CUMBERLAND — After plunging into the study of natural gas production from Marcellus shale, students from Mountain Ridge High School’s AP Environmental Science class took a survey, and the results of that survey showed many of those students believed in a cautious approach to drilling.

The class research included hands-on time in Waynesburg, Pa., where students conducted interviews and observed truck traffic in an area where Marcellus shale drilling fever resembles what one observer has called Klondike gold rush proportions.

Their study was guided by teacher Thomas Kozikowski.

One discovery students made was concerned with crime. Crime has grown in the Waynesburg area over the past few years, and police officers attributed some of that increase to shale drilling crews. Many workers “are brought in from Texas and other Western States and many of them are in their 20s and 30s without families,” one officer told students. That has led to an increase in bar fights, alcohol abuse and drug trafficking, according to the student’s report. Students even stationed themselves on Main Street in Waynesburg to take a count of the number of 18-wheelers passing by in an hour — there were 50. The number of trucks coming through town was one of the major concerns citizens of the town mentioned to the students.

On the other hand, students found some residents are making big money. One farmer in the area signed on for an initial $250,000 lease bonus to allow a firm to drill on his property and now takes in $15,000 a month in royalties.

The Mountain Ridge students presented their findings to Allegany County commissioners during the commission’s regular Thursday evening meeting. Four of the 22 students involved in the project made the presentation at the commission meeting: Ben Meredith, David Parnes, Meghan Coburn and Riya Shah. All said they enjoyed the research process on a topic of current interest.

Meredith said one surprise was that the fracking fluid that returned to the surface contained uranium. He’s planning a college major in geology, so the research was especially interesting for him.  

“It’s a current issue and everyone should be more informed on the process,” said Shah.

Even though speaking at a commission meeting wasn’t part of the original plan, Coburn enjoyed the learning and sharing of information. “I’m glad I got to share my opinions, I have some pretty strong ones,” said Coburn. Parnes said learning how much there is to the subject was fascinating, especially the “impact this resource will have.”

After four months of research that added up to about 1,000 hours, the 22 AP environmental science students took an anonymous survey on issues associated with Marcellus shale drilling for natural gas. The first question set the tone for the cautious approach most students preferred. The first question asked when hydraulic fracturing should begin in Allegany County, 18 percent of students said frack now, and 78 percent said fracking should be on hold until the EPA issues its planned report in 2014 or later. From their observations in Pennsylvania, 91 percent of students said Pennsylvania’s regulations and enforcement on fracking needed to be improved.

The possibility of using carbon dioxide gas to more safely extract natural gas from Marcelllus shale is also reviewed in the student’s research, and while students cited a lack of data, they said that the carbon dioxide process seemed promising.

Among the things students learned about Pennsylvania’s troubles with fracking are that residents in the town of Carmichael must boil their water because of problems with fracking flowback fluid getting into the municipal water supply. Most students also believed a tax should be imposed on extracted natural gas, mixing of chemicals for fracking should be done offsite, that drilling should be prohibited in sensitive areas and that gas producing counties should get a higher return from tax revenue than other counties, according to the report. Ninety-five percent of the students were OK with a few research wells being drilled locally.

Commissioners were impressed by the presentation.

“It speaks volumes about their quality of their instructor,” said Commissioner Bill Valentine. “It’s great to see students motivated like this.”

Their research paper is available on the school’s website at www.mountainridgehigh.com.

Contact Matthew Bieniek at mbieniek@times-news.com.