Judy Eckert is just one person with water problems
Fracking Is Dangerous To Your Health — Here’s Why
From an Article by Judy Stone, Forbes Magazine, February 23, 2017
Fracking, or drilling for gas by hydraulic fracturing, has been associated with a growing number of health risks. Last week, I began this series looking at some of the hazardous chemicals injected into the wells to make drilling easier and cheaper, and the growing risks to our health by the GOP rushing through the approval of Scott Pruitt to head the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
This post looks in greater depth at the health problems linked to fracking. These are not hypothetical concerns—there are now more than 700 studies looking at risks—and more than 80% of the health studies document risks or actual harms.
It’s also important to note that these risks are likely to be seriously underestimated, because the environmental agencies have been downplaying the risks to the public. A new in-depth exposé from investigative journalists at Public Herald looks in-depth at the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) misconduct and negligence, as the DEP studiously ignored citizens’ complaints, sometimes not even testing water samples. Earlier studies from ProPublica and others showed similar EPA failures in the western U.S.
<< A variety of health problems are associated with fracking >>
Respiratory problems:
Cough, shortness of breath and wheezing are the most common complaints of residents living near fracked wells. Toxic gases like benzene are released from the rock by fracking. Similarly, a toxic waste brew of water and chemicals is often stored in open pits, releasing volatile organic compounds into the air. These noxious chemicals and particulates are also released by the diesel powered pumps used to inject the water. An epidemiological study of more than 400,000 patients of Pennsylvania’s Geisinger clinic, done with Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, found a significant association between fracking and increases in mild, moderate and severe cases of asthma (odds ratios 4.4 to 1.5). Hopkins’ Dr. Brian Schwartz cautions that residents should be aware of this hazard as “some ‘pristine’ rural areas are converted to heavily trafficked industrial areas.”
Problems during pregnancy:
Fracking chemicals are harmful to pregnant women and their developing babies. West Virginia researchers found endocrine-disrupting chemicals in surface waters near wastewater disposal sites; these types of chemicals can hurt the developing fetus even when present at very low concentrations.
Another Hopkins/Geisinger study looked at records of almost 11,000 women with newborns who lived near fracking sites and found a 40% increased chance of having a premature baby and a 30% risk of having the pregnancy be classified as “high-risk,” though they controlled for socioeconomic status and other risk factors. Contributing factors likely include air and water pollution, stress from the noise and traffic (1,000 tankers/well on average).
Premature babies accounted for 35% of infant deaths in 2010. In addition to the personal toll on the families, preemies are very expensive for society—prematurity is a major cause of neurologic disabilities in kids, and their cost of care was more the $26 billion in 2005 alone, or $51,600 per preemie. Cost to employers during the infant’s first year of life averaged $46,004—more than tenfold higher than for a full-term delivery.
[Note that if the Affordable Care Act is repealed, women may once again be denied health insurance for pregnancies and a premature baby will likely never be granted health insurance. According to the March of Dimes, Medicaid expansion of health insurance to low-income citizens helped the percentage of babies born as preemies drop to a low level of 11.4% in 2013.]
Noise, stress and sleep deprivation
Other studies have found that the noise from the drilling itself, the gas compressors, other heavy equipment and the truck traffic is high enough to disturb sleep, cause stress and increase high blood pressure. Longer-term exposure to noise pollution contributes to endocrine abnormalities and diabetes, heart disease, stress and depression, and has been linked to learning difficulties in children. Sleep deprivation has pervasive public health consequences, from causing accidents to chronic diseases.
Another epidemiologic study from University of Pennsylvania and Columbia University compared the hospitalization rates between a county with active fracking and a neighboring county without. This study found that fracking well density was significantly associated with higher inpatient hospitalization for cardiac or neurologic problems. There was also an association between skin conditions, cancer and urologic problems and the proximity of homes to active wells.
Spills and accidents
With disturbing frequency, new spills or accidents are reported at the same time as industry tries to reassure that fracking brings safe and clean energy. Tell that to the residents of Dimock, Pa., who have had their drinking water destroyed, or those in many other communities.
A newly released study found 6,648 spills in just four states over the past 10 years. Once again, the EPA had reported a far lower number—457 in eight states over a six-year period. Why the huge difference? Because the EPA chose to only look at the actual fracturing stage, rather than the whole life cycle of the gas and oil production.
The DeSmogBlog notes that just this month, the day after U.S. Army Corps of Engineers gave the owners of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) the final permit it needed to build across Lake Oahe (threatening the Standing Rock Sioux tribe’s land and water), a pipeline of a DAPL co-owner exploded near New Orleans, killing one and injuring others.
Aging pipelines pose special risks as they deteriorate. An ExxonMobil pipeline built in 1947 spilled 134,000 gallons of gas in Arkansas. You can see the location and magnitude of the spills at this handy interactive from the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS) Science for Nature and People Partnership (SNAPP). Another disturbing data viz shows the type of spill and whether water was impacted.
But new fracking has additional risks, as the conventional pipes often used are unable to withstand the high pressure of the fracking mixture being injected. In fact, new wells were not safer, and 6% of unconventional (fracked) wells drilled since 2000 showed problems, with even the Pa. DEP (shown by Public Herald to not be thorough in investigating citizens’ complaints, nor entirely forthcoming) confirming more than 100 contaminated drinking water wells.
Conclusion
The oil and gas industry says that these health problems are not proven to be caused by fracking. That is partially true—especially since agencies like the Pa. DEP have actively hidden complaints or even failed to test the water of residents, as Public Herald reported. With the new head of the EPA, Scott Pruitt, determined to dismantle the agency and its protections, we will likely never have definitive proof. Some health problems, such as cancer and some neurologic problems, also take years to develop after an exposure.
Fracking profits go to private industry but the public—families and communities—bear the costs of the many health complications from the drilling.
There is growing evidence of a variety of health problems being associated with fracking. Common sense dictates that drinking and breathing cancer-causing agents will take their toll. The correlation is too strong to ignore, especially when we have other, cleaner energy options. For our safety and that of future generations, we should not allow the new administration to sell off public lands, nor allow drilling on our land, and should ban fracking completely.
Photo Description in Original Article: Judy Eckert holding water contaminated with arsenic drawn from her private well. In 2007 Guardian Exploration drilled and fracked a Marcellus well 450ft from her home, which she believes is part of the cause of her contaminated her water supply. In 2010 DEP found a waste pit buried illegally into her season high water table. To learn more about her case you can donate to receive a copy of Triple Divide — a Public Herald documentary on fracking.
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