The text of the letter follows--
As Concerned Health Professionals of Pennsylvania, we and our supporters write to you today with grave concerns regarding the negative health impacts to communities across the Commonwealth from the unconventional gas industry.
According to the Environmental Rights Amendment, every resident of Pennsylvania has a right to clean air, pure water and to the preservation of natural, scenic, historic and esthetic values of the environment.
Unfortunately, the oil and gas industry denies many Pennsylvanians that right.
Currently, around 1.5 million Pennsylvanians live or work within a half mile of an active oil or gas well. These individuals and their communities are exposed to harmful emissions everyday, which has a significant impact on their health.
In 2020, the 43rd Statewide Grand Jury reported failures of the Department of Environmental Protection and the Department of Health to the citizens of Pennsylvania. [Read more here.]
The health outcomes associated with living near oil and gas drilling sites include increased prevalence of multiple different youth cancers, birth defects, infertility, asthma, heart disease, and lung disease.
As a result of the excessive environmental pollution caused by oil and gas drilling in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, many communities are suffering.
The grand jury you convened in 2020 has issued eight recommendations to reduce fracking's harmful impacts to Pennsylvanians’ health and safety. As our governor, it is imperative to do everything in your power to implement them--
-- No-Drill Zones: Expanding no-drill zones in Pennsylvania from the required 500 feet to 2,500 feet;
-- Disclosure of Chemicals: Requiring fracking companies to publicly disclose all chemicals used in drilling and hydraulic fracturing before they are used on-site;
-- Regulate Gathering Pipelines: Requiring the regulation of gathering lines, used to transport unconventional gas hundreds of miles;
-- Tighten Air Pollution Regulation: Adding up all sources of air pollution in a given area to accurately assess air quality;
-- Safer Transport Of Waste: Requiring safer transport of the contaminated waste created from fracking sites;
-- Comprehensive Health Response: Conducting a comprehensive health response to the effects of living near unconventional drilling sites;
-- Limiting Revolving Door: Limiting the ability of Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection employees to be employed in the private sector immediately after leaving the Department;
-- Original Jurisdiction For Attorney General: Allowing the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General original criminal jurisdiction over unconventional oil and gas companies.
The harmful effects fracking has on the environment is detrimental to public health.
On behalf of Physicians for Social Responsibility Pennsylvania and Concerned Health Professionals of Pennsylvania, we urge you PA Governor Josh Shapiro and your team to implement the grand jury’s eight recommendations to protect public health and safety in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Click Here to sign on to the letter.
Visit the Concerned Health Professionals of PA website to learn more about health issues related to oil and gas development in Pennsylvania.
Related Article - Shapiro-Davis:
-- What Can We Expect From Gov. Shapiro, Lt. Gov. Davis On Environmental, Energy Issues? [PaEN]
Related Articles - Oil & Gas Industry Impacts:
-- Oil & Gas Industry Impacts: Navy Veterans Patrick & Helen Robinson Relate Their 7-Year Struggle Dealing With Impacts Of Mariner East Pipeline Construction In Indiana County, And They Continue [PaEN]
-- Oil & Gas Industry Impacts: Cambria County Family Sues Sunoco After 3 Years Of Dealing With Damage To Home, Well, Septic System, Property From Mariner East Pipeline Construction [PaEN]
-- Washington County Family Lawsuit Alleges Shale Gas Company Violated The Terms Of Their Lease By Endangering Their Health, Contaminating Their Water Supply And Not Protecting Their Land [PaEN]
-- Oil & Gas Industry Impacts: Families Affected By Alleged ‘Frack-Out’ In Greene County Have A Little Happier Holiday Thanks To Water Donated By Center For Coalfield Justice [PaEN]
-- Better Path Coalition: 65 Organizations, Businesses, 2,700+ Individuals Petition Gov.-Elect Shapiro To Ban Road Dumping Of Conventional Oil & Gas Wastewater [12.12.22]
-- Citizen Complaints Result In DEP Issuing PA General Energy More Violations At Loyalsock Creek Gas Pipeline/Water Withdrawal Construction Site In Lycoming County [PaEN]
-- Senate Hearing: Body Of Evidence Is 'Large, Growing,’ ‘Consistent’ And 'Compelling' That Shale Gas Development Is Having A Negative Impact On Public Health; PA Must Act [PaEN]
-- Presentations Now Available From Shale Gas & Public Health Conference In Nov. Hosted By PA League Of Women Voters & University Of Pittsburgh Graduate School Of Public Health [PaEN
Related NewsClips This Week:
-- PA Capital-Star Guest Essay: It’s Time Pennsylvania Residents, Regulators Demand Health Risks From Shale Gas Fracking Be Addressed - By Clean Air Council
-- TribLive Guest Essay: I’ve Seen Firsthand How Harmful Methane Pollution From Oil & Gas Industry Can Affect Our Health - Physicians For Social Responsibility Pennsylvania
-- Bob Donnan Blog: Is The Public Being ‘Dimocked’ Again On Shale Gas?
-- Pittsburgh Business Times: Better Path Coalition Wants More Information On DEP’s Settlement On Illegal Dumping 1,831 Truck Loads Of Oil & Gas Waste In Fayette County
-- StateImpactPA - Rachel McDevitt: PA Natural Gas Prices Rise [94.7%] As Production Falls, Report Says
-- Marcellus Drilling News: Southwest PA Landowners Settle Class Action Lawsuit With Chief Oil & Gas For $5.5 Million
-- The Allegheny Front: ‘We Do Have Questions To Answer’ About Single-Use Plastic Waste, Shell Internal Emails Reveal
Related Holiday NewsClips:
-- Marcellus Shale Coalition: 12 Days Of Marcellus - ‘On The First Day Of Marcellus, Natural Gas Gave To Me’
-- Bob Donnan Blog: Real Shale Gas History: 12 Articles On Shale Gas Development In PA As Told By The Families and Communities That Experienced It
Related Articles This Week:
-- Oil & Gas Industry Impacts: Navy Veterans Patrick & Helen Robinson Relate Their 7-Year Struggle Dealing With Impacts Of Mariner East Pipeline Construction In Indiana County, And They Continue [PaEN]
-- Oil & Gas Industry Impacts: Cambria County Family Sues Sunoco After 3 Years Of Dealing With Damage To Home, Well, Septic System, Property From Mariner East Pipeline Construction [PaEN]
-- Oil & Gas Industry Impacts: Families Affected By Alleged ‘Frack-Out’ In Greene County Have A Little Happier Holiday Thanks To Water Donated By Center For Coalfield Justice [PaEN]
-- Susquehanna River Basin Commission Approves Oil & Gas Development, Three Mile Island Nuclear Power Plant Water Withdrawal Requests [PaEN]
-- League Of Women Voters, Partners Host Jan. 12 Webinar On LNG Natural Gas Export Terminal Safety [PaEN]
-- Republican Herald Editorial: Gas Industry Appeased Too Long [PaEN]
[Posted: December 22, 2022] PA Environment Digest
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