CARROLLTON, Ohio — The George Gund Foundation from Cleveland announced that it has awarded $150,000 grants to two organizations that will begin analyzing community impacts from shale gas development in Ohio.

Carroll Concerned Citizens will host one of the grant recipients, FracTracker, at its Sept. 6 meeting.

Caitlin Johnson, a Fellow at the George Gund Foundation said, “We funded FracTracker because we felt there is a real lack of transparency and understanding about all the issues surrounding shale gas drilling. FracTracker is an unbiased source of information, data and analysis. A tool like this is sorely needed as the debate around hydraulic fracturing is all too often defined by ideology instead of facts.”

The FracTracker Alliance is a non-profit organization dedicated to enhancing the public’s understanding of the global shale gas industry by collecting, interpreting, and sharing data and visualizations through their website, www.FracTracker.org. They partner with citizens, organizations and institutions – allied in a quest for objective, helpful information – to perpetuate awareness and support actions that protect public health, the environment, and socioeconomic well-being.

Carroll Concerned Citizens’ meeting will be held on Thursday Sept. 6 at 7pm at the Church of Christ – Christian Disciples, 353 Moody Ave. The meeting is free and open to the public.