Media Alert: New Report on Shale Oil and Gas Development in Texas

New Report Finds Wide Range of Environmental and Community Impacts of Shale Oil and Gas Development in Texas

AUSTIN, TX, JUNE 13, 2017/TAMEST/ — A new, comprehensive report on the impacts of shale oil and gas development in Texas by a diverse set of experts finds a wide range of both benefits and consequences for the state’s environment and communities. The Academy of Medicine, Engineering and Science of Texas (TAMEST) convened and sponsored this project in an effort to collect the best science available and summarize what we do and don’t know about shale development impacts in Texas. The report also offers recommendations for future research, identifies opportunities for greater collaboration and proposes consideration of policies to help mitigate these impacts.

TAMEST is Texas’ premier scientific organization, bringing together the state’s best and brightest scientists and researchers. TAMEST membership includes all Texas-based members of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine and the state’s Nobel Laureates.

This new report from the TAMEST Shale Task Force focuses on six key impact areas: seismicity, land, air, water, transportation and economic and social impacts.

“The goal of the TAMEST Shale Task Force report is to provide a clear, science-based assessment of these impacts and the gaps in our current knowledge of them,” says Task Force Chair Dr. Christine Ehlig-Economides. “It is hoped that this report will allow Texans and other states and nations to learn and benefit from the Texas experience.”

The new report—Environmental and Community Impacts of Shale Development in Texas—will be released Monday, June 19, 2017, at 12:00 a.m. Central Time, and will be available at tamest.org.

The TAMEST Shale Task Force report is a review of existing peer-reviewed scientific literature, following the same processes used by the National Academies to produce their scholarly reports.

The Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation also provided funding for this project. No funding was sought or accepted from oil and gas industry interests.

Learn more about the TAMEST Shale Task Force: https://tamest.org/shale-task-force/

Learn more about TAMEST: https://tamest.org/who-we-are/

Communications contacts:

Terrence Henry
Director of Communications
The Academy of Medicine, Engineering & Science of Texas (TAMEST)
thenry@austin.utexas.edu
512-471-9121

Angela Martín-Barcelona
Marketing & Communications Manager
The Academy of Medicine, Engineering & Science of Texas (TAMEST)
ambarcelona@utexas.edu
512-471-0575