Using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles to Evaluate Revegetation Success on Natural Gas Pipelines.

The Appalachian region of the United States has experienced significant growth in the production of natural gas. Developing the infrastructure required to transport this resource to market creates significant disturbances across the landscape, as both well pads and transportation pipelines must be created in this mountainous terrain. Midstream infrastructure, which includes pipeline rights-of-way and associated infrastructure, can cause significant environmental degradation, especially in the form of sedimentation.

Land Cover Change Associated with Unconventional Oil and Gas Development in the Appalachian Region.

Unconventional oil and gas (UOG) wells from the Marcellus and Utica shale plays have expanded greatly across the Appalachian region of the United States (US) since the early 2000s. This region is now the single largest natural gas producing area of the US. The local and regional impacts of this industry on the landscape make it critical to understand for future planning efforts.

Energy production and well site disturbance from conventional and unconventional natural gas development in West Virginia.

Natural gas production from the Appalachian region has reached record levels, primarily due to the rapid increase in development of unconventional oil and gas (UOG) resources. In 2020, over 65,000 conventional wells reported natural gas production; however, this only represented 5% of the total natural gas produced. The remaining 95% of natural gas production can be attributed to 3,901 UOG wells.

Evaluating the effectiveness of a logger safety training program.

Introduction: Logger safety training programs are rarely, if ever, evaluated as to their effectiveness in reducing injuries.

Method: Workers' compensation claim rates were used to evaluate the effectiveness of a logger safety training program, the West Virginia Loggers' Safety Initiative (LSI).

Results: There was no claim rate decline detected in the majority (67%) of companies that participated in all 4 years of the LSI.

Logging injuries for a 10-year period in Jilin Province of the People's Republic of China.

Problem: Logging continues to be a major source of injuries in northeast China. This paper describes logging-related injuries in the Jilin Province of the People's Republic of China.

Methods: Logging fatalities and nonfatal injuries were summarized from 1981 to 1990 in Jilin.