Using a distributive, "crowdsourcing" methodology, Shale Watch collects individual, fact-checked reports concerning drilling operations and aggregates this information into a single, user-friendly platform.

Citizens can anonymously report an incident to our database through our website or Ushahidi's mobile phone app. They can be a witness at the scene, tag their exact GPS location, and upload pictures and videos instantly. Have you witnessed dumping of industrial waste? Has your local road or bridge been damaged by the overuse of industrial-sized trucks? Do you have evidence of water contamination in your water or local streams? Shale Watch allows users to bring the incident into the limelight.

Our interactive system also enables users to rate the validity of an incident. Every user has the ability to rate the credibility of a reported incident to add to or detract from its credibility. This, in essence, subjects each report to a popularity contest that identifies fact from fiction.

To achieve greater regulation and accountability, we need communities from West Virginia to New York openly engaged. Shale Watch is only one part of a growing movement toward greater transparency and accountability - and it starts with your involvement.

To learn more about how to get involved, click here. 

By increasing industry transparency through our user-driven public reporting and monitoring service, Shale Watch strives to provide stronger incentives for drilling operation best practices, improve local and state oversight capacity and standards, and open a new means of communication between the public, their elected officials, and industry leadership.

Shale Watch and its associated site, shalewatch.crowdmap.com, is an open-source and collaborative reporting tool for citizens to develop an accessible resource for incident reports concerning natural gas drilling. As a voluntary association, Shale Watch is configured so as to allow anyone with an internet connection to add content through its reporting system. Users should be advised that reports available on Shale Watch are not always reviewed or confirmed to guarantee accurate or reliable incident reports.