ABOVE: A well pad for a hydraulically fractured gas well lies at the end of a gravel access road near Plum Run, W.Va. Aerial photography flight courtesy of SouthWings.

The Rev. Brad Bennett points to a patch on the snow-covered ground and says, “My spot’s right there.”

The “spot” is Bennett’s plot in a tiny cemetery on family farmland near Jane Lew, West Virginia, where he plans one day to rest in peace next to his grandparents, two uncles and an aunt. Of course, since the cemetery lies next to a fracking well pad, the interred may be the only ones getting any peace.

Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, pumps millions of gallons of water, sand and chemicals underground to free natural gas from shale deposits. In addition to the commotion from the initial drilling, a steady stream of trucks travel to and from the well site, carrying pipes for the pipeline as well as all the materials used in the process.

West Virginia sits on the Marcellus Shale, a vast rock formation stretching from New York to Virginia and estimated to be the second-largest natural gas find in the world. The type of wells made to drill into the shale can have up to six lines running horizontally out of each one.

The Rev. Brad Bennett walks through the cemetery on his family's farm, just yards from the service pad for a hydraulically fractured gas well near Jane Lew, W.Va.

The Rev. Brad Bennett opens the gate for the small cemetery on his family's farm.

According to the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection, 3,513 horizontal well permits have been issued in the state since 2013. More than 600 miles of pipeline span the state.

Each side of Bennett’s family owns farmland with a well pad on it. His father’s side owns the mineral rights to their land, so they get regular royalty checks from the gas company. On the farm where the cemetery is located — owned by the Reeds, his mother’s side — someone else has the mineral rights. They only received a one-time payment for land use.

Mineral rights are complicated. Before mining grew in prominence, land deeds included the rights to any minerals beneath the surface. It became more common for mineral rights to be severed from surface rights, meaning that oil and gas companies could contract with someone owning mineral rights to build a well on a property even if another person owns the actual land. Companies are often able to force a sale through eminent domain against protests from the owner.