The studies found there is a link between shale gas development and making asthma conditions worse; an increased risk of childhood lymphoma cancer; and slightly lower birth weights.
The studies found no link to childhood leukemia or rarer Ewing’s tumors that were found in one school district in Washington County.
Click Here for detail on the study results and related issues. An extensive list of links to previous work on environmental and health impacts of oil and gas development are included.
Apology
Kristen Rodack, Executive Deputy Secretary of the Health Department, said in response to one speaker’s comments-- “I just wanted to acknowledge the gentleman's comments about you all being the experts of your communities. I completely agree.
“We completely agree that you are the experts in where you live and what you experience day to day.
“I think the Department of Health certainly is making a concerted effort to be more transparent and to be listening to the community more frequently and more often.
“And I think certainly I know that the feeling is that we have not done that in the past. So I will apologize on behalf of the department for maybe not doing that as well in the past.”
“I just wanted to say that we will be making a more concerted effort to be here and to be listening on a more continual basis.”
To another speaker, Rodack said, “Again, [I] appreciate the pain and the suffering of the community in the last several years of having to deal with this, and feeling like your voice wasn't heard.
“I think you hit the nail on the head when you said this is just the tip of an iceberg. Certainly a start of a conversation here for the Department of Health.”
“This is certainly not the end of our work or the conversation here with the community.”
What follows is a sampling of the comments made and questions from a half dozen individuals during the Q/A session after the presentation of the study results by the University of Pittsburgh.
Also summarized are the immediate next steps the Department of Health plans to take to follow up the studies.
Click Here for a video of the meeting. Q/A begins about the 39:58 mark with former Post-Gazette reporter David Templeton, who with Don Hopey, reported on multiple rare cancers in a Washington County school district in 2019.
Janice Blanock
“My name is Janice Blanock. I lost my son, Luke, to Ewing sarcoma [cancer]. We live in Cecil, Washington County, Pennsylvania.
“So I have said this many times, and I'll say it again, [radioactive] radium-226 and radium-228 are a major concern, because radium acts like calcium and attaches to the bone and is known to cause cancers and other illnesses.
“So in an article I read recently from the New Yorker, it said the DOH [Department of Health] confirmed that this study would look at correlations between illnesses and their proximity to oil and gas infrastructure, but would not directly examine the dangers of radioactive waste.
“Why in the hell not? Seriously, why isn't that included?
“They're bringing up, okay, it's naturally occurring in the ground, but when you're bringing it to the surface and spreading it all over our communities, then our kids are dying from Ewing sarcoma and brain cancers and lymphomas and every other goddamn thing.
“Why wasn't it included in your study?”
Dr. James Babisiak, who presented the study for the University of Pittsburgh, said, “I think you raise a very, very valid point.
“The difficulties in conducting the kind of study you would like to see in a retrospective manner is that I really have no idea how much radioactivity each control and each cancer patient has been exposed to in their past.
“I don't have a record of that. If there was a way to think about doing some sort of measure, I would do it.”
David Templeton - 2019 Cancer Article
David Templeton, who with Don Hopey, broke the story in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette about children coming down with rare cancers in the Canon-McMillian School District in Washington County, made several comments.
“My name is Dave Templeton. I'm here not as a reporter, but as a citizen. I'm now retired.
“I think this sounds like a good start, but my concern would be the fact that we documented so many cancers in Canonsburg. At the time we did our stories, and again, I'm not speaking on behalf of the Post Gazette.
“At the time we did our studies, there were 11 cancers, childhood cancers, in the Canon-McMillan school district, including at least three sarcomas. That is not even talking about a history of six sarcomas.
“The problem with your numbers 2010 to 2020 is that two or three of those started were diagnosed 2008, 2009.
“At that time, prior to that, they were venting in that area. They were venting raw [natural] gas along with radiation coming up from the ground.
“Now also, you talked about the fact you didn't take intensity into play. Canon McMillian School District is right over the hill from the biggest [natural gas] processing plant in Pennsylvania.
“It also is the catcher's mitt for about 12 [natural gas] compressor stations, mostly due west.
“There has to be a cluster study in Canon-McMillian in that area, and it has to go back to look at previous cancers, not only current cancers because there's no longer [natural gas] venting, but there still is a lot of exposure
“You have to understand there's [radioactive] radium, there's benzene, toluene, all kinds of chemicals. There's particulates, there's diesel fuel.
“All of this stuff is out there, and one would expect multiple types of cancers, and that is exactly what occurred in Canonsburg.
“There needs to be a cluster study in Canonsburg.”
Dr. Sharon Watkins, State Epidemiologist with the Department of Health responded, “I just wanted to indicate that one of our next steps was to review cancer incidents in the area again, and we will be doing that using cancer registry data.
“It's not something you do every year because of how rare cancer is. You have to wait for a number of years for enough cancer cases to occur.”
Maureen, Washington County
“My name's Maureen. I live in the Canon-McMillian School District. And I am the parent of two students who've been through the district. One has just graduated, one is there.
“And what do I tell my kids when I go home tonight, when they start asking me questions. Is it safe to live here?
“I have a guy trying to get my [natural] gas rights under my yard, right now. And I'm getting the phone calls, and there's the contract.
“My kids already have asthma. And is that from the wells that were already dug 20 years ago in the town next door?
“I'm sorry I'm not very articulate, right now, because I'm just frustrated as hell.
“How many meetings do I have to go to? We're working backwards. We're working when somebody already has cancer, but we're not doing anything right bloody now to stop it from happening.
“My oldest makes a joke that our water is cancer water, because my intake is downstream from the Westmoreland Landfill. And when I called Pennsylvania American Water on the day that that story came out in the paper that they were taking those leachate [from the landfill that accepted oil and gas waste], and it was in the water, the guy at the water company plant said, "Oh. Is that why our good bacteria is dying off?"
“We have no way of testing that in our water.
“We know it's here. We can't not know it's here.
“I get that it's a trillion-dollar [natural gas] industry every freaking year. I get that their name is on everything, everywhere you look.
“But good God almighty, when is it going to stop? What do we do? What do I tell my kids?
“I'm sorry. I thank you that you guys are here and really, really appreciate it. But dear Lord, what do I tell them? Let alone the little ones, right?
“My guy was in the NICU [newborn intensive care], but he's not a part of that study. We have no idea what these kids have. And when you go to the pediatrician, they are stumped.
“So, maybe that will benefit, but it's already too late. They're 19 and 17. Their whole lives have been book-ended by it [shale gas development].
“Just, what do we do? What do we do? What do I put in my water system?
“Nothing gets radioactivity out of your water. What kind of an air filter do I buy?
“I had the trucks going by my house, and the [natural gas] land guy said, "Oh, no, no. That's oil." I know they're brine trucks, because they say "brine" on them. And there are dozens and dozens and dozens.
“And there's an [oil and gas wastewater] injection well going in, in the town next door. But I can't say anything because it's in their town.
“We can go, but nobody cares, because there's so much money. If your supervisors all had gas leases and they're on the zoning board, well guess who's going to get the zoning changes to bring them in?
‘And we can't stop it. We can't do anything.
“What do we do? What do I tell my kids?
Maureen added, “In my brain, I have all the silos. This is in the air. This is in the water. We just did a study at Penn State about what is in the water.
“And if you guys really want to know about how to get that data about what's in water and where those hotspots are, you may want to talk to the people at Penn State Beaver. They have a lot of great data.
“And maybe there's something we can do. Maybe we need to hire more people at the health department to handle this.
“Because it's not just Washington County and Greene [County], right? It's happening on the other side of the state. You read everywhere, up in Indiana.
“It's so pervasive.”
“And as far as putting air monitors in schools, I tried that. We had a [railroad] line carrying the natural gas before they put the pipelines in. It went right behind my kids' intermediate school, right in front of their elementary school.
“And we all know trains never have problems, right? We just saw it. [Norfolk Southern train derailment]
“I don't mean to be facetious, that's a terrible thing. But when you would bring that up to the township, nothing. School board, nothing. Because the school board does not get involved in local politics in their township.
“And so, here we are.”
Dr. Sharon Watkins, State Epidemiologist with the Department of Health responded, “I really want to thank you for that. We all can hear how hard this is. And I know it's hard for all of you.
“And I wish that science had those exact specific answers. What we're trying to do here is present what we were able to find with this study.
“And what we can offer you is, we really are committed to increasing physician education and understanding and their access to toxicologists to better understand this.
“I have asthma. I understand. I've had it my whole life. I grew up in Westmoreland County surrounded by coal fields and abandoned mines and runoff water. My family is still there. I understand it's an immediate concern.
“And for us, it's not just something that's happening on the other end of the state. It's my family, too.
“What I can say to you is, honestly, just read the studies, work with your physicians. I am sorry you're not getting the answers. I'm hoping with these studies and with more education they can help take apart, it's almost overwhelming, and so maybe slowly by slowly picking away at some of the answers.”
Dr. Ned Ketyer
Dr. Ned Ketyer, President of the Physicians for Social Responsibility - PA, said, “I really didn't expect any bombshells to be dropped tonight, but the asthma study, to me, is a bombshell.
“That is very significant information to learn that the risk of severe asthma is, what, four to five times greater chance of having an asthma attack living within 10 miles. 10 miles.
“Asthma is not a mild disease. Asthma is a very serious disease. It's serious in young children, older children, adults.
“Very few people outgrow their asthma and it can be a lifelong problem.
“ It's expensive as far as being able to make a living. It's expensive as far as the money that you have to put out to treat it. This is a very serious disease.
“For me, that's a bombshell, and people should be paying attention to that.”
“The birth outcomes. I think that anytime you can see an increase in small for gestational age size, that's significant clinically.
“And the problems that kids can have when they're born small for gestational age can last a lifetime. I think we can all agree with that. So that's something to tease out from that.
“The other thing about the birth outcomes is the statement about particulate matter, fine particulate matter, PM2.5, being a risk factor for really all people, all children, all pregnant women.
“And that's a significant finding. Whether you can relate it and associate it with fracking, and if you can, you can, you can't, you can't.
“But that's a significant finding and we should all remember how dangerous fine particulate matter is, especially in this region with a history of it.”
“The cancer studies, boy, very difficult to study cancer. The numbers are very small, but it looks like you looked at four types of cancer. The increase in lymphoma, I know the numbers are small, but that's a significant increase and we should keep that in mind.”
Dr. Ketyer thanked the presenters and the study investigators for their work and concluded by saying, “I just think everybody should know that these studies are not the end of the story. They're really very much the beginning. There's a lot to take away.”
Raina Rippel
“My name's Raina Rippel. Some of you might know me. I was the former director of the Environmental Health Project [and resident of Washington County].
“I, first of all, want to thank you all for being here, listening to the community, giving the community time, and for what you just said from the Department of Health, that they are going to take this issue that much more seriously.
“I think I can say with safety, based on my work with the Environmental Health Project, that this study is just the tip of the toxic iceberg, and we are only just beginning to understand what is out there.
“I see no sign that fracking is stopping, or even slowing down.
“So I think under these conditions, and given this data, that the Department of Health has an imperative need to go the extra mile, to go probably the extra 100 miles, to acknowledge what we're seeing in these studies and to acknowledge what's to come.
“In my work with the Environmental Health Project, we always felt that lymphoma was on its way. We knew that lymphoma was going to be one of the earlier cancers to show up.
“There's a lot more cancer waiting in the wings.
“As we all know, cancer has a long gestation period. Basically, it takes a long time to develop.
“What needs to happen now, is we need to aggressively, assertively track and understand and ideally prevent what the exposed populations are going to experience in 5, 10, 15, 20 years.
“We can't just have this study and stop. We can't just have this study and know that fracking is continuing, and turn our backs on the populations that are still being exposed.
“We absolutely have to, again, not just go the next mile, the next 100 miles, to assertively, aggressively start to protect exposed populations.
“I'm hoping that the Department of Health can start to think about that proactive approach.
“I know it's difficult, and again, thank you so much, all of you, for doing this hard work. The study's incredibly hard
“This has been a seriously painful and horrifying issue to have worked on over the past 9, 10, 15 years.
“I've seen people die. I've been to their funerals. Our hearts are broken. So, that's what I want to say.
“I'm sorry. Just want to add one more thing. Children should not be the canaries in the coal mine here.
“But also of concern, and if you can only imagine this type of exposure, are the workers at the well pad, and the workers dealing with the production waste coming out at the wellbore, living, breathing, sleeping near it.
“So, what we're seeing with these children, and it's never a good thing to have your children be canaries in the coal mine, what's going to happen to the workers? That's my other question. Thank you.”
Kristen Rodock, Executive Deputy Secretary of the Health Department, said, “Again, [I] appreciate the pain and the suffering of the community in the last several years of having to deal with this, and feeling like your voice wasn't heard.
“I think you hit the nail on the head when you said this is just the tip of an iceberg. Certainly a start of a conversation here for the Department of Health.”
“This is certainly not the end of our work or the conversation here with the community.”
Tammy Murphy
“My name is Tammy Murphy. I'm with Physicians for Social Responsibility - PA.
“The first thing I have to say is I'm having a really hard time believing that you are going to put this out in social media. That you're going to be educating healthcare providers and you're going to be working with other departments adequately.
“You should be working with obviously, the DEP, Department of Labor, and the Department of Education, the Department of State.
“We know that this should be happening, but over the four years that we've been working with you, we've been getting the runaround.
“We've been getting told, "No, this can't happen. We have to go through the CDC [federal Centers for Disease Control] to get this information out."
“That fell on its head over and over and over again.
“We gave you examples, we gave you samples, we gave you templates. We gave it to you, you didn't use it. Why not?
Allison Steele talked about the incredible amount of data that EHP [Environmental Health Project] holds, and they have given this to you. You have had access to this the whole time. Why have you not shared it? What are you waiting for? I don't understand.
“What in the world are you waiting for? Families here need this information. Doctors need this information. Schools need this information. Laborers need this information. There is no reason it should have been withheld up until this point.
“And that you're promising it tonight does not convince me. I hope I'm wrong, okay?
“The other thing that I want to point out that I'm very frustrated with, and I'm not even seeing very many people here, aside from Dr. Watkins and maybe one other person from the Department of Health, from the beginning of the studies in November of 2019, we contacted the Department of Health.
“We said we wanted you to look into waste, and Dr. Levine [former Secretary of Health] said, "No."
“We wanted you to look into radiation, Dr. Levine said, "No."
“We said we wanted an advisory board ahead of the academic partner being picked. It was thorough, it was all written out. There was an example made for you. We were told, "No."
“Later, we got the advisory board, sort of, a little too late, a little too short on content. We got something, but it didn't really amount to anything.
“But as far as the rest of the stuff, including the content of what we wanted studied, why was it not included?
“Why were radiation, why was waste, why were pigging [pipeline cleanout] stations, why were they not included?
“We were pushing for this since November of 2019. And there's no excuse to say you couldn't do it.
“The excuse that we got was that this is going to be a retroactive study. Why? The answer we were given was money.
“But Physicians for Social Responsibility did a proactive study with Wayne State University for about $70,000. Kristen Morisek did a similar study for about the same cost with testing people's bloods.
“There are families in this room who had their family's blood tested with that study. So yeah, that study could have been bigger.
“Our study could have been bigger, but with $3 million [for the University of Pittsburgh studies] that you were promised, why didn't you do it? If it cost us $70,000, and it cost Kristen Morisek $70,000, just add those two together. You could have multiplied that with a proactive study and gotten what we needed.
“Families here want to know, can their kids play in the water in their creek in the backyard? They want to know can they grow a garden and eat that food? They want to know should they sell their homes? Should they move? Do they have to? Are they putting themselves in danger?
“This is what they were asking you in 2019. They weren't saying, "Hey, go look at some data from 20 years ago and tell us what's up with that." That's not what people asked for, and that's what we pushed.
“From 2019, our group, we had Environmental Health Project, we had Physicians for Social Responsibility. And behind us we had Mountain Watershed Association, Center for Coalfield Justice, FracTracker, and many, many other people informing us about what was supposed to happen.
“And we went in there and represented what people needed and the choice that you made was to do a retroactive study.
“So I don't accept the excuses that you gave that this was retroactive and it couldn't have been done retroactively. You couldn't have gotten your answers retroactively. That's why we told you don't do it retroactively.
“I don't understand. I don't understand the answers.”
Dr. Sharon Watkins, State Epidemiologist with the Department of Health responded, “I think back in 2019, a lot of the community concerns were cancer. And we worked with the governor's office, at the time, to largely outline a couple studies that would address this issue.
“I think there's always room for more research. You are talking about an exposure study or a cohort study or a bio-monitoring study, and at the time that was not what was discussed with the governor [Wolf].”
“You are highlighting additional studies, and I wouldn't argue that more of that needs to be done.”
Dept. Of Health Next Steps
Dr. Sharon Watkins, State Epidemiologist with the Department of Health, outlined the immediate next steps the agency would be taking to follow up on the studies.
“Starting in October local healthcare providers will be able to join a monthly free continuing medical educational opportunity to better prepare them to identify, treat people with environmental exposures, and to really be able to discuss these environmental exposures with you.
“The department's excited about that, and we're doing a number of activities around that starting in the fall.
“This initiative is a partnership between Dr. George Garrow with the local health center, Penn State Health, the Pittsburgh Poison Center, and the Department of Health.
“The continuing medical education opportunity will be promoted widely to local healthcare providers, so we will be trying to provide information to your healthcare providers so that they can work better with you to answer questions.
“We will be working with other state agencies and stakeholders on initiatives to educate children and families in school districts impacted by air quality issues and concerns.
“We know this area has a history of poor air quality, and we want to work with schools and your families to address this.
“This week we added a new feature to the Department of Health Environmental Health website to help individuals submit environmental health complaints.
“This really should streamline the process. You'll answer a few questions online and we'll be better prepared to work with you when we do call you.
“We will be updating the Department of Health's review of literature on the association between natural gas development and health, and we will providing updates to healthcare providers and the public regarding that review.
“We're going to continue to monitor cancer incidents with attention to the environmental issues and exposures in different age groups in this area. And we will continue working hand in hand with other state agencies to better protect the health of all residents.
“So I think those are some of the big picture next steps that we are working on now and we'll be rolling out in coming months.
“Please know that we do appreciate the findings of these studies and the next steps we'll be taking do not, we know, relieve the pain, suffering, and the worry that many of you are experiencing and that you have been sharing with us.
“We are committed to doing what we can do to do a better job to protect you from environmental health risks in the communities.”
Click Here for the study results and fact sheets. An extensive list of links to previous work on environmental and health impacts of oil and gas development are included.
Click Here for a video of the meeting.
Companion Article:
-- University Of Pittsburgh School Of Public Health Studies Find Shale Gas Wells Can Make Asthma Worse; Children Have An Increased Chance Of Developing Lymphoma Cancer; Slightly Lower Birth Weights [PaEN]
NewsClips - Health Study
-- The Center Square: Natural Gas Well Setbacks May Not Be Protective Enough After Health Impact Study Results
-- Marcellus Drilling News: Gov. Shapiro’s Anti-Marcellus Views Reflected In New DEP Regs [That May Be Coming Next Week]
-- Bloomberg Column: Cancer In Kids Is Too High A Price For Cheap Natural Gas - By Mark Gongloff
-- Pittsburgh Business Times: DEP Plans To Tighten Regulations On Natural Gas Drilling, Including Recommendations For 2020 Grand Jury Report
-- Marcellus Shale Coalition: University Of Pittsburgh Health Studies ‘Reproduces Previously Flawed Studies’ Not Actual Field Monitoring [But Likes One Result That Favors Them]
-- Marcellus Drilling News: Pitt Releases Fake Research, Claims PA Fracking Linked To Kid Cancer
-- Sen. Yaw Questions Legitimacy Of University Of Pittsburgh Shale Gas Health Studies
-- AP: Pennsylvania Study Suggests Links Between Shale Gas Wells And Asthma; Lymphoma In Children
-- The Allegheny Front: Pitt Researchers Find Higher Risks For Lymphoma And Asthma For Those Living Near Shale Gas Development, But ‘No Association’ To Ewing Sarcoma Cancer
-- Post-Gazette - Anya Litvak/Hanna Webster: ‘Is It Safe To Live Here?’: Questions Loom At Presentation Of Reports On Shale Gas Development And Health In Southwestern PA
-- Observer-Reporter - Karen Mansfield: Pitt Study Shows Link Between Fracking, Increased Lymphoma, Asthma Reactions
-- KDKA: PA Study Suggests Links Between Shale Gas Development And Asthma, Lymphoma In Children
-- NextPittsburgh: Natural Gas Development Raises Risks Of Asthma; Lymphoma In Children, Pitt Study Reveals
-- Pittsburgh Business Journal: Pitt, State Release Findings Of Health Studies Into Natural Gas Drilling
-- Inside Climate News - Jon Hurdle: Shale Gas Development Linked To Increases Cases Of Lymphoma In PA Children, Study Finds
-- The Hill: PA Research Suggests Link Between Natural Gas Development And Asthma, Childhood Lymphoma
-- The Grist: In Pennsylvania, State Data Links Natural Gas Development To Childhood Cancer
PA Oil & Gas Industry Public Notice Dashboards:
-- The Derrick: DEP Issues Order To Petro Erie, Inc. To Restore Village Of Reno Water System, Cleanup Contamination Caused By Its Conventional Well Wastewater Release; 1 Month Without Clean Water [PaEN]
-- Pennsylvania Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard- August 12 to 18 [PaEN]
-- PA Oil & Gas Industrial Facilities: Permit Notices/Opportunities To Comment - August 19 [PaEN]
-- DEP Posted 68 Pages Of Permit-Related Notices In August 19 PA Bulletin [PaEN]
NewsClips This Week:
-- The Center Square: Natural Gas Well Setbacks May Not Be Protective Enough After Health Impact Study Results
-- Post-Gazette: Processing Research On Southwestern PA Natural Gas Development And Health, Residents Seek Answers Together: ‘We Deserve Better’
-- Bloomberg Column: Cancer In Kids Is Too High A Price For Cheap Natural Gas - By Mark Gongloff
-- TribLive: 6th Victim Dies From Plum Borough House Explosion
-- TribLive: Gov. Shapiro Orders DEP Probe Of Plum House Explosion
-- Post-Gazette - Ford Turner: Gov. Shapiro Directs DEP To Investigation Plum Boro House Explosion
-- DEP Working With PUC, Local And Allegheny County Agencies On Plum Boro House Explosion Investigation
-- AP: Underground Coal Mines Unlikely To Blame For Deadly House Explosion In Plum Boro, DEP Says
-- TribLive: DEP Inspectors Capture Gas Samples At Plum Boro Explosion Site, Await Test Results
-- Post-Gazette Editorial: Is There Something Rotten [With Gas] In Plum? PUC, DEP Must Investigate
-- Observer-Reporter: Fayette County Commissioners Take Step To Prevent Oil/Gas Wastewater Injection Wells
-- Halt The Harm Network, FracTracker Alliance: Aug. 30 Webinar: Wasted Water - The Impacts Of Fracking's Water Use From PA To Colorado, 2:00 to 3:00 p.m.
-- NBC News: Millions In US Live Near Abandoned Conventional Oil & Gas Wells Linked To Explosions And Toxins [Pennsylvania Profiled]
-- The Allegheny Front: New Investigation Shows State Regulators Have Struggled To Keep Up With Pollution Events At Shell’s Petrochemical Plant In Beaver County
-- Environmental Health News: Beaver County Community Will Get $5 Million Due To Shell Petrochemical Plant Pollution - Just Don’t Call It Charity
-- TribLive Guest Essay: Better Oversight Of US Natural Gas Pipelines Needed - By Pittsburgh City Council Member & former Colorado County Commissioner
-- Scranton Times Editorial: Control Leaks From Natural Gas Pipelines
-- AG Henry Approves Settlement Of Anti-Competitive Energy Deal Between EQT Natural Gas, Quantum Energy Partners
Related Articles This Week:
-- University Of Pittsburgh School Of Public Health Studies Find Shale Gas Wells Can Make Asthma Worse; Children Have An Increased Chance Of Developing Lymphoma Cancer; Slightly Lower Birth Weights [PaEN]
-- Post-Gazette Editorial: Who Pays For Natural Gas Development’s Harm? Pennsylvania Should Acknowledge The Clear Fact That Fracking Has Hurt People, Specifically Children [PaEN]
-- Public Utility Commission Safety Investigation Ongoing Following Deadly House Explosion In Plum Borough, Allegheny County [PaEN]
-- New DEP Interim Final Environmental Justice Policy, Definition Of Environmental Justice Areas Effective Sept. 16; Public Comments Accepted Thru Oct. 29 [PaEN]
[Posted: August 16, 2023] PA Environment Digest
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