PA Environment Digest Blog: Environmental Health Project Contributes To New Book On Sustainable Development & Rural Public Health

On August 9, the Environmental Health Project announced it has contributed a chapter on Shale Gas Extraction in Pennsylvania to a new book by pioneering research investigator Michael Hendryx-- Sustainable Development and Rural Public Health: From Fossil Fuels to Greener Futures.

The book offers strategies and solutions for rural communities dependent on fossil fuel economies to enable them to transition to sustainable development.

“EHP is extremely grateful for the opportunity to share with a broader audience the knowledge and expertise we’ve amassed over the past 12 years of our existence,” said Executive Director Alison L. Steele, one of the chapter’s authors. “Communities and policy makers can make better health-protective decisions when they understand the complex relationship between shale gas pollution and public health.”

In the chapter Shale Gas Extraction in Pennsylvania, EHP details the health impacts of the shale gas boom and takes a hard look at historic policy failings while illuminating a way forward for policy improvements that can better defend the health of residents anywhere polluting industries operate.

In Pennsylvania, the advent of shale gas development (also called unconventional gas development, hydraulic fracturing, or fracking) has created prosperity for some and adverse health consequences for many in primarily rural areas of the state.

EHP’s chapter challenges the assumption that the financial benefits of shale gas extraction outweigh the costs to public health and community wellbeing.

A boom in shale gas drilling and extraction, which began in 2004 and ramped up sharply in the ensuing decade, occurred with no consideration of public health.

In fact, policymakers at all levels of government enabled industry to circumvent existing emissions rules, while the state provided large public subsidies, required minimal operating fees, established inadequate setback distances, and provided lax agency oversight in exchange for virtually unlimited industry access to gas deposits underlying the state.

Meanwhile, residents living near shale gas development have suffered a host of health impacts, from asthmas and heart events to birth defects and cancers.

The clock cannot be turned back on the failures of policymakers to protect populations within the state. However, a number of policy improvements can be made to better defend the health of residents in Pennsylvania and anywhere polluting industries operate.

Improvements in the areas of equity, transparency, authority, and accountability are vitally important to protecting public health from shale gas pollution.

Portions of this chapter originally appeared in a white paper titled Pennsylvania’s Shale Gas Boom: How Policy Decisions Failed to Protect Public Health and What We Can Do to Correct It.

The Environmental Health Project is a nonprofit public health organization that defends public health in the face of shale gas development.

EHP provides frontline communities with timely monitoring, interpretation, and guidance while engaging diverse stakeholders: health professionals, researchers, community organizers, policy makers, and others.

Resource Links:

-- 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]

-- Environmental Health Project Finds Results ‘Very Concerning’ From University Of Pittsburgh Studies Showing Links Between Natural Gas Development And Lymphoma Cancer, Worsening Asthma Conditions, Lower Birth Weights [PaEN]

-- State Dept. Of Health Apologizes For Not Listening To Communities Suffering Health Impacts From Shale Gas Development; New Health Study Results ‘Just The Tip Of The Iceberg’ [PaEN]

-- State Dept. Of Health Invites Citizens To File Environmental Health Complaints Related To Natural Gas Development; Health Will Also Review Environmental Test Results [PaEN]

-- 9th Compendium Of Studies On Health & Environmental Harms From Natural Gas Development Released - ‘The Rapidly Expanding Body Of Evidence Compiled Here Is Massive, Troubling And Cries Out For Decisive Action’ [PaEN]

-- Environmental Health Project: Gov. Shapiro’s Record On Shale Gas And Health - A Look At The Grand Jury Recommendations One Year In

-- Physicians For Social Responsibility - PA: Gov. Shapiro And The Fossil Fuel Industry - Abandoning Climate Science For Industry Support

-- We’ve Heard This Before: ‘We’re Providing Jobs - Stopping Pollution Threatens Jobs’ - A Brief Review Of Pennsylvania’s Conservation History [PaEN]

PA Oil & Gas Industry Public Notice Dashboards:

-- PA Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - August 3 to 9 - Diversified Prod LLC Fails To Comply With Order To Plug Abandoned Shale Gas Wells; 700 Abandoned Conventional Well Violations [PaEN]

-- PA Oil & Gas Industrial Facilities: Permit Notices, Opportunities To Comment - August 10 [PaEN]