extrACT

ExtrAct, a set of Internet-based, databasing, mapping and communications technologies for communities impacted by natural gas development, is a novel platform for community education and civic action.

Its objective is to create and distribute open-source, web-based tools for mapping, analyzing, and intervening in this industry based on supplementing data obtained from state and federal agencies with user generated reports, complaints, and experiences.

All of these tools, though accessible individually, will share information through a unified database. Given that these tools will be serving both urban and rural populations, we are also developing innovative paper and phone interfaces to the web-services. To develop these tools we are working with a network of lawyers, citizen’s alliances, national activist organizations and environmental health experts in Colorado, New Mexico, Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Texas.

How might communities use it?
By geographically displaying the data, ExtrAct tools provide a textured sense of how issues related to oil and gas differ among the legal, social, and physical landscapes of various communities. Regional views and rates of complaints might differ significantly, or a company may behave differently depending on the legal, social and physical place. The ExtrAct system will hopefully illustrate those differences and provide the means for geographic communities to generate information about their own particular conditions as well as allow them to connect with, learn from, and act in concert with other geographic communities that share similar issues or engage with similar companies. Through the ExtrAct tools users will be able to contact other users with issues related to theirs as well as experts who may be able to assist them. Likewise experts interested in oil and gas will be able to contact community groups and individuals reporting information potentially useful to them.

The tools’ source-code will be licensed with a Creative Commons or an alternative free and open source software license to encourage continued adaptation and optimization of the tools themselves. Eventually we aim that the tools will be adopted, served and adapted by the community groups that use them rather than require any long-term support from MIT. We have code repository that is currently accessible upon request.

At what stage of development is it?
As part of the tools’ structure and to speed development to meet the emerging needs of communities in the booming Marcellus Shale region (including parts of Ohio, New York, West Virginia and Pennsylvania), we are staggering the rollout of the tools. First, we are deploying the primarily web-based tool, Landman Report Card, to the urban group we are working with in Cleveland; we hope to then spread the tool to other citizen’s groups in the Marcellus Shale area. We have also begun testing of LRC in community groups in Texas, New Mexico and Colorado. We are currently working with communities in Ohio, New Mexico and Texas to develop a moderation system for LRC based on feed back received during testing. Once that moderation system is in place we will be going live with the site.

While rolling out LRC we are iteratively developing functions for another tool, Drill Well.