconventional well sites
(UW) in Pennsylvania State.

The research utilized two ArcGIS tools:

 Select by Attribute (SA) – This tool allows to select specific table records of one layer
based on an expression. (e.g. "PRIMARY_NA" = 'ALLEGHENY R')
 Select by Location (SL) – This tool allows to cross information between two layers and
select specific features based on their location, according with the criteria.

The study, to reach the main results, followed the steps bellow:
1. Select the Allegheny river: SA > PA_Rivers > 'Allegheny R';
2. Select the UW: SL > PA_UnconvWells_12_NAD83 as target, using PA_Rivers selected
features as source > Distance search 0.02 decimal degrees;
3. Find the counties: SL > PA_Counties_2010 as target, using
PA_UnconvWells_12_NAD83 selected features as source > features intersect.

RESULTS
The results demonstrates nine
counties in PA crossed by the
Allegheny River, as can be seen in the
table 1 and image 1. Also, among those
nine counties four contain
unconventional well sites that are near
to the River (Table 1 and Image 1 & 2).
The total sites presenting potential risk
to the environment, for their proximity
with the Allegheny River, are thirty
three in numbers.

Figure 1. Pennsylvania State: Outlined with red color the

Counties crossed by the Allegheny River and fulfilled with
different colors the
 Table 1. Counties crossed by
Allegheny River. Risk
counties in red letters.

Counties crossed by
Allegheny River

Allegheny Armstrong
Forest Clarion
McKean Potter
Venango Warren
Westmoreland

Figure 2. Zoom of the Counties with the unconventional well sites

near the River represented by white points.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, the data showed that the Allegheny River has thirty three unconventional well
sites near to it, located in four Counties (Armstrong, Clarion, Potter and Warren). Since the activity of
Hydraulic Fracturing could cause surface water contamination, those places presents potential risk to
the environment and the communities along the river. As a result it is advisable that the activities on
those fields have strict control in their processes.