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
warren "There is a LOT in this post; first, thank you Dave for a very thorough analysis! I'm sure I'll have more to add, but to start with, a clarificatio..." | Read more » about 8 years ago
eustatic "wow " | Read more » about 8 years ago
warren "Yes! annchen is someone else, i guess. I didn't use @ so whoever that is doesn't get another email :-) " | Read more » over 8 years ago
eustatic "isn't Ann Chen @ann? " | Read more » over 8 years ago
eustatic "Epic Chen-terview " | Read more » over 8 years ago
eustatic "Yeah, Ann put the fire of deadline to me. well, no. i've never had a test done to determine this question of crude vs refined. i just thought that..." | Read more » over 8 years ago
eustatic "I owe Matej samples. Stevie gave me some brown jars, so i can divide the bulk samples and mail them to him. then, we can zap them independently! S " | Read more » over 8 years ago
warren "Cool; i mentioned isopropyl alcohol as a possible evaporate-able solvent in the comments on https://publiclab.org/notes/Matej/12-21-2015/first-pig-..." | Read more » over 8 years ago
warren "Tar Balls over time? Scott, I'd be really interested if you collected a set of a bunch of different tar ball spectra, esp. in different states of ..." | Read more » over 8 years ago
warren "We'd discussed using isopropyl alcohol at the Barnraising; I'd love to know if it can dissolve oil. Matt Pendergraft (@Matt_P) mentioned doing this..." | Read more » over 8 years ago
warren "Love this. Thanks Scott! One thing I'm thinking is that if there's one more expensive lab test done to determine that one sample is crude and not ..." | Read more » over 8 years ago
ernestootero "Another solvent may do the trick of de-sorbing the oil. It should be highly volatile. Hexane or Acetone? " | Read more » over 8 years ago
eustatic "Ha. These questions are painful. " | Read more » over 8 years ago
gretchengehrke "Fabulous post, Scott. Thanks! For each of these situations, would the process be to try to convince Louisiana DEQ that there is oil and that the oi..." | Read more » over 8 years ago
liz "Fantastic and entertaining write-up @eustatic -- thanks all! " | Read more » over 8 years ago
Becki "Came across this project in our own back yard via an OPB story today. Seems like they'd be likely collaborators. http://snocogreennews.org/trainwa..." | Read more » over 8 years ago
Matej "Hi Jeff. I took triplicate spectra of each oil, before mixing it with water and after recovering the oil from frozen water. You can find them at my..." | Read more » over 8 years ago
Matej "@pdhixenbaugh: There are different oil concentrations which can be detected by naked eye. We had a very interesting debate about this at this last ..." | Read more » over 8 years ago
Matej "HI Mary, I am not 100% familiar with methods of collecting oil from soil. I think @eustatic might know better. I saw he had some diluted soil sampl..." | Read more » over 8 years ago
warren "Cool, Matej! Do you have comparison sets of the pure unfrozen/undiluted samples alongside the frozen versions, and also alongside samples in minera..." | Read more » over 8 years ago
marlokeno "@marlokeno- Great work, Matej- Do you have any thoughts on applying your research to collecting samples from frozen soil? How will frozen earth af..." | Read more » over 8 years ago
pdhixenbaugh "@Matej Lots of interesting things here! Anecdotally from the spill response team I work with, it only takes a few drops of oil to create a sheen, s..." | Read more » over 8 years ago
HappyS5 "Hello! @Matej What a wonderful need. You will be a useful person in your community if something happens. In the latter part of your note, you me..." | Read more » over 8 years ago
warren "Hello Craig - what light are you using in your scans? I don't see the 405 nm peak from the blue laser; was this by chance a full spectrum white bulb? " | Read more » over 8 years ago