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This study will focus on selected gas shale’s, geological and geochemical properties in Alabama’s Black Warrior Basin, which contains Cambrian through Mississippian shales; these gas-shales that may potentially produce up to 800 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. This study was performed from a multidisciplinary standpoint where several important aspects of gas-shale production were examined where both industrial and environmental concerns of gas-shale were addressed. Environmental concerns were restricted to aspects of gas-shale production that could potentially contaminate groundwater. Considering industry concerns, special attention was paid to the hydrocarbon development in each of the gas-shales studied. To do this, several techniques were utilized to (1) characterize the variations in gas-shale mineralogy’s, (2) quantify the concentration of trace elements (e.g., those with potential impacts to drinking water), (3) characterize and correlate key organic compounds (i.e., biomarkers) extracted from shales, (4) model the thermal history and hydrodynamic evolution of the basin, and (5) understand how new regulations involving hydraulic fracturing may potentially affect the industrial practices of protecting groundwater supplies