Health Impacts

Health Impacts | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Research | Statewide PA

PA Marcellus Health Study by Geisinger Turns into Data Warehouse
January 6, 2014January 6, 2014

In August 2012 two major health system networks announced, to much fanfare, that they would partner to launch a multi-year study of the health impacts on residents living near Marcellus Shale drilling sites (see Health Care Systems Partner to Study Marcellus Impacts). To which we said, great! It’s about time some real science is done instead of pseudo-scientific fantasies spun by people like professors Howarth and Ingraffea at Cornell University. But we quickly learned that Geisinger Health Systems and the other participants in this new study were not willing to fund it themselves–they have their hands out and want someone else to foot the bill. So we’ve had some enjoyment over the past year and a half, poking fun at the non-study study (see PA Marcellus Health Study Still No Pulse – Needs Extra $24M).

Time for an update from the AP on the non-study study. The short version: The comprehensive “study” of health impacts has now morphed into a “data warehouse” for researchers as Geisinger and the other partners continue to putter. Oh, and they still have their hands out…
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MDN’s Top 10 Most Important Stories of 2013 – Our View
December 31, 2013December 31, 2013

Yes it’s trite and certainly overdone, but hey, it’s the last day of 2013 and a slow news day. So MDN editor Jim Willis thought he would put together a list of what he considered to be the top 10 Marcellus and Utica Shale stories from 2013. It’s a look into what we believe, based on your input and feedback, to be the most relevant and important stories from this year. Enjoy!…
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Accidents | Energy Companies | Health Impacts | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Range Resources Corp | Washington County

Did Range Resources Cover-Up Spill at Well Site in PA?
December 13, 2013December 13, 2013

Here we go again. A lawsuit has been filed against Range Resources in Amwell Township (Washington County), PA by a group of neighbors close to the Yeager well drilled by Range with claims that they were “sickened” (no word on how) by drilling at the well site. The big news is that there was an alleged spill at the drill site in 2010 (three years ago!) and that the spill was “covered up” and not properly reported by Range. A juicy rumor like that is all PA Rep. Jesse “fake online ID” White needed to demand that state Attorney General Kathleen Kane (an anti-driller) and a host of other government officials should investigate this forthwith. Jesse, you may recall, was caught red-handed using fake online IDs to impersonate and slander his own pro-drilling constituents. He still hasn’t had the decency to resign and the Democrat Party in PA hasn’t had the decency to remove him from office. A new low in PA politics.

Here’s the rumor about a three year-old spill that may or may not have happened and the dreaded cover-up by the evil villain, ~~Snidely Whiplash~~ Range Resources (sarcasm intended):
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Health Impacts | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

PA Doctor’s Act 13 Lawsuit Tossed Out, Judge Says No “Standing”
October 28, 2013October 28, 2013

Last Wednesday a Pennsylvania federal judge ruled against a doctor who sued the state over it’s new Act 13 law (passed in 2012). The new law requires doctors to sign a confidentiality agreement before discussing chemicals workers may have been exposed to as part of the drilling (specifically fracking) process in shale drilling.

U.S. District Judge A. Richard Caputo dismissed the lawsuit filed by Dr. Alfonso Rodriguez saying he hadn’t proven he had been harmed by the law (i.e., no “standing”)…
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Health Impacts | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

Cuomo Says NY Doing a Good Job on Frack Health Review (LOL)
October 11, 2013October 11, 2013

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. Oh, sorry, but we just could not stop laughing when we saw a quote made by Gov. Andy “he without a spine” Cuomo yesterday. With respect to the now year-long health review of proposed fracking regulations in New York–a review that was supposed to be done “within the next few weeks” back in February–Cuomo actually, incredulously said (please, try not to roll on the ground laughing like we just did): “I think we’re doing a good job on it.”

Andy must have a REALLY low opinion about the intelligence of the average NY voter…

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Health Impacts | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Research | Statewide PA

New Study: No Increase in Childhood Cancer Rates Near PA Fracking
October 10, 2013October 10, 2013

More bad news for anti-drillers. A recently published study in the peer-reviewed Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (July 2013 issue) looks at incidences of childhood cancers in Pennsylvania–in areas with hydraulic fracturing. The study, titled “Childhood Cancer Incidence in Pennsylvania Counties in Relation to Living in Counties With Hydraulic Fracturing Sites” (full copy embedded below) looks at the rates of cancer both before fracking begins, and then again after fracking has been going on.

And what did this scientific study find? Statistically, there are no increases in childhood cancers in areas where there is fracking. Bad news for anti-drillers–good news for everyone else, including “the children”…
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Air Quality | Broome County | Health Impacts | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

NY Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo’s Anti-Drilling Snit Fit
October 10, 2013October 10, 2013

New York Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo is a Democrat from the Binghamton, NY area, a member of the Assembly Committee on Environmental Conservation and a member of the governor’s High-Volume Hydraulic Fracturing Advisory Panel–appointed to the panel by Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Joe Martens. Her opinion on fracking matters—she carries influence in Albany. She’s also anti-drilling, as MDN pointed out in March (see NY Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo: Fracking Friend or Foe?). She coyly attempts to straddle the fence with her language, but her actions speak so loudly we no longer hear her political double-speak.

Once again Lupardo proves her anti-drilling creds. She has just sent (yet another) letter to DEC Commissioner Martens (full copy embedded below). This time Lupardo wants to let Martens know she’s miffed that he won’t assemble the fracking advisory panel per her previous request earlier this year, and to let him know she thinks the never-ending health review of fracking regulations by State Health Dept. Commissioner Nirav Shah should be put on immediate hold. To which we say, really? The health review is already on hold! More on Lupardo’s anti-drilling snit fit to Martens…
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Health Impacts | Industrywide Issues | Sand/Proppant

HalenHardy Wins Ben Franklin EHS Award for Silica Air Shower
September 25, 2013September 30, 2013

Congratulations to HalenHardy, a company that makes a mobile air shower to quickly remove silica dust from workers’ uniforms. HalenHardy is the recipient (yesterday) of the Ben Franklin’s Shale Gas Innovation & Commercialization Center’ first annual Shale Gas Environmental, Health, & Safety Award. MDN editor Jim Willis was in the audience at the Shale Insight conference to witness the award.

Jim later spotted and congratulated co-founder and CEO Donnie Beaver as he sat on the exhibit hall floor up to his neck in booth paraphernalia. The company is building a fully operational demo unit for the exhibition hall available starting Wednesday. (Jim plans to take a turn.) The official announcement from the Ben Franklin Center:

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Health Impacts | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

NY Eco Group Sues Health Dept/Shah to Release Frack Health Study
September 18, 2013September 18, 2013

MDN has made it plain we believe New York State Dept. of Health Commissioner Nirav Shah, who in February of this year said he was just “weeks away” from releasing the results of his research on the potential public health impacts of proposed new fracking rules from the NY Dept. of Environmental Conservation, is covering for his boss, Gov. Andrew “Ditherer” Cuomo (see Cuomo Underling Shah: “No Timetable” on Fracking Decision). We on the pro-drilling side of the debate are not the only ones unhappy with the Cuomo/Shah marionette show.

This week an anti-drilling group from the Finger Lakes area–the Seneca Lake Pure Waters Association–sued Shah and the Dept. of Health in an attempt to get the research documents finally released. The Association previously filed Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) requests in an effort to obtain the documents but Shah refused. Now the courts may finally force Andrew the Great Ditherer to finally get off his rear-end and make a decision by requiring Shah to release his findings…
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Health Impacts | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

Is Cuomo Buying Off Health Commissioner to Delay Fracking Report?
August 28, 2013August 28, 2013

It’s now apparent to everyone that NY Gov. Andrew “Ditherer” Cuomo is using State Health Commissioner Nirav Shah as his excuse to delay making a decision about whether or not to allow fracking in the state. What’s Shah been up to? Going on junkets–trips where he supposedly confers with people knowledgeable about fracking in other states (and countries). For what? He can’t pick up the phone and call? Doesn’t he have email (or a physical mailing address) so people can send him information? Does he need to be face-to-face so he can look in their eyes to be double-dog sure they’re telling him the truth?

Sure sounds to us like Shah is being bought off with all-expenses paid vacations (averaging about one a month) from Prince Andrew in return for being the whipping boy. Here’s the timeline of Shah’s junkets…
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Health Impacts | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Processing Plants | Washington County

Health “Study” of Whopping 27 People Blames Drilling for Symptoms
August 26, 2013August 26, 2013

A very small, statistically invalid and anecdotal set of 27 people in Washington County, PA who claim the ill health symptoms they have are caused by activities related to shale gas drilling is reason enough for the AP to trumpet a story that shale drilling causes negative health impacts. The symptoms include skin rashes, eye irritation, breathing problems and headaches–i.e., just an average day at the local walk-in clinic. But because there are shale wells, a gas processing plant and compressor stations nearby, the drilling industry is blamed for the symptoms.

Hmm, there’s roads nearby. Are the roads to blame? There’s railroads nearby–are they to blame? There’s a Girl Scout troupe nearby….you get the picture. Nope. Drilling is squarely to blame for this “array of symptoms” because these people claim they didn’t have the symptoms prior to drilling but they do now. We wonder, are any of them members of the Sierra Club?…
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Health Impacts | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Research | Washington County

SW PA Well Water Testing Project Needs Volunteers
July 2, 2013July 2, 2013

The Washington County Watershed Alliance (WCWA) and Southwest PA Environmental Health Project (SWPA-EHP), with an assist from Carnegie Mellon University’s (CMU) CREATE lab, are conducting a large-scale project in Washington County, PA to see if Marcellus Shale drilling is affecting water wells in the county. MCWA wants both landowners who live near drilling, and landowners who do not live near drilling, to participate. The program is free and volunteers get a neat little device created by the CMU CREATE lab called a CATTFish that inserts in the back of your toilet–simple and quick.

Here’s more information about how (and why) to participate in the program, along with a flier from WCWA about the program:
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Health Impacts | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

PA Marcellus Health Study Still No Pulse – Needs Extra $24M
June 20, 2013June 20, 2013

The much-ballyhooed “first ever” study of the health impacts of Marcellus Shale drilling announced in August 2012 by Geisinger Health System and Guthrie Health (later joined by Susquehanna Health) still does not have a pulse (see Health Care Systems Partner to Study Marcellus Impacts). After the study was announced with great fanfare, the organizations performing it (Geisinger et al) stuck their hands out and said “we need money to do it.” Finally, six months later, the Degenstein Foundation of Sunbury, PA stepped up and gave the group $1 million to get the ball rolling.

Problem is, according to a Geisinger spokesperson, the study is still $24 million short…
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Energy Services | Halliburton | Health Impacts | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Research

New Study Debunks Public Health Impacts from Fracking Fluids
May 24, 2013May 24, 2013

NY State Health Commissioner and Gov. Cuomo should pay attention to a comprehensive new 169-page report/study commissioned by the (hated) Halliburton but performed by the independent Gradient Corporation titled, “National Human Health Risk Evaluation for Hydraulic Fracturing Fluid Additives” (full copy embedded below). The report takes a detailed, scientific look at the potential effects of fracking fluids on human health. Specifically, the report considers possible chemical migration from underground target formations as well as situations where chemicals spill on the surface.

The conclusion? Neither underground migration nor surface spills pose an “adverse risk” to human health. Even in worst case scenarios where chemicals are spilled on the surface (the only practical way for fracking chemicals to contaminate water supplies), the amount of chemicals used in fracking fluid becomes so diluted so quickly it’s an non-issue.
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Health Impacts | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

PA Senator Proposes Panel to Study Health Impacts from Drilling
May 8, 2013May 8, 2013

The main architect of Pennsylvania’s Act 13 legislation that was passed last year was Republican state Senator Joe Scarnati. Act 13 was PA’s most sweeping revision of oil and natural gas drilling in decades, providing for (among other things) the collection of an “impact fee” (or tax) that resulted in $204 million in revenue in 2012.

Scarnati is back with a proposal for more legislation that will impact the Marcellus Shale–this time, he wants to create an advisory panel to investigate public health issues related to Marcellus drilling…

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Energy Companies | Health Impacts | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Range Resources Corp | Washington County

Pittsburgh Newspapers Not Ready to Concede Defeat in Range Case
April 5, 2013April 5, 2013

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and the Washington, PA Observer-Reporter are not quite ready to throw in the towel on what increasingly looks like a vendetta against Range Resources. The two newspapers sued in May 2012 to have court documents unsealed in a settlement between Range and the Hallowich family in Washington County, PA (see Pittsburgh Newspapers Sue to Unseal Drilling Court Case). The newspapers were hoping to find evidence that Range had covered up a case where their drilling (fracking) had led to contamination of the Hallowich’s water well, or perhaps had adversely affected their health. A judge recently unsealed the court documents and guess what? No evidence of water contamination (see Judge Orders Range/Landowner Settlement in PA Made Public).

Not only was there no water contamination, the Hallowich’s signed an affidavit stating there has been no ill health effects as well (see Affidavit in Range PA Settlement Shows No Drilling Health Impacts). Oops. Major egg on the face of the newspapers. Or using a different metaphor, they went fishing and didn’t even get a bite. What to do? We know! Gin up a false controversy that there’s still a missing document from the the mountains of documents the court released. Yeah, that’ll be worth a few more headlines and copies sold. After all, we have to somehow help pay for the lawyers and time we burned on this effort…

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