Towanda By The Numbers

Jessica Pupovac/NPR

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I’m a Chicago-based investigative reporter, radio and digital producer, fact-checker and advocate for government transparency. I specialize in covering the environment, public health, and criminal justice issues.

I aim to tell stories that increase understanding, hold the powerful to account, and examine the human impacts of policy choices, particularly on vulnerable populations.

I am currently a Social Justice News Nexus fellow at the Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications at Northwestern University, and am working on a series of digital projects with WTTW, Chicago’s PBS station.

My work has been featured on NPR’s Morning Edition and All Things Considered, and in The Chicago Reader, In These Times, and NPR.org.

I previously worked as a radio and digital producer for NPR’s Morning Edition, where I collaborated frequently on cross-platform, deep-dive series with the investigations team.

I earned a Master’s degree in investigative reporting from the University of Missouri in 2012.

I feel fortunate to work in a profession where I am constantly able to learn, meet new people, challenge my assumptions and, hopefully, contribute to public understanding.

December 11, 2012 | 12:00 PM

StateImpact Pennsylvania’s latest project, BoomTown, documents how natural gas drilling has affected Towanda, Bradford County. Click here to watch and listen to the report.

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The Figures Behind BoomTown

Bradford County’s natural gas drilling boom began in earnest in 2008, and has grown exponentially every year, until now.

Explore the facts and figures to see who is–and isn’t–reaping the benefits in Towanda Borough, Bradford County and the surrounding state of Pennsylvania.

Source: Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection

Figures shown reflect the first year that new wells appear in DEP data.

The Economy

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics

Source: Pennsylvania Department of Revenue

BUSINESS ESTABLISHMENTS IN TOWANDA

2005: 247
2006: 256
2007: 251
2008: 262
2009: 274
2010: 279

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

Source: Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry

The above chart shows six sectors among 19 sectors from the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry dataset.

Crime in Bradford County

The criminal caseload increased by 40 percent from 2009 to 2011.

Bradford County Correctional Center Commitments:

2008: 895
2009: 1,002
2010: 1,065
2011: 1,173

Source: Bradford County District Attorney’s exhibit presented to the Pennsylvania State Senate Law and Justice Committee, June 7, 2012

Towanda’s Traffic Problem

The average number of trucks driving along U.S. Highway 6, north of Towanda, each day increased 134 percent from 2007 to 2010, from 634 trucks per day to 1,482.
The number of automobile crashes increased by 25 percent between 2007 and 2010, and 152 percent more of those crashes included “heavy trucks.”

Source: Pennsylvania Department of Transportation