The Colcom Foundation last week announced the first round of recipients of its Marcellus Environmental Fund grants.

The first batch of organizations received portions of a $900,000 gift from a $1 million fund that recently increased to $1.3 million because of enthusiastic local feedback.

Pittsburgh-based Colcom was founded by the late Cordelia May, heiress to the Mellon family fortune and distributes environmentally focused local grants, typically targeting population issues. John Rohe, the foundation's vice president of philanthropy, said energy consumption and resource usage are just the flip side of the overpopulation issue.

Rohe said the foundation recognized the deep legacy costs absorbed from coal mining in southwestern Pennsylvania. With Pittsburgh quickly becoming a hub of natural gas production in the Northeast, Colcom hopes to circumvent further environmental degradation by providing upfront funding for the study of the effects of the industry.

"We take interest in the integrity and respectability of Marcellus Shale drilling," he said. "We want to assure that we can adopt the highest level of respect for our surroundings and for human health."

To achieve that goal, Colcom distributed its first batch of funds to several Pittsburgh-area organizations that mostly aim to monitor regional air and water quality.

The Group Against Smog and Pollution (GASP) received a grant to collect data on air emissions from the natural gas industry and develop recommendations for regulations and best practices.

GASP director Rachel Filippini said she hopes to get citizens involved in their permit review work to extend the organization's reach. She hopes the group's work can moderate the fast growth of natural gas drilling in Pennsylvania, allowing regulations to catch up.

"Let's slow this down; let's make sure we have regulations and precautions in place before environmental degradation happens," Filippini said. "We want to make sure that this industry has enough environmental controls and regulations in place so that any drilling can be done responsibly."

The Washington County Conservation District plans to put its Colcom funds to use by monitoring the temperature, pH, conductivity and water level of the region's major streams. It hopes to serve as a watchdog for natural gas companies in the area.

"Most of the gas drillers and the haulers of frack water are responsible, but just like any industry you always have a few that want to take shortcuts," said Gary Stokum, president of the Washington County Watershed Alliance. "We may not find anything. I hope we don't."

Other grant recipients include the Clean Water Fund, League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania Citizen Education, Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture, Conemaugh Valley Conservancy, Elk County Conservation District, Evergreen Conservancy, Greene County Watershed Alliance, McKean County Conservation District and Mountain Watershed Association.

Chuck Christen, director of operations for the University of Pittsburgh's Center for Healthy Environments and Communities, applauded Colcom's decisions to distribute the grants. The center manages FracTracker, a Web tool that allows users to find geological data related to gas extraction activities.

"It seems that the Colcom Foundation has a vision of the significant amount of drilling for and production of natural gas to come to Pennsylvania and sees a need for a network of water monitoring projects so that regular surveillance on our streams and water supply can be monitored," said Christen in an e-mail.