For years now we’ve heard individual reports about human and animal health impacts related to gas development but until now they have been dismissed as “anecdotal.”  That was until, Earthworks, a DC-based nonprofit, released the results of the largest health study in the Marcellus Shale region to date.
 
The study brings much needed quantifiable data to the discussion surrounding the health impacts of shale drilling and its related infrastructure.  Air and water tests accompanied the health data of 108 residents in 14 PA counties.  Butler county residents account for 11% of the participants.
 
The report shows a direct correlation between proximity to a facility (well, waste impoundment pit, compressor station) and the prevalence of symptoms. 
 

• In all counties except one (Bradford) the most common health symptom reported is sinus/respiratory problems.
• 40% of households (22/55) reported that pets and livestock began to have symptoms (such as seizures or losing hair) or suddenly fell ill and died after gas development began nearby.
• 15 of those surveyed stated that their symptoms lessened or disappeared when they were away from home.
• Members of 4 households moved to new locations due to gas drilling and several others stated that they would if their finances and jobs allowed it.

Read the full report http://www.earthworksaction.org/issues/detail/public_health_and_gas_development#.UKReVIZqMg8

The Third Annual Conference on the Health Effects of Shale Gas  Extraction, held on November 9, was hosted by the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health.  The following is a list of some of the research shared at the conference:  Seismicity and Water Quality Issues;  Bromide in the Allegheny River;  Origin and Fate of Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material (NORM) in Marcellus Shale Flowback/Produced Water; Worker Exposures;  Impacts of Gas Drilling on Human, Animal and Infant Health.   The session I found most informative was the last session of the day, which focused on guidance for persons with health concerns from water and air exposures during natural gas extraction.

David Brown, a public health toxicologist and director of Public Health Toxicology for Environment and Human Health, Inc., spoke about the lack of a public health presence in the evaluation of exposure hazards and health concerns related to this gas extraction process.  Not only do medical people not know what to do, they do not know what they don’t know, according to Brown.  He was clearly concerned about the lack of an orderly collection of data regarding health impacts.  And he emphatically stated when you have uncertain results and significant exposure, you stop the exposure.   He issued an urgent call, “we must do something.”

He listed the following as the most common symptoms of exposure:  skin rashes, breathing difficulties, sinus problems, nosebleeds, throat irritations, abdominal pain and cramps, nausea, vomiting, sleep disturbances and anxiety.  Persons are experiencing these health impacts who are not exposed to contaminated ground water, so toxic air is also affecting those near the gas fields.  Brown provided some suggestions for things to do to minimize impacts

For clean air, do the following:

•     Manage air ventilation of your house; consider use of filters and air cleaners

•     Don’t track toxic dust into your home

•     Clean your house often

Use clean water:

•     For cooking, showering and drinking

•     Get comprehensive water tests every 3-6 months; do not rely on a one time test

•     If water appears to burn skin and/or cause a rash, see a physician immediately.

Look for changes

•     Keep an environmental and health diary

•     Check water often for changes in conductivity

From my point of view, the research is far behind the rapid development of the gas industry.    Too many of us will be negatively impacted before the research catches up.  That is why David Brown’s recommendation makes so much sense:   when you have uncertain results and significant exposure, you stop the exposure.

The answer is yes!  Lois Gibbs, director of the Center for Health, Environment, spoke at the Day’s Inn in Butler, October 28, and suggested that hundreds of Love Canals are getting created in Butler County with the unconventional drilling for natural gas.  For the younger generation, Love Canal, near Niagara Falls, NY, was a community built on top of a toxic waste dump.  After increased health problems in children and adults, one brave young mother began a movement to uncover the causes and solutions.  Lois was that young mother. 

Lois drew parallels between the battles she has fought and what we are facing here in Butler County and throughout Pennsylvania.

·         The chemicals used in fracking are some of the same that were found migrating out of the 20,000 ton dumpsite at Love Canal.

·         The primary exposure root in Love Canal was evaporated chemicals in the air.   With fracking there are two main exposure routes, air and water, which is much worse.

·         The health impacts are similar to those being reported in homes near fracking operations:  skin rashes, reproductive problems, neurological problems, cancer and children with asthma and other diseases.

·         The belief that once the government learned the facts, they would step in and correct the problem and provide relief.  And that just was not so, at least at the beginning.

The community of Love Canal did their own health survey to find out how many of their neighbors were being affected.  They discovered  that 56% had experienced health impacts.  And most startling was that in a 2 year period, 22 women had become pregnant.  Only 4 delivered normal babies.   These findings were confirmed by the NY State Health Department.  However, they concluded that the birth defects  were not due to exposures to Love Canal, but a random clustering of genetically defected people.   The community quickly realized that although scientific research is critical, that research alone was not the answer to getting relief.

Another difficult truth was that in America it is legal to poison people with chemicals.  Corporations are given permits to release chemicals into the air, water and soils.  By exposing families to a little bit of chemicals from different points of discharge, corporations increase the risk of cancer and other diseases.   No one is looking at the cumulative impact of having all these chemicals released from different points of discharge, just as no one is looking at the cumulative impact of numerous wells and compression stations, plus gas processing plants, in a relatively small area.

Although Lois shared the shocking truth about what happened in Love Canal, she inspired those in attendance by sharing what she and her neighbors did to become part of the solution.   The way to win is go get enough people actively involved and focus the collective energy on a decision maker.  In their case they targeted the governor and made his life uncomfortable.  They let the public know that the Governor of NY was allowing good taxpaying citizens to suffer by dogging him with signs and protestors wherever he was speaking.   At every fundraiser he attended they  stood outside and handed flyers to the Governor’s largest donors, held prayer vigils, traveled in motorcades to the state capital with a symbolic coffin representing the death of their community and taking on a media campaign that focused on human interest stories to educate the public and put pressure on the Governor.

The one thing they did not do was say, “there is nothing we can do.  This industry is too powerful.”  They were victorious because the government paid to move 833 families out of Love Canal and started the Superfund to clean up toxic dump sites.  Gibbs’ emphatically stated that no one is going to protect you if they do not have to.  Her advice is to use the science and legal channels, but most importantly turn up the heat politically.  Education is important but action is what will turn the tide in favor of protecting health and wellbeing of communities. 

The following is a summary of some actions she suggested.

·         Pick the person in power who can give you what you want and create a campaign to dog this person with signs and protestors wherever he shows up.

·         Groups across the region, city and state need to come together to share resources and support actions wherever there is need.

·         Establish rules about not arguing if fracking should be banned, placed on a moratorium or better regulated.  The industry loves it when we get divided over this battle.   Agree that we want to prevent harm from fracking.

·         Decide which groups of people you want to bring on board.  Find out what they value by listening and create the strategies to bring them into the movement.

This workshop was co-sponsored by Center for Health, Environment and Justice (CHEJ)  and Marcellus Outreach Butler (MOB).

Website for CHEJ:  www.chej.org

Website for MOB:  www.marcellusoutreachbutler.org

  But it seems that people are starting to realize the full scope of this power grab.  In July the Commonwealth Court declared the zoning provision of act 13 unconstitutional. The PA Association of Township Supervisors has come out in opposition to the provision. So have over 65 local governments including four in Butler County.  When the PA Utility Commission (PUC) withheld close to $1,000,000 in impact fees in an apparent retaliation against the municipalities who challenged Act 13 in court, the Commonwealth Court again had to rein in big government by issuing a “cease and desist” order and declaring that the PUC has no authority to review local gas drilling ordinances.

The Corbett administration, the general assembly, and state agencies have overstepped their bounds time and time again by putting the profits of oil companies over the people and the laws of the Commonwealth and I for one am happy that the courts are rolling back their power grab.

J.M.B.

On Aug. 23, the PA DEP issued an “environmental health and safety” violation to Rex Energy for “failure to properly store, transport, process or dispose of a residual waste” in Lancaster Township, Butler County. (Note: “Residual waste” from hydraulic fracturing is generally toxic.) And on Oct. 24, another violation of the same type occurred at a Rex Energy well in Penn Township, Butler County.

I know this because my wife and I subscribe to an online service that continuously monitors the DEP violations database and sends us notifications of violations in our area.

This online service is a valuable resource, because the DEP is not legally required to report drilling violations to the public, nor to local officials, and so, for the most part, it doesn't. If I wanted to learn more about this violation, I would need to apply to DEP for a “file review” – a rather involved process which would include a trip to the Northwest District office in Meadville.

An in-depth analysis of DEP data by the PennEnvironment Research and Policy Center, “Risky Business: An Analysis of Marcellus Shale Gas Drilling Violations in Pennsylvania 2008-2011,” identified a total of 3,355 violations of environmental laws by 64 different Marcellus Shale gas drilling companies between January 1, 2008 and December 31, 2011. Of these violations, the Center identified 2,392 violations that likely posed a direct threat to the environment and were not reporting or paperwork violations. Of these thousands of violations, perhaps a handful have received any media attention.

In March, the supervisors of Center Township, Greene County, learned of a 480-gallon diesel spill into a local stream. The spill occurred in December. They learned about it because a reporter from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review did a violations file review. The supervisors were upset, saying that DEP should have notified them. Department officials told them that they wouldn't want to know about “every little spill.” “It isn't clear that DEP officials should be making that judgment if a 480-gallon spill went unreported to the public,” said Edward “Butch” Deter, chairman of the township's board of supervisors and president of the Center Township Volunteer Fire Department, Company 91.

Ed Barale, a supervisor in Amwell Township, Washington County, is also dissatisfied with DEP's lack of notification. DEP officials “don't tell us any more than they have to. I think we have a right to know. DEP keeps you in the dark, so I don't have much faith in them.” Eight Amwell residents are suing Range Resources and DEP over environmental problems they claim stem from violations committed by Range that the DEP did not report to the public.

Online services such as skytruth.org, epa-echo.gov and fractracker.org can help local residents to stay abreast of drilling violations in our area, and also, via skytruth, of new drilling permits that have been issued by the DEP for our area.

But wouldn't it be nice if the DEP would issue regular detailed drilling violation reports to all state media outlets, and especially to local officials and all residents within a mile or two of violation sites? One would think DEP would do this out of a sense of moral responsibility, or that state lawmakers would make it a legal requirement. If these violations were made public, maybe local residents would have a clearer, more realistic perception of the “safe and responsible drilling” taking place in their communities.  

j.p.m.