West Virginia University began the nation’s first integrated research initiative on shale gas drilling last week after months of study and preparation in an effort to monitor well activity.

The well is the cornerstone of the MSEEL, Marcellus Shale Energy and Environmental Laboratory, which was launched by the university last year in partnership with Ohio State University, Northeast Natural Energy, the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Energy Technology Laboratory.

The five-year, $11 million project is the first comprehensive field study of shale gas resources in which scientists will study the shale drilling process from beginning to end, a press release from WVU states.

On Friday, Charleston-based Northeast Natural Energy drilled a tip hole for the well at the Morgantown Industrial Park using an air-rotary rig, which drills more than 6,000 feet into the earth. The well is cased following West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection standards for Marcellus Shale Development.

Teams of scientist from WVU and other institutes will use the well and surface location to monitor the impact shale gas drilling and production activities have over an extended time. The well will also be used to evaluate new technologies for increased efficiency and resource development.

“The project represents the power of collaboration and the potential for research with great impact,” said Brian Anderson, director of WVU’s Energy Institute. “The work that starts this weekend is the next big step in this groundbreaking project. It is exciting to see the progress that has been made to this point, and it is a real testament to the hard work that all the project partners have done thus far.”

Scientists will monitor baseline air, noise, light and water at the site. Those assessments will continue through the life cycle of the project. Research teams can also gather a massive amount of geological, environmental and other data continually from active wells, Anderson said.

While drilling the science well, 100 feet of core sample and roughly 50 one-inch side-wall core samples were extracted for geophysical, geochemical and microbiological investigation. Additionally, the research team created image logs using these samples to construct a picture of the Marcellus in the deep subsurface, which is necessary to gain a better understanding of the organic content and characteristics of the shale formation, WVU officials said.

Scientific instruments in the wells will make geoseismic measurements of the subsurface during the fracture stimulation process. Water and subsurface fluid will be analyzed before, during and after drilling and fracturing of the horizontal wells. Fiber optics in the production wells will monitor gas and fluids on an inch-by-inch basis along the entire length of the horizontal wells.

“What makes this field laboratory unique is that we are collecting the data in real time on site over the entire life cycle of the drilling, completion and production,” said Timothy Carr, WVU’s Marshall Miller professor of geology and director of the lab. “We have brought together scientists, engineers, ecologists, public health professionals, social scientists and more to gain a comprehensive look at everything from the strength of the rock to the economic impact on communities.”

Before 2000, unconventional oil and gas resources like shale gas were commercially unobtainable. Now new technologies have allowed the natural gas trapped inside formations of shale — sedimentary rock found deep underground — to be accessed.

Shale gas is released by drilling a deep vertical well followed by drilling horizontally. Next, hydraulic fracturing uses pressurized water, sand and chemicals to crack subsurface rock and create fissures that release the natural gas, which is returned to the surface along with produced water.

In just the past seven years, breakthroughs in technology have reduced the number of drill sites required to cover a reservoir area, cut back the amount of time required to drill by 50 percent, and decreased the amount of waste. These advances have translated into a reduced surface impact, less traffic on site and diminished emissions, a WVU press release states.