To receive our news updates, please email jan at westmcg@gmail.com
* For articles and updates or to just vent, visit us on facebook;
https://www.facebook.com/groups/MarcellusWestmorelandCountyPA/
* To view permanent documents, past updates,
reports, general information and meeting information
http://westmorelandmarcellus.blogspot.com/
* Our email address: westmcg@gmail.com
* To contact your state
legislator:
For the email address, click on the envelope
under the photo
* For information on PA state gas legislation
and local control: http://pajustpowers.org/aboutthebills.html-
Calendar/Events
* *Westmoreland
Marcellus Citizens’ Group- Second Tuesday of the
month, 7:30 PM, email Jan for directions
**CPLV Third Tuesday of the month , 7:30 PM, UU
Church in Ligonier
*Gorsline Case March 8
in Philadelphia
*Pittsburgh-
Tuesdays With Senator Toomey Facebook site- copy and paste
ACTION!!!!
***Contact your PA Senators!
PA
Senators Want to Forbid PA Air Regs From Being More Stringent Than EPA's
"Senate Bill 1327 seeks to amend a state air
pollution bill dating to 1960. The amendment would bar the DEP from imposing any air pollution standards “more
stringent than those promulgated’’ by the EPA. This would happen just as
the new Donald Trump administration appears keen to relax those EPA restrictions.
The 10 senate co-sponsors, including Guy Reschenthaler-R
of Jefferson Hills, Elder Vogel Jr.-R of New Sewickley, Camera Bartolotta-R of
Monongahela and Scott Wagner-R of York County (who formally announced his
campaign for governor on Wednesday). According to Marcellus Money, a project of
Common Cause Pennsylvania and Conservation Voters of Pennsylvania, the gas
industry contributed $8,500 to Ms. Bartolotta, $4,500 to Mr. Reschenthaler and
$3,250 to Mr. Vogel in the first half of 2016 http://www.post-gazette.com/…/Put-meth…/stories/201701150133
According to
(DEP), in 2014 the gas industry in PA emitted 115,000 tons of methane. DEP has
said that estimate - based on industry self-reported engineering calculations -
could actually be many times higher.
Reducing methane
leaks from the oil and gas sector, the largest source of methane pollution in
the country, is an essential step in combating climate change. Last January, Gov. Tom Wolf
unveiled a four-point plan to sharply curtail methane emissions from gas
production in PA.
The plan is
smart because it's based on effective measures that are already being used by
industry-leading companies, or mandated by other gas-producing states. So, the
plan is reasonable - maybe even a no-brainer, right? Not according to some in
the Pennsylvania General Assembly.
For those of us struggling to get air
pollution enforcement on unconventional natural gas infrastructure, the EPA's
methane rules have been about the only thing that's given us any leverage at
all.”
http://www.pennlive.com/opinion/2017/02/this_isnt_hot_air_pa_needs_to.html
Dr Ketyer
Responds to Industry's Claim That Gas Makes PA Air Cleaner
Senator
Reschentahler-R is wrong about regulations and clean air
February 3, 2017 12:00 AM
“Seeking to prevent much-needed rules on
methane emissions from shale gas infrastructure, state Sen. Guy Reschenthaler
badly misreads the Pennsylvania Department of Health’s 2015 Asthma Focus Report
by cherry-picking data showing asthma-related hospitalizations declining from
2009-2013 and jumps to a careless
conclusion that “Pennsylvania’s air is getting cleaner because of increased
natural gas production” (“Natural Gas Is Improving Our Air,” Feb. 1
Perspectives). Had the senator read the
report more carefully, he would have noted that emergency room admissions for
asthma increased significantly in Pennsylvania during this period to an
“all-time high.” Furthermore, there is a map clearly showing that the highest
rates of hospitalization for asthma outside Philadelphia County occur in the
Marcellus shale gas patch in southwestern Pennsylvania.
No, senator, natural gas development isn’t
making the air cleaner. It’s making it dirtier, and the growing body of medical
science and practical experience says it’s making people — especially children
— sick with a variety of ailments, including asthma.
Strengthening rather than weakening methane
rules is a win for consumers and businesses that have to pay fuel bills, a win
for the industry (capturing fugitive emissions means more product gets to
market), a win for the public’s (especially children’s) health by halting toxic
emissions into the air we breathe, and a win for the planet’s climate system. The suggestion by Sen. Reschenthaler that
commonsense methane standards would “make no meaningful impact on the
environment” is irresponsible and wrong.
NED KETYER, M.D.
Peters”
The writer is a pediatrician and a member of
the American Academy of Pediatrics Council on Environmental
Health.http://www.post-gazette.com/…/Senator-…/stories/201702010058
***Comments
on Methane Due March 22 Comments on methane
regulation as proposed by Gov. Wolf are needed. I will be sending out a special
notice about this.
Harrisburg,
PA – The PA DEP has opened a 45-day public comment period to accept input for
reducing methane at well sites and compressor stations associated with natural
gas drilling and transport.
The comment period opened on Saturday, February 4, and
will run until Tuesday, March 22, 2017. Some information:
Local
Permits/Violations
(I only copy a few of local interest. Please join Skytruth
Alerts for a comprehensive list-link at bottom of newsletter. Jan)
***PA
Permit Violation Issued to WPX Energy Appalachia Llc in Derry Twp, Westmoreland
County
Environmental Health & Safety violation issued on
2017-01-24 to Wpx Energy Appalachia Llc in Derry Twp, Westmoreland county.
78.91(a) - PLUGGING - GENERAL PROVISIONS - Upon abandoning a well, the owner or
operator failed to plug the well to stop the vertical flow of fluids or gas
within the well bore under 25 Pa.
Court Cases
***Unbelievable.
PSATS Files Against Gorsline Case
The PA Association of Township Supervisors filed an amicus brief
against the Gorsline Case-the Supreme Court case we have been waiting for.
That's against all of us who do not want fracking permitted in residential-
agricultural areas.
The township supervisors association wants "the decision to
grant Inflection Energy the permit for the construction of an unconventional
natural gas well in the Township's Residential Agricultural District.” This
would affect rulings across the state of course, not just one well.
So who pays for the membership for these local supervisors in the
association? Our tax dollars?
***Court Ruling Limits DEP Pollution
Fines
“It was the worst spill / pollution case that DEP had
experienced in their dealings with the oil & gas industry. Wastewater from
an impoundment owned by EQT polluted high quality streams, an exceptional value
wetland and an expansive area of groundwater, and triggered an unprecedented
$11 million cleanup.
DEP
had calculated that the maximum possible penalty under the Clean Streams Law to
be $157 million for each of three violations that continued for more than 1,500
days. EQT argued that the fine should be based only on the 12 days that the
spill continued.
Siding
with EQT, the Commonwealth Court determined that fines for spills into state
streams and groundwater must be based on how long the initial release lasts and
not on how many days the pollution lingers.
The Commonwealth Court’s decision will
sharply narrow the scope of the possible fine. According to EQT, the most
it should be fined is $10,000 per day for the 12 days.
DEP spokesman Neil Shader said that his agency will be
appealing the decision to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
***A
Win—Meaning The Case Can Proceed---- Lauff vs. Range Resources
"It means the case can proceed against the landowners who
allowed the use (fracking) on their property.
Maybe landowners will now think twice about leasing their land and
harming their neighbors. This case is based on a nuisance claim.
This is the first lawsuit here of this kind. It is not precedent
setting at the trial court level, but it is instructive."
Ordinance
Activity
***Murrysville Council Votes For 750 ft Buffer- Residents Ask for
1500 ft
Voting against the larger setback was-Korns-wife of solicitor Korns,
Spadaro, Lorenz, and Kase.
“Council voted 4-3 Wednesday in favor of a version of the ordinance
that places a 750-foot setback between any protected structure and the edge of
a fracking gas well pad.
Council members Josh Lorenz, Jamie Lee
Korns, Tony Spadaro and Loren Kase voted in favor. Jeff Kepler, David Perry and
council President Joan Kearns, who preferred a setback of at least 800 feet,
voted no.
Resident Amy
Mayberry, who holds a master's degree in environmental management with a focus
on environmental toxicology, said even
an 800-foot setback is “absolutely not sufficient” to protect residents.
“How many times have we realized only in retrospect that our failure
to protect the environment has had devastating consequences on our families?”
she asked.
Christa Ross of Murrysville, who
works for real estate company Re/Max, cited a 2016 Duke University study of
Pennsylvania homes that found the distance between homes and fracking wells
directly affected sale prices, showing up to a $30,000 drop in price for homes
located within 1.5 kilometers of a well. A kilometer is five-eighths of a mile.
The 750-foot setback would permit wells less than 0.25 kilometers, or less than
two-tenths of a mile, from homes.
“The fact is that being near a fracking well makes a home less
desirable and makes it sell for less,” Ross said."
http://triblive.com/local/westmoreland/11889884-74/setback-council-fracking
***Jan
Milburn’s Response to Murrysville Meeting-LTE
“I attended the Murrysville Council meeting on Wednesday, where I heard
articulate and heart-felt pleas made on behalf of the children of the
community. Yet, despite the research-based statements made by parents and
professionals, Murrysville Council refused to provide families with even an
800-foot buffer. Flower Mound and Dallas, in gas dominated Texas, provide
1500-foot buffers for their families. Shame on council. There is no excuse for
this lack of concern for the health of our children.
And in response to lessors’ claims—No, you do
not have the legal right to do anything you want with your property. First you
live in a zoned community, zoned by law not for profit but for the protection
of the health, welfare, and safety of the community. Second, the law does not
allow you the right to do harm to your neighbors. Murrysville will clearly
degrade into a less desirable, more industrial community with lower property
values thanks to a council that is too weak to protect its residents, its
children.
Jan Milburn
Grandmother of Two Franklin Regional School
Children
Regs
***Some
Gain/ Some Loss on Pipeline Safety
"President
Obama's administration scaled back new safety measures for the sprawling
network of pipelines that crisscross the US, following oil industry complaints
that proposed changes would cost companies billions of dollars.
The
long-delayed regulations cover almost 200,000 miles of pipelines that transport
oil, gasoline and other hazardous liquids. If the changes stand, pipeline
companies will be required to conduct more rigorous inspections of lines in
rural areas and install leak detection systems that are meant to speed up
emergency response times when accidents occur. Documents show the pipeline
repair criteria was altered to give companies more flexibility in when to do
the work following a meeting of officials from the Transportation Department
and White House with representatives of the oil industry"
***Dems
Oppose, But Republican-Controlled House Votes To Overturn Obama Flaring
Regs
“Lawmakers voted 221-191 to roll back the
Interior Department rule that had clamped down on oil companies that burn off
natural gas during drilling on public lands. Three Democrats voted in favor
of repealing the rule, while 11 Republicans opposed
Environmental
groups and public health organizations opposed the rollback, saying the new
rule will reduce the risk of ozone formation in the air and ozone-related
health problems, including asthma attacks, hospital admissions and premature
deaths.
Methane, the primary gas burned off during flaring
operations, is strong contributor to climate change."
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/d84e8dd2a74042ed8d9e864fdb59d069/house-poised-overturn-obama-rule-natural-gas-flaring
Other
Fracking News
***Public
Herald Finds 9,442 Citizen Complaints About Fracking
"After a three-year investigation in Pennsylvania,
Public Herald has uncovered evidence of widespread and systemic impacts related
to “fracking.”
Ending over a decade of suppression by the state, this
evidence is now available to the public for the first time.
In 2011, Public Herald’s first file request to DEP for
complaints never produced a single document, and we learned that complaints were being held as
‘confidential.’ When asked why, an attorney from DEP’s Southwest Regional
Office explained that Deputy Secretary Scott Perry didn’t want complaints to ‘cause alarm.’”
…. Today, due to this work, anyone can access these
cases via the Pennsylvania Oil & Gas Complaint Map. At the end of our
reviews, we submitted a final Right-to-Know request for the DEP database of all
citizen complaints. On December 30, 2016,
DEP responded in an email with a new list revealing a statewide total of 9,442
complaints from 2004 through November 29, 2016.
Throughout Pennsylvania, DEP has determined that only
284 water supplies have ever been impacted by oil and gas operations in the
state. This means that DEP considers 94% of drinking water complaints to be
completely unrelated to oil and gas." http://publicherald.org/hidden-data-suggests-fracking-created-widespread-systemic-impact-in-pennsylvania/
***Protect
PT Asks School Board For Air Monitoring
"Protect PT President Gillian Graber asked the Penn-Trafford
school board to consider working with a third party to monitor air quality at
schools near the proposed wells.
Level Green
Elementary is the nearest to the wells proposed by Apex Energy. It is about a
mile from both the Deutsch site on Saunders Station Road and the Backus site
near Sedona Lane and Meadowbrook Road. It is also a little more than a mile
from the Drakulic site on First Street and Numis site at Pleasant Valley and
Beulah roads.
The district's other schools are two miles or more from proposed well
pads." http://triblive.com/local/westmoreland/11946218-74/protect-apex-penn
***Not
good for Westmoreland -Rigs Move In
"The
company is currently operating two rigs in the dry-gas portion of the Utica
shale in Monroe County, Ohio, but plans to move
those units to southwest Pennsylvania to drill some new Marcellus shale wells.
That will be followed by more drilling in the deep, dry-gas Utica in
Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania.
http://www.argusmedia.com/news/article/?id=1395812
***Chartiers’
Residents Complain of High Noise Levels “We didn’t ask for any of
this,” Plonski said. “We didn’t know this was going to happen.....Our position
is Range decided that they wanted to engage in this activity in a residential
area,... Township manager Jodi Noble said readings at the property line of
Range Resources’ Moritz well site showed noise
levels that violated the 60-decibel limit township supervisors imposed when
they approved the well application." http://www.observer-reporter.com/20170202/chartiers_officials_find_noise_violations_at_gas_well_pad
***Dr.
John Stolz Receives Grant To Further Examine Water Pollution Near Frack Sites
"Residents of southwest Pennsylvania can learn if their well water has
been contaminated by fracking operations for free — all thanks to a Duquesne
professor and his students.
John
Stolz, director of Duquesne’s Center for Environmental Research and Education,
received a $48,000 award from the Heinz Endowments earlier this month for his
project. Stolz said he and some of his students travel to homes in Allegheny,
Butler, Greene and Washington Counties to find any potential contaminants in
residents’ well water. So far, about 1,000 water samples have been taken and
the wells of about 250 homes have been tested." http://www.duqsm.com/professor-gets-grant-well-tests-near-fracking-sites/
***PA
Tax Increase Pays for Fracking Damage To Roads
"
The primary reason for the highest gas price is because of fracking.
The Tom Corbett administration and Republican
legislature had welcomed gas drillers to the state and gave them benefits to
drill into the Marcellus shale, using a technology that sacrificed health and
the environment for what has proved to be short-term benefits.
Fracking requires as many as 200 truck trips per
day—each truck bringing water, chemicals, or heavy equipment—to each developing
well site. Those trips cause severe
damage to roads that were not built to sustain such traffic. Although corporations
drilling into Pennsylvania have agreed to fund repairs of roads they travel
that have less than two inches depth of asphalt on them, the fees don’t cover the full cost of repair." http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL1701/S00042/why-the-state-needs-to-increase-taxes.htm
***Act
13 Money Being Spent Inappropriately
"Municipalities
and counties are independently interpreting the flawed language of Act 13.
Under the law, fracking impact fees should be used for things like: road
repairs; bridges; repairing water, storm water and sewer systems; environmental
programs. However money is being spent on things like landscaping equipment,
legal fees, even parties and community events. Act 13 contains no penalties for
spending money improperly.”http://www.altoonamirror.com/opinion/editorials/2016/12/act-13-needs-monitored-for-fairness/
***Well
Pads Change Configuration To Fit Topography The industry will be using
long skinny well pads instead of square due to topography in some areas. (This
is the first I have heard of changing pad shape to fit topography.)
***Communities
along Mariner East 2 Pipeline Route Brace For Construction
“Sunoco asked for and received more time to
respond to the September deficiency letters and on December 5 the company
submitted their responses to DEP, which are posted online.
Landowners and activists along the route say they are
preparing lawsuits to file if and when DEP issues the permits. “The fight is
now in the courts,” said the Delaware Riverkeeper Network’s Maya van Rossum.
“The other option is for people to rise up in protest.”
Neil Shader, a spokesman for DEP, declined to say if
or when the department would make a decision on the permits.”
https://stateimpact.npr.org/pennsylvania/2017/02/02/communities-along-mariner-east-2-pipeline-route-brace-for-construction/
***PA
Quakes Due To Fracking “Quakes were recorded last April
in Lawrence County, about 50 miles north of Pittsburgh and close to a gas well
pad owned by Houston-based Hilcorp Energy Co. The company was using a technique at the well called "zipper
fracturing," essentially the simultaneous fracking of two abutting
horizontal wells. To reduce the likelihood of future quakes, Hilcorp agreed
to discontinue the practice for wells less than a quarter-mile apart in the
three townships where the quakes were recorded.
DEP
also required Hilcorp to operate its own seismic monitors in the townships, to
notify the agency within 10 minutes of any quakes of 1.0 or greater magnitude
and to suspend fracking in the event of larger quakes." http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/pennsylvania-correlates-natural-gas-fracking-quakes-45562300
***Baltimore Sun Supports Fracking Ban in Maryland
"This is not a position we take lightly. Western
Maryland has an unemployment rate above the statewide average — between 4.4 and
5.2 percent by county compared to the statewide average of 4.0 percent. But it
is also highly dependent on tourism the state's $16.4 billion visitor business.
Still, it isn't just a matter of image. The risks posed by fracking are real.
Often, the problem is the method of disposal for wastewater from well injection
sites — the technology involves forcing a mixture of water, chemicals and sand
under high pressure into underground rock to release trapped gas — and its
impact on local groundwater. In
neighboring West Virginia, for example, the U.S. Geological Survey found Wolf
Creek in Fayette County contaminated with sodium, chloride, strontium, lithium
and radium traced to a nearby underground well.
But that's not all. The potential adverse impacts
include damage to human health, clean air and water; excessive noise pollution
and even micro earthquakes."
***New
Marcellus Development Boom Will Triple Greenhouse Gas Emissions from PA Gas
"The report forecasts thousands of new natural
gas wells. To meet projected demand, 1,600
to 2,000 new shale gas wells will need to be constructed each year,
researchers say — nearly doubling Marcellus production by 2030 over 2014
levels. As these new wells come on line, climate-impacting emissions from the
sector — primarily methane — will increase 50% to 87% over 2014 levels.
Researchers note that the new projected development
would constitute a second drilling boom for Pennsylvania.
“The
build-out of Marcellus Shale gas in Pennsylvania will release methane at an
alarming rate,” said Maya K. van Rossum, the Delaware Riverkeeper
http://www.delawareriverkeeper.org/…/press%20release%20PSE%
***Trump
Puts Gag Order On EPA
"The EPA is frozen-stopped. All grants and
contracts are suspended immediately. (this affects all aspects of our
environment)
EPA can make no public pronouncements.
No press releases
No use of social media
Trump administration will review all EPA webinars
Will review all speaking engagements
Will review all media content
There will be no new web content.
EPA
can send only critical messages at this time"
This segment on Rachel Maddow starts at about 12:00.
It is the most surreal report on what Trump has just done to the EPA, to the
democratic process. http://www.msnbc.com/rachel…/…/rachel-maddow-1-24-17-episode
***
Trump Administration Forces the EPA to Delete All Of Its Pages on Climate Change
“The move comes as part of a much broader crackdown on
postings by all agencies who track the effects of global warming on the
environment. All of those organizations – as well as others, like the National
Parks Service – have been banned from talking to the public by the US government.
Now scientists are scrambling to save some of the most
important parts of the EPA's website before they are deleted off the internet
entirely." http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/donald-trump-environmental-protection-agency-website-climate-change-global-warming-a7544621.html
***H.
R. 861 To Terminate the Environmental
Protection Agency
THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 3, 2017
Mr. Gaetz-R, Mr. Massie-R, Mr. Palazzo-R, and Mr. Loudermilk-R
introduced the following bill HR 861
To terminate the Environmental Protection Agency.
***Fracking
And Dirty Air- Lawsuit in LA
“She does, however, notice the persistent
cough she’s been fighting for five months; the asthma that affects her, her
mother and her sister; and the cancer rate in her neighborhood, one of the
highest in Southern California.
In 2015, Youth for Environmental Justice and other
groups, sued Los Angeles. The suit said the city had permitted drilling without performing required environmental
reviews, not only in Wilmington but also South Los Angeles, a low-income
area where most residents are black or Latino.
In 2013, Dallas Texas passed an ordinance banning
drilling within 1,500 feet of homes." https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/30/opinion/drilling-and-dirty-air-in-los-angeles.html?emc=eta1&_r=1
New Research/
Reports
***Childhood
Leukemia Study: “The findings from our registry-based case control study indicate
that young Coloradans diagnosed with one
type of childhood leukemia are more likely to live in the densest areas of oil
and gas sites. More comprehensive research that can address our study’s
limitations is needed to understand and explain these results.”
"Funded by
the CU Cancer Center and published in the journal PLOS ONE, the study shows children and young adults between the
ages of 5 and 24 with acute lymphocytic leukemia were 4.3 times more likely to
live in the densest area of active oil and gas wells than those with other
cancers. (4.3 times more likely to live within 10 miles of
an active oil and gas well than kids with other types of cancer. http://www.ecowatch.com/leukemia-oil-gas-wells-2280665249.html) The study focused on rural areas and towns in
57 Colorado counties and excluded urban areas of more than 50,000 people.
According to the report, U.S. oil and gas development has grown
rapidly over the past 15 years and this industrial activity has the potential
to emit toxic substances into air and water, including carcinogens like
benzene.
http://www.cuanschutztoday.org/study-finds-association-proximity-oil-gas-development-childhood-leukemia/
***Fracking
Noise Harms Health "Fracking creates noise at levels high enough to
harm the health of people living nearby, according to the first peer-reviewed
study to analyze the potential public health impacts of ambient noise related
to fracking.
Environmental
noise is a well-documented public health hazard. Many large-scale
epidemiological studies have linked noise to adverse health outcomes including
diabetes, depression, birth complications and cognitive impairment in children.
Noise exposure, like other health threats, may disproportionately impact
vulnerable populations such as children, the elderly and people with chronic illnesses.
High-decibel sounds are not the only
culprits; low-level sustained noises can disturb sleep and concentration and
cause stress. They found that noise from fracking operations may contribute
to adverse health outcomes in three categories, including anxiety, sleep disturbance and cardiovascular disease or other
conditions that are negatively impacted by stress." http://news.berkeley.edu/story_jump/noise-pollution-from-fracking-may-harm-human-health/
*** Fracking
Causes 6,648 Spills in Four States, Duke University
"For the study, the researchers examined state-level spill data
to characterize spills associated with unconventional oil and gas development
at 31,481 fracked wells in the four states between 2005 and 2014. On average,
that's equivalent to 55 spills per 1,000 wells in any given year, lead author
Lauren Patterson, a policy associate at Duke University's Nicholas Institute
for Environmental Policy Solutions, told ResearchGate.
North Dakota reported the highest spill rate, with 4,453 incidents.
Pennsylvania reported 1,293, Colorado reported 476 and New Mexico reported 426.
We also found that across all states, over 75 percent of spills at these
wells occurred within the first three years of a well’s life
Fifty percent of spills, including those spills
whose cause was unknown, occurred at tanks or pits, and flowlines. In tanks and
pits, the cause of those spills can vary widely, from equipment failure that
manifests in a tank overflow due to corrosion, to human error, to lightning
strikes. Many of the flowline leaks were due to corrosion or being punctured by
equipment.
The researchers created an interactive map of spill sites in the
four states.” http://www.ecowatch.com/fracking-spills-duke-study-2276074733.html
***Methane
May Not Last Long In The Atmosphere — but it drives sea level rise for
centuries “If you’ve ever
made a cup of tea on the stove you know that hot water expands,” said Susan
Solomon, a professor of environmental studies at the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology. “It’s simply basic physics, and it’s something that the planet
can’t get away from.”
Even
if humans stopped emitting greenhouse gases into the atmosphere tomorrow, the
expansion effect would continue in the oceans for centuries more, making it
effectively irreversible in our lifetimes.
A new study in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences, written by Solomon and colleagues Kirsten Zickfeld of Simon
Fraser University and Daniel Gilford of MIT, underscores the fact that even
greenhouse gases that don’t last long in the atmosphere — methane, for instance
— can have centuries-long impacts on the expanding oceans.
“The ocean never forgets — that’s the essential
message of this paper,” Solomon said."
***Too
Dirty Too Dangerous-Physicians For Social Responsibility
“Physicians for Social
Responsibility released a report detailing the threats methane pollution from
gas poses to public health. The report highlights, among others, the threat to expecting mothers living
near highly active hydraulic fracturing (fracking) operations, which increases
the likelihood of high-risk pregnancy and the likelihood of giving birth
prematurely. Preterm birth and low birth weight are leading causes of
infant death and childhood disability.
The report also
challenges natural gas based on methane’s powerful contribution to climate
change. We are already seeing the health
impacts of climate change in our medical practices, from increases in
allergies, respiratory diseases like asthma, bronchitis, and emphysema, and
heat injury, to pollution-related premature deaths from cardiovascular disease
and stroke and an increase in anxiety and depression, to name a few. Sadly,
these health issues disproportionately affect children, the chronically ill,
the elderly, the homeless and our minority communities,” added Lynn Ringenberg,
MD, immediate past president of PSR’s national board and professor emeritus at
the University of South Florida College of Medicine. “Fracking and related operations that release
natural gas into the atmosphere will worsen these health issues in the years
and decades to come.”
***Environmental
Integrity Project’s Report, “Don’t Believe the Job Killer Hype,” examines
data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, as well as reports from the U.S.
Office of Management and Budget, and more than two dozen economists and
researchers.
The
federal government data show that only about two tenths of one percent of layoffs are caused by government
regulations of any kind, including environmental regulations. Layoffs are
caused far more often by corporate buyouts, technological advances, and lower
overseas labor costs.
“The evidence shows that there is simply no truth to
the idea that regulations kill jobs or stifle growth,” said Eric Schaeffer,
Executive Director of the Environmental Integrity Project. “In fact,
regulations provide huge economic benefits to our society, with minimal, though
generally positive, effects on jobs and productivity. On the other hand, the
absence of regulation can have severe economic consequences, with perhaps the
most notable example being the 2008 financial collapse.”
http://www.environmentalintegrity.org/news/new-report-disproves-trump-administration-claims-of-job-killing-environmental-regulations/
Frack Links
***Link to
Shalefield Stories-Personal stories of those affected by
fracking http://www.friendsoftheharmed.com/
***To sign up for Skytruth notifications of activity and violations
for your area:
*** List of the Harmed--There are now
over 1400 residents of Pennsylvania who have placed their names on the list of
the harmed when they became sick after fracking began in their area. http://pennsylvaniaallianceforcleanwaterandair.wordpress.com/the-list/
*** To See Water Test Results of the Beaver
Run Reservoir
IUP students test for TDS, pH, metals- arsenic, chromium, and strontium.
We have not seen results for
other frack chemicals including the organics BTEX group, or cesium for example.
Here is a link to the IUP site:
Videos/Radio
***Dr Sahu on air modeling vs. air monitoring
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBwDbqskCqU
***Tracy Carluccio radio interview
http://www.witf.org/.../02/100-renewable-energy-by-2050.php
Additional Resources on fracking
Newsletter information please contact Jan Milburn
Westmoreland Marcellus Citizen’s Group—Mission Statement
WMCG is a project of the Thomas
Merton Society
To raise the public’s general awareness and
understanding of the impacts of Marcellus drilling on the natural environment,
health, and long-term economies of local communities.
To receive our news updates, please email jan at westmcg@gmail.com
