Tag: public health & safety

Study: Fracking Increases the Risks of Asthma, Birth Defects and Cancer

This Rolling Stone magazine article discusses a new study by the Concerned Health Professionals of New York and the Nobel Peace Prize-winning group, Physicians for Social Responsibility. It is the 5th Edition of an analysis now widely known as “The Compendium”.

The article starts this way: “Our examination…uncovered no evidence that fracking can be practiced in a manner that does not threaten human health,” states a blistering 266-page report released today … Drawing on news investigations, government assessments and more than 1,200 peer-reviewed research articles, the study finds that fracking – shooting chemical-laden fluid into deep rock layers to release oil and gas – is poisoning the air, contaminating the water and imperiling the health of Americans across the country.”

This is the 5th edition of this report, and earlier versions formed the basis for New York, Maryland, and Vermont banning fracking.

Port of Olympia seeks peaceful resolution to downtown blockade. So what happens next?

The Port of Olympia commission invited protesters who have blocked railroad tracks in downtown Olympia and representatives from the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office to address them Monday night, hoping to start a dialogue that might lead to a peaceful resolution of a blockade that started Nov. 17.

http://www.theolympian.com/news/local/article186813453.html

Biologist to address ‘climate emergency’ that she calls ‘a huge human rights crisis’

LENOX — Sandra Steingraber doesn’t give PowerPoint presentations. No, she won’t bore you to death with slides about the science of hydraulic fracturing and its dangers, or about how plankton stocks are declining in warming oceans — stocks that supply us with half the oxygen we breathe.

http://www.berkshireeagle.com/stories/biologist-to-address-climate-emergency-that-she-calls-a-huge-human-rights-crisis,525548

Fracking and public health: Evidence from gonorrhea incidence in the Marcellus Shale region

The United States (US) began to experience a boom in natural gas production in the 2000s due to the advent of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) and horizontal drilling technology. While the natural gas boom affected many people through lower energy prices, the strongest effects were concentrated in smaller communities where the fracking occurred. We analyze one potential cost to communities where fracking takes place: an increase of sexually transmitted diseases. We use a quasi-natural experiment within the Marcellus shale region plus panel data estimation techniques to quantify the impact of fracking activity on local gonorrhea incidences. We found fracking activity to be associated with an increase in gonorrhea. Our findings may be useful to public health officials. To make informed decisions about resource extraction, policy makers as well as regulators and communities need to be informed of all the benefits as well as the costs.

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1057/s41271-017-0089-5

Fracked gas is a health hazard

Nicole Jacobs’ letter “Fracked gas health boon” claims a health boon from fracked gas. She cites only her gas-funded report and ignores hundreds of independent, peer-reviewed published articles.

http://triblive.com/opinion/letters/12367993-74/sounding-off-fracked-gas-is-a-health-hazard

CO Agency Asks High Court To Reverse Fracking Ruling

Law360, New York (May 18, 2017, 7:58 PM EDT) — The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission on Thursday asked the state Supreme Court to review an appeals court’s holding that the commission incorrectly concluded it could not adjust its permit process to dedicate more resources to studying fracking projects’ effects on public health and safety.

https://www.law360.com/articles/925831/colo-agency-asks-state-justices-to-reverse-fracking-ruling

More research needed on US earthquakes possibly tied to oil and gas work: Report

A coalition of U.S. states warned on Monday that a spike in earthquakes potentially tied to oil and gas activity in places not typically prone to them needs urgent attention from regulators and others to protect public safety. Reuters.  Sep 29 2015

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-quake-oilandgas-idUSKCN0RS2HV20150928