Marcellus Shale Documentary Project

The Marcellus Shale Documentary Project (MSDP) is a collaborative photo documentary project focusing on the social and environmental effects of unconventional gas exploration in Pennsylvania. Photographers Brian Cohen, Nina Berman, Scott Goldsmith, Noah Addis, Lynn Johnson and Martha Rial documented the people and places affected by the arrival, in the early years of the twenty-first century, of what is popularly known as "fracking". A book synthesizes the work of the MSDP, which traveled as an exhibit from 2012 to 2016, and then again, with all new material, for several years more.

The MSDP was generously funded by The Pittsburgh Foundation, Heinz Endowments, Sprout Fund, the William Penn Foundation, the Donald and Sylvia Robinson Foundation, and by several individual donors including Nancy Bernstein, Cathy Raphael, and Josh Whetzel.

Below is a synthesis of Brian’s photographic contribution to the MSDP. The work comprises a combination of panoramic landscapes taken mostly in Butler and Westmoreland Counties, and the stories of three families and their encounters with the oil and gas industry. In Butler County, one of several centers of the industry in Western Pennsylvania, Janet and Fred McIntyre live in The Woodlands, a tiny rural development in Connoquenessing, just outside of Butler, the county seat. Around the time that Rex Energy, a player in the exploitation of the gas fields of Western PA, began drilling near their home, the McIntyres experienced a profound downturn in the quality of their water, rendering it unsuitable for drinking or washing. Neighbors reported similar changes. What followed was a years long saga involving struggles with ill health, challenges maintaining a sense of normalcy, and efforts to assign responsibility for the damage to the water supply in The Woodlands. The story involved a cast of characters from diverse backgrounds, and with a variety of motivations for their involvement: residents, landowners, industry workers, politicians, media. For some, it was the opportunity to earn a daily wage; for others, to accrue large profits. But for the McIntyres, nothing was ever resolved. In late 2016, Rex Energy’s assets were valued at a little under one billion dollars; they filed for bankruptcy in May of 2018.

It is tempting to reduce the people involved in this story to familiar caricatures. But things are rarely that simple. The story of fracking in Western Pennsylvania is a tapestry of interwoven narratives and motivations, and the pressure to lease one’s land to oil and gas companies can override many other considerations. Drilling for gas is a billion dollar business, and the landmen whose job it is to procure mineral rights can be very persuasive. The promise of economic independence can be overwhelmingly appealing to a family struggling to eke out a living. In Westmoreland County, the Miller family made the decision to lease part of their farm property.

In phase two, Brian went back to visit the McIntyres, and also went out to eastern Ohio to meet the Muffet family and learn about their encounter with fracking. The Muffets live on a farm in Noble County, in Eastern Ohio, another center of activity in the Marcellus Shale gas fields. Forty years previously, the Muffets had signed a lease with Oxford Oil and Gas for a shallow gas well on the far side of their property.  As a consequence, they were legally bound to acquiesce when, decades later, a company that had bought the lease chose to frack under their, and their neighbors’ properties.

The story of fracking in Western Pennsylvania is a story of power, greed, and fear; of fortunes made and lifestyles lost; of heroes and villains. It is a story of painful decisions and unforeseen consequences. But it also a story of kindness, generosity, and courage.

An edited version of these stories follows here.

The collective work of the photographers, in phases one and two, can be seen here and here.