Map Set 2: Impact on Land Cover

Transcription

1 The Potential Environmental Impacts of Full Development of the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania Sep 16 Map Set 2: Impact on Land Cover This series of maps displays information related to the potential environmental impacts of additional gas development in Pennsylvania if all remaining technically recoverable resources in the shale ere developed using high volume hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling ith eight ells per ell pad. This map set includes projections of the impacts of construction of natural gas infrastructure development on land cover in Pennsylvania. The analysis only conside development of 3 types of natural gas infrastructure: ell pads, access roads, and gathering pipelines. (Water and asteater infrastructure, equipment storage, and intrastate and intetate gas transmission pipelines are not part of this analysis.) Note: These maps contain projections of natural gas development and associated environmental impacts under a particular set of circumstances and assumptions. Th are not predictions of development or impacts, and should not be used for commercial purposes, to guide investment decisions, or for short-range planning decisions. Furthermore, the maps should not be used to inform planning or decision making for geographic units smaller than the primary units of analysis (counties or HUC-1 ateheds). Land Cover Impact Maps This map set includes projections of the folloing land cover impacts: 2.1 Land disturbance by county 2.2 Land disturbance by atehed 2.3 Forest cleared by atehed 2.4 Core forest loss by atehed 2.5 Existing developed area veus ne clearing for gas infrastructure 2.6 Stream crossings by atehed For additional documentation and methodology used to create these maps, please donload the research report at:.cna.org/pa-marcellus IRM-16-U-695

2 Map Land Disturbance by County McKean Forest Elk Yor k Potter Cameron Susquehanna Bradford Tioga Lycoming Sullivan Wayne Wyoming Pike Lackaanna Clearfield Armstrong ffeon Washington Greene Fayette Cambria Westmoreland Luzerne Centre Indiana Beaver Allegheny Columbia Clinton Butler Someet Clarion Venango This map shos the total amount of land disturbed from natural gas development by county for initial construction of gas infrastructure. We estimated that each ell pad occupies 3.5 acres, each gatheing pipeline requires a 3-meter right-of-ay, and each road requires a 1-meter right-of-ay to create the spatial footprint of development in the state. The breakdon of impacted land cove ithin the footprint is extracted from the National Land Cover Dataset. Blair Bedford Projected Land Disturbance by County Breakdon by Land Cover Total Land Disturbance [acres] No development < 5 8 Agriculture Developed Land > 5 (Max: 7965) a Grassland/Wetland 5-1 Stateide Impact - Land Disturbance (acres) Total: 94,3 acres in 35 counties. Forest

3 Map Land disturbance by atehed N e Yo r k This map displays the total area disturbed for initial construction of gas infrastructure (ell pads, gathering lines, roads). Shading shos total area in acres. Bar charts sho the breakdon of the projected ne disturbance by initial landcover (from the NLCD). N e Yo r k Land disturbance by HUC1 Watehed Total Area [ac] > (Max ) Forests Grassland/Wetland Agriculture Developed > 5 % Forest/Wetland/Grassland a re 11-5 Stateide Impact - Gas Infrastructure land disturbance (acres) Total: 94,3 acres in 163 HUC1 ateheds. [Forest: 28,. Grassland/Wetland: 6,6. Ag: 51,. Dev: 8,7.] 1-1 Land Cover breakdon shon.45 here Total Area > 1 ac

4 Map Forest Clearing by Watehed Yor k Projected Direct Forest Impacts Forest Cleared [Acres] No development < > 5 (Max: 69) 8 a re Stateide Impact - Direct Forest Impacts Projection: 28, acres of forest cleared This map shos the projected forest area cleared for initial natural gas infrastructure development by HUC1 atehed. This metric represents the total area of forest, in acres, that ould underlie ne projected gas infrastructure and rights-of-ay (ell pads, pipelines, and roads). We used the infrastructure development footprint to extract the impacted land cover values representing forest cover from the NLCD raster.

5 Map Core Forest Loss by Watehed This map shos the impact of forest fragmentation as core forest lost due to natural gas infrastructure development. Core forest area as computed as forest area 1 mete from an existing forest edge. The core forest loss in acres is shon by shading and includes both direct loss and loss due to ne forest edges. The outlines and labels sho ateheds ith projected core forest loss greater than 1%. York 1.1% 2.1% 3.1% 2.1% 4.1% 3.2% 3.2% 6.4% 1.7% 2.7% 1.2% 1.5% 2.5% 3.6% 4.1% 2% 2.1% 5.3% 2.2% 3.4% Core Forest Loss by HUC1 Watehed 1.% - 3.% >3.% (Max 8.4) (Labels sho % by atehed) Core Forest Loss (Acres) No Development < > (Max: 5351) ar 8 5.3% 3.4% 1% 2% 1.5% Stateide Impact - Core Forest Loss Projection: 1,8 acres 1.4% 2.6% 3.8% 1% 3% 8.4% 7% 2.7% 2.9% 2.3% 3.9% 4.6% 1.1% 3.1% 3% 1.4% 2.7% 1.5% 1.7% 1.2%

6 Map Comparison: Existing developed area veus ne clearing for gas infrastructure N e Yo r k This map compares total initial clearing for gas infrastructure construction (ell pads, roads, gathering pipeline) ith existing developed area (lo, medium, and high density from the NLCD) by atehed. The ba shos the ne clearing area (i.e., exclusive of developed area) in each atehed. Shading shos the ratio of the ne clearing area to existing developed area. N e Yo r k Initial Clearing for Gas Infrastructure by Watehed Ratio: clearing to Existing developed 8 Counties > 5. (Max 34) (Existing developed area defined as NLCD codes 22,, and 24.) a r Area cleared Area_GasInfr None D e la Stateide Impact - Clearing for Gas Infrastructure Projection: 87, acres of ne clearing (i.e., impacts to all land uses except developed) 1, Scale (ac)

7 Map Stream Crossings by Gas Infrastructure Lake Erie N e Yo r k Upper Susquehanna 12 3 are 48 8 Stream Crossings by HUC1 Watehed 26 Crossings per1 sqmi Potomac None Mid-Atlantic Coastal 3r- Uppe C h e s Labels a p e asho k e # of PA stream crossings - 5 for ateheds ith 1 or more. D el a ar e Stateide Impact -Stream Crossings Projection: 3,572 stream crossings Monongahela Allegheny This metric shos the number of stream crossings attributed to Lne a k epipelines O n t a and r i o roads associated ith projected gas development. Crossing locations are inteections beteen gas gathering pipelines or roads and streams in the NHDPlus v2 database, hich includes nearly all perennial streams in PA. Most crossings of intermittent or ephemeral streams are not included.