Oil and Gas Accountability Toolkit
oil

The Public Lab non-profit hosts the **Oil and Gas Accountability Toolkit**, a collection of resources and a coalition of people working around the world on oil and gas issues. This toolkit goes beyond just "tools" to include: * peer support networks * [stories](/blog) of change and of challenges * ways to [build a community of practice](/facilitation) for sustained collaboration on a problem To see a full list of monitoring methods related to oil and gas, [click here](https://publiclab.org/methods#oil-and-gas). ### Coalitions What follows are a range of different topic-specific coalitions we've helped to bring together around a range of oil and gas related issues. We’ve learned more than ever to rely on the creativity and diverse skill-sets of contributors to develop new and unexpected ways of achieving goals. The thousands of people around the world who make up the Public Lab network **bring incredible expertise and a willingness to plug in and tackle problems** and continue to inspire us in their power and capacity. It’s our continuing responsibility to help them recognize and form alliances, and to solve problems together. ### Frac sand mining These resources are built around work supported by the [11th Hour Project](https://11thhourproject.org) which [focused on the issue of frac sand mining](/frac-sand). Since then, a range of projects have evolved to address different aspects of the issue. **** ## Air Monitoring ![microscope](https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/022/880/large/OI000139_2.jpg) ### Microscope The Basic Microscope project on Public Lab was born from people’s interest in being able to visualize particulate matter that is known to be harmful for human and livestock health. Several local community members recognized the challenges in advocating with purely numerical data; when people can’t visualize and directly see threats, it can be easier to ignore. [wikis:microscopes] ### Air sampling Building on work by the Bucket Brigade, we've documented and collected several different techniques for collecting air samples for processing at a lab. [wikis:air-sampling] ### Measuring particles There are many different ways to measure particulate pollution. Read below to find out more. [wikis:particulate-sensing-overview] ### Visual emission monitoring Using your eyes or a camera to monitor emissions is a powerful type of monitoring which has several EPA methods associated with it. [wikis:visual-monitoring] ![Screen_Shot_2018-04-16_at_2.57.43_PM.png](https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/024/620/large/Screen_Shot_2018-04-16_at_2.57.43_PM.png) ### Hydrogen Sulfide (above image by @ErikHanley11) [wikis:h2s-overview] ### Odor Reporting [wikis:odor] **** ![stormwater](/system/images/photos/000/024/626/large/Screen_Shot_2018-04-16_at_3.42.04_PM.png) ## Water Monitoring A wide range of sample-based, electronic, and other methods of monitoring water quality have been compiled on Public Lab, reflecting a range of efforts across our community. [wikis:water-monitoring] ![timelapse](/system/images/photos/000/018/073/large/Screenshot_2016-09-19_at_2.32.15_PM.png) ### Photo documentation Public Lab work began with photographic monitoring using [balloons and kites](/balloon-mapping). We've grown our coalition around a number of other ways that powerful visual evidence can be produced through photography. [wikis:photo-monitoring] ### Turbidity A range of techniques has been compiled around turbidity monitoring: [wikis:turbidity] ![datalogger](/system/images/photos/000/020/770/large/Screenshot_2017-06-12_at_3.06.25_PM.png) ### Datalogging A surprisingly broad coalition of projects has developed around Public Lab for logging data from different sources. See the main [Data Logging page](/data-logging) for more. [wikis:datalogger] **** ![soil sampling](/system/images/photos/000/024/627/large/Screen_Shot_2018-04-16_at_3.44.24_PM.png) ## Soil Monitoring We're developing initial soil sampling and monitoring techniques and resources under the "soil testing" topic: [wikis:soil-testing] **** ## Questions [questions:oil-and-gas]...


Author Comment Last activity Moderation
bsugar "would the ones from ebay that I posted in the comment above be a good replacement? Cats you say? Then the cat gobo is for sure 1000% necessary. W..." | Read more » over 10 years ago
mathew "you just want a beam. the other tops that are cats and stars and octopuses are not helpful. " | Read more » over 10 years ago
bsugar "also, the recommended laser pointer comes with 5 different tops. are those necessary or will the standard tops do? http://www.ebay.com/itm/405nm-..." | Read more » over 10 years ago
mathew "actually, we did buy out all the rest of their stock. " | Read more » over 10 years ago
bsugar "is this the one that is shown in the picture at the top? It's 45mm tall, and 3.5ml. http://www.ebay.com/itm/STANDARD-GLASS-CUVETTE-OPEN-TOP-WITH-..." | Read more » over 10 years ago
bsugar "American Science and Surplus is out of the square glass bottles: http://www.sciplus.com/p/WHITCAP-BOTTLE_48212 I called them and they said that th..." | Read more » over 10 years ago
stevie "Awesome Scott! Thanks for posting. What about what we found with the Spec? I could post a follow up note on some of the issues we ran into there, o..." | Read more » over 10 years ago
eustatic " " | Read more » over 10 years ago
eustatic "https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5233/14324445688_189d7e59a6_h.jpg I guess it is fluorescing! " | Read more » over 10 years ago
warren "Also why does the laser show more in the coal dust vial? Are you sure it isn't fluorescing? Could you take a clearer photo? " | Read more » over 10 years ago
warren "Wow, great work. For Grand Isle Coffee 10x (the one where the laser doesn't go all the way through), it looks like you could dilute it further. Or ..." | Read more » over 10 years ago
liz "Some of the links we referred to: http://publiclab.org/notes/mathew/03-14-2014/oil-fluorescence-testing-station-from-a-spectrometer-box http://pub..." | Read more » over 10 years ago
warren "Tip on 405nm UV LED which then has wide-band RGB phosphors for visible light: http://www.open-photonics.com/featured-technologies/high-cri-leds " | Read more » almost 11 years ago
warren "Just posted a series of steps in great photos here: http://publiclab.org/wiki/oil-testing-kit " | Read more » almost 11 years ago
warren "Liz - you may have to dilute these in mineral oil to get the laser to shine through. There'll be a "how dark" step in the guide eventually... " | Read more » almost 11 years ago
warren "Adding this to the comments of the post too, but i also recommend: cotton swabs bring rubber gloves and plenty of mineral oil! and extra AAA batt..." | Read more » almost 11 years ago
liz "Sure! we are just starting out with cataloging common oils, so i think a broad selection would be good. We also know that the more complicated the ..." | Read more » almost 11 years ago
jholmes5 "Looking forward to it! Would thread cutting oil be good? I think it has some extra sulfur in it. Jay " | Read more » almost 11 years ago
warren "Alpha oil testing kits now available! http://store.publiclab.org/products/spectrometry-sampling-kit " | Read more » almost 11 years ago
mathew "For everyone who wanted a sampling kit, the parts for 20 have arrived. e-mail us and we'll share a private purchase link kits@publiclab.org " | Read more » almost 11 years ago
warren "Well, it's your call -- it'd be great to test some residue and we've worked with tarballs from crude that've been sitting on beaches for weeks in t..." | Read more » almost 11 years ago
marlokeno "Markdown liz and warren, I took those photos Friday afternoon, February 7, in Weaver MN. The railroad has acknowledged that there was a spill; I've..." | Read more » almost 11 years ago
liz "Hi Marlokeno, Did you go out with a clean/sterile glass or plastic container and take some samples? " | Read more » almost 11 years ago
warren "Marlokeno - thank you for highlighting and documenting this awful looking situation. When did you take the photos? Did you take samples of any of t..." | Read more » almost 11 years ago