“ Without rigorous scientific studies, the gas drilling boom sweeping the world will remain an uncontrolled healthexperiment on an enormous scale”. This is the last line of the abstract of the report by two Cornell researchers which was published in the journal New Solutions this month. In addition to raising the concern that Rover and Fluffy may die from drinking frack-contaminated water from various sources, it points out that tainted meat may end up on our plates.
Impacts of Fracking on Human and Animal Health includes a compilation of 24 toxicity events in livestock, pets, wildlife and humans possibly linked to fracking in several states. The report is authored by veterinarian Michelle Bamberger and molecular biologist Robert E. Oswald. Many cases are now in litigation.
The report concludes with recommended reforms:
1. Outlaw the use of nondisclosure policies.
Compensation in the form of cash, payment for all settlement expenses, an offer to buy the property and/or
payment for medical expenses in exchange for a nondisclosure agreement prevents information on contamination episodes and health effects from being documented and analyzed….when documentation of health problems associated with gas operations is shielded from public scrutiny by a nondisclosure agreement, this is clearly a misuse of this important business tool and should be prohibited.
2. Federally fund food research.
We documented cases where food-producing animals exposed to chemical contaminants have not been tested before slaughter and where farms in areas testing positive for air and/or water contamination are still producing dairy and
meat products for human consumption….
3. Expand the EPA study of hydraulic fracturing to include air quality impacts.
4. The most important requirement for an assessment of the impact of gas drilling on animal and human health is complete testing of air and water prior to drilling and at regular intervals after drilling has commenced. The report recommends that all costs of testing be carried by the drillers as part of the cost of doing business.
The report also points out the “canary in the coalmine” value of domestic animals.
“Communities living near hydrocarbon gas drilling operations have becomede facto laboratories for the study of environmental toxicology. …Yet this large-scale industrialization of populated areas is moving forward without benefit of carefully controlled studies of its impact on public health. As part of an effort to obtain public health data, we believe that particular attention must be paid to companion animals, livestock, and wildlife, as they may serve as sentinels for human exposures, with shorter lifetimes and more opportunity for data collection from necropsies.”
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