Families in proximity to drilling, fracking and trucking are at risk

From an Article by Kristina Marusic, Reporter for Environmental Health News Network, March 2, 2021

This is part 2 of our 4-part series, “Fractured,” an investigation of fracking chemicals in the air, water, and people of western Pennsylvania.

WASHINGTON COUNTY, Pa.—In the spring of 2019, after years worrying about exposures from a fracking well about a half mile from her grandkids’ school, Jane Worthington decided to move them to another school district.

Her granddaughter Lexy had been sick on and off for years with mysterious symptoms, and Jane believed air pollution from the fracking well was to blame. She was embroiled in a legal battle aimed at stopping another well from being drilled near the school. She felt speaking out had turned the community against them.

“It seemed like practically everyone in the district had leased their mineral rights,” Jane told Environmental Health News (EHN). “We couldn’t get anywhere with the school board, and it seemed like they all had a reason to want us to just shut up and go away.”

The social strain combined with her granddaughter’s illness was enough to make her want to leave. Money was tight for Jane, who is a single caregiver, but she found a deal on a foreclosure in another school district.

The house, white with sage green shutters, sat on a quiet residential street. It was a bit of a fixer-upper, but she didn’t mind the work—she just wanted a safe, comfortable home for her grandchildren, Lexy and Damien, who she’d raised since they were babies. At the time, Lexy was 15-years old and Damien was 13.

The kids fell in love with the house. There were still fracking wells nearby — they’re virtually impossible to avoid in Washington County — but there were none within a mile of the school, and they didn’t see any new wells being drilled close to the house.

Soon after moving in, though, they learned that their new home was within a mile and a half of a well pad with six wells already in production (meaning no longer being “fracked” or drilled, but producing natural gas and oil), and less than a half mile away from a large metal casting facility. An EHN analysis of the air and water at their new home, along with urine samples from the family, suggest they’re being exposed to higher-than-average levels of many of the chemicals they were concerned about at their old house. “We don’t seem to be able to get away from this,” Jane said.

In 2019, EHN collected urine samples, along with air and water samples, from five families in southwestern Pennsylvania and had them analyzed for chemicals associated with fracking.

Here is how we conducted our study

Jane and her grandchildren were one of the five families we studied. We collected a total of nine urine samples from the family over a 5-week period and found 18 chemicals known to be commonly emitted from fracking sites in one or more samples, including benzene, toluene, naphthalene, and lesser-known compounds—all of which are linked to negative health impacts including respiratory and gastrointestinal problems, skin and eye irritation, organ damage, reproductive harm, and increased cancer risk.

Some chemical exposures aren’t detectable in urine if the body has already processed them, so we also looked for breakdown products, or biomarkers, for harmful chemicals. Some of these biomarkers show up when people consume certain foods or beverages, so to determine whether the levels we saw in Pennsylvania families were normal, we compared them against those seen in the average American using U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

We found that urine samples for Jane and her grandkids contained biomarkers for fracking chemicals at levels higher than the U.S. 95th percentile — the value that 95 percent of Americans fall below, according to that CDC data.

All of the family’s samples exceeded the U.S. 95th percentile for mandelic acid, a biomarker for ethylbenzene and styrene. More than half of the family’s samples exceeded the U.S. 95th percentile for phenylglyoxylic acid, another biomarker for ethylbenzene and styrene, and for trans, trans-muconic acid, a biomarker for benzene. A third of the family’s samples exceeded the 95th percentile for hippuric acid, a biomarker for toluene.

Exposure to these compounds is linked to eye, skin, respiratory and gastrointestinal irritation; neurological, immune, kidney, cardiovascular, blood, and developmental disorders; hormone disruption; and increased cancer risk.

The family’s urine samples also suggested that they had higher-than-average exposures to biomarkers for toluene and xylenes, which are linked to skin and eye irritation, drowsiness and dizziness, and central nervous system damage.

There’s no way to know for certain whether the family’s exposures came from fracking emissions. We visited Jane’s home, had her complete an extensive survey about other possible sources of exposure, and recorded the family’s activities around the time of our sampling and did not find other obvious explanations, though the metal casting facility near Jane’s new home could also contribute to these exposures.

The exposures confirm Jane’s worst fears—that the children she’s tasked with protecting are exposed to harmful chemicals simply because of where they live. But the impacts run deeper. The family seemingly cannot escape the effects of an industry that wields tremendous power in the state and is allowed to operate within 500 feet of schools and homes housing children and other vulnerable residents. Researchers warn the impacts extend to the more out-of-sight aspects of health—people’s sleep, their social network, and their overall mental well being.

“I just wish there was more awareness that it really is dangerous for every family that lives here,” Jane said. “It isn’t as safe as we tend to want to make ourselves feel. This is proof.”

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See also: When the Kids Started Getting Sick, Eliza Griswold, New Yorker Magazine, March 2, 2021

After pressure from families, Pennsylvania has launched studies into whether fracking can be linked to local illnesses.

AIR POLLUTION & RESPIRATORY INFECTIONS SUCH AS COVID-19

From the Newsletter of the Environmental Health Project, Summer, Issue 6, June 2020

EHP has been taking an active look at the connection between air pollution and respiratory infections such as COVID-19. What we’re finding is a stronger relationship than you might imagine. As our blog post “Air Pollution and Respiratory Infections: Q & A” notes, if you’ve been exposed to air pollution and you contract a respiratory infection, your symptoms may be more severe.

“A number of scientific studies have shown a link between air pollution and respiratory infections,” said EHP’s public health nurse Sarah Rankin, MPH, RN. “These studies show that being exposed to air pollution may aid in making a respiratory infection worse. It might also increase your chances of getting a respiratory infection in the first place.”

Naturally, at EHP, we want to offer ways you can help to protect your health and your family’s health from the effects of pollution in your air. The Q & A blog post talks about how you can monitor the air in and around your home and suggests steps you can take to reduce pollution there. Along those lines, EHP has produced a short video explaining how to make an affordable and effective air filter using a box fan and a HEPA-certified furnace filter. This DIY fan/furnace filter can help to make your home’s air cleaner.

If you want to take a deeper dive into the science behind the relationship between air pollution and respiratory infection, you might be interested in EHP’s review of the studies mentioned above. “Air Pollution and Respiratory Infections: Reviewing the Science” looks at more than two dozen research studies that tackle the issue from the standpoint of disease severity, hospitalizations and emergency room visits, and deaths during pandemics, including COVID-19.

Feel free to contact EHP for more information on air pollution as it affects your health and well-being.

Small chemical plant in Brazil . . .

Institute citizens meet to discuss methanol plant

From an Article by Alex Thomas in WV MetroNews | February 14, 2017

INSTITUTE, W.Va. – A new methanol plant in Institute drew concern from citizens at a meeting February 13th  at West Virginia State University.

The founders of U.S. Methanol, Brad Gunn and Richard Wolfli, discussed at the meeting the upcoming construction of Liberty-1, a plant to be built on state Route 25. According to a release from the company, it will move an existing methanol production facility from Brazil to an 11-acre complex.

Company CEO Brad Gunn said the compound will be produced to be used by other companies based on the Kanawha River. Gunn said putting the plant in Institute made sense because of a growing demand.

Methanol is a chemical made when methane is combined with steam and pressure, and can be found in plastics and LCD screens. “It’s all over the place,” Gunn said.

The event was hosted by People Concerned About Chemical Safety, a local nonprofit that was founded in 1985 following the Union Carbide chemical plant disaster in Bhopal, India, a year earlier. Chemicals leaking from the plant killed an estimate 4,000 people.

Pam Nixon, president of the organization’s board of directors, said the meeting was held to inform people about the plant. “We wanted to give the community a chance to be able to get information, so that if they wanted to submit any comment, they would have informed comments that they could submit,” Nixon said.

Construction of the plant is scheduled to begin in March. Gunn said the facility would be operational by the end of 2017, and would create more than 60 permanent jobs and 300 temporary construction jobs.

Some of the more than dozen people who attended the meeting said they were worried about the possible environmental impact of the plant, making note of how previous companies have polluted the community. One moment mentioned was the 2008 explosion at the Bayer CropScience facility that killed two people and injured eight others.

Kathy Ferguson from Institute, said she cannot help but be doubtful because of the past. “There has to be some kind of cumulative effect, and that’s concerning to me,” Ferguson said.

Ferguson said pollution related to industrial growth has driven graduates away from the area. “It takes away from the state in the sense that young people don’t want to stay here,” Ferguson said.

Gunn said he and Wolfli want to create a different type of chemical company, adding they themselves are moving to the Charleston area to supervise the plant. “You can view this as a clean slate,” Gunn said. “A way to make a new start. We come without any of those preconceived ideas. We have to be mindful and respectful of the past and what other companies have done.”

Neither Gunn nor Wolfli have direct experience dealing with methane production. They both, however, have a combined 45 years in the energy and technology industries.

Gunn said U.S. Methanol is still waiting on an emission permit from the state Department of Environmental Protection, which he expects will be approved within the next 30 days.

A second facility, Liberty-2, is scheduled to be built in Belle, WV (just east of Charleston off US Route 60.)

See also: Methanol Tech

WV Rivers in Trouble

Join WV Rivers Coalition, Advocates for a Safe Water System, OVEC, WV Citizen Action Group, and WV Environmental Council at the WV Capitol Building as we remember the Elk River chemical leak on the 3-year anniversary of the #wvwatercrisis.

WV Rivers and Advocates are co-hosting a press conference with three experts who have been working on safe water since the January 9, 2014 chemical leak, which contaminated the drinking water of over 300,000 West Virginians.

We need you to come out and show your support for our water! The media will be there, and our elected officials will be watching. We need to send a strong message that we, the people of West Virginia, are paying attention and demand safe water! Join the event on Facebook and invite others.

What: Press Conference – Three Years After the Water Crisis: Where Are We Now?

When: 11 am Monday, January 9, 2017

Where: Lower Rotunda, State Capitol Building, Charleston

Yours for the environment, WV Environmental Council,

http://wvecouncil.org, info@wvecouncil.org

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Greenbrier River Watershed Association year-end letter

Thanks for your support of the Greenbrier River Watershed Association over the past year, and for some of you, for many years. Our email newsletters come out about twice a month. They contain information which we hope you have found useful.  Also, if you have not recently been to the website, www.greenbrier.org, please visit us there.  It has undergone changes that you will like.  We are also on Facebook at Greenbrier Watershed. 

This past year has brought many challenges and many rewards. Of course, we were struck to our core by the June flooding which affected so many of our families, communities, parks, forests and the river itself and her tributaries. Who could forget the scenes of tragedy that kept unfolding? Many of our members pitched in to help neighbors and are still working to rebuild our communities. Proceeds from our annual Watershed Celebration at Lost World were earmarked for repair of the damaged Greenbrier River Trail. Huge thanks to all who continue to volunteer!

We continue to support clean water in every way we can. We think it is our right as citizens to have clean drinking water and clean streams in which to recreate. Our deep concern about the potential for environmental harm from proposed pipelines, and the lack of oversight by agencies tasked with regulating them, has not abated. It is still hard to believe that our remote river is slated for two crossings by huge industrial projects whose purpose is not bringing energy to our state, but rather exporting it overseas. 

On a happier note, we were recognized as Watershed of the Year by the West Virginia Watershed Network. The main reason was our successful work to get conservation easements on 250 acres along the River and Trail in Pocahontas and Greenbrier counties. This acreage overlooks Spice Run Wilderness and will be forever protected from development.

Another of our projects which received statewide attention was our collaboration with the US Forest Service on construction of a new boat launch at Anthony. Our new coordinator, Jennifer Baker, traveled to Charleston recently for that award.  The project will receive Transportation Enhancement Funds. We know your time and funds are limited, but we want to let you know that we appreciate your generous support, and hope that as you look at year-end giving, you will be able to include your local water protectors on the “nice” list.

Sincerely, John Walkup, President; Greenbrier River Watershed Association, P.O. Box 1419, Lewisburg, WV 24901
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See also: “West Virginia Streams are in Trouble”

http://www.appalmad.org/slider/west-virginias-streams-are-in-trouble/