Fracking Compendium, 8th Edition

From the Physicians for Social Responsibility, April 28, 2022

PSR is proud to co-release the eighth edition of the fracking “Compendium,” a collection of some 2,000 abstracts of and links to medical, scientific and investigative reports about the consequences of oil and gas drilling, fracking, and infrastructure.

This unique resource presents evidence that fracking-related activities harm public health, the environment, and the climate; links provide easy access to the source material. The 2022 edition includes reports on liquefied natural gas (LNG), which the U.S. proposes to export in massive quantities to Western Europe, thus prolonging dependence on this potent climate-damaging fossil fuel.

PSR co-produces the Compendium with the Concerned Health Professionals of New York.
.

Now Seize the Day, Seize Life

Have you already been taking Petrolify® ?  Do you need more, in easy to take tablet form?

Message from the Post Carbon Institute, www.PostCarbon.org, September 3, 2014

Imagine there was a pill you could take every day that would provide you with wealth, freedom, and luxuries beyond the imagination of even the wealthiest kings of yesteryear. Taking this pill would give you the equivalent of hundreds of slaves, working for you 24/7, to grow your food, cool and heat your home, entertain you, carry you however far you wanted to travel, fill your bath with hot water, you name it … that’d be amazing!

Well, guess what? You’re already taking it. And it’s called Petrolify®.

>>>>>>>>>>>>

Check out this Petrolify video on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhgBeT_gkJU&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Post Carbon Institute: Founded in 2003, Post Carbon Institute is leading the transition to a more resilient, equitable, and sustainable world.

Post Carbon Institute provides individuals, communities, businesses, and governments with the resources needed to understand and respond to the interrelated economic, energy, environmental, and equity crises that define the 21st century. We envision a world of resilient communities and re-localized economies that thrive within ecological bounds.

Diesel exhausts near Barr family home

Marcellus Shale impacts still large in Wetzel County

From an Article by Mandi Cardosi, WTRF 7 News, Wheeling, WV, April 11, 2014

Wetzel County has always been a producer of natural gas, but a boom in the Marcellus Shale gas drilling really put it on the map for the Mountain State. Since 2008, the county at the base of the Northern Panhandle saw an increase in drilling by 6,000 percent.

A recent collaborative research effort looking into the shale drilling was released to show the effects of the oil and gas industry on West Virginia, among other surrounding states. The Multi-State Shale Research Collaborative, of which the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy participated in, released case studies April 10, which examined the impacts of shale oil and gas drilling in four active communities.

Read the case studies HERE.

The study looked at Carroll County in Ohio, Greene and Tioga counties in Pennsylvania and Wetzel County in West Virginia.

West Virginia is unique in that companies have been taking actions to sever surface rights from mineral rights, meaning some individuals do not own the mineral right so their land. This means some residents don’t have control over fracking on their property and are limited in being compensated from the oil and gas companies.

“Overall, the impact is unclear with how much royalty payments are flowing in,” said Sean O’Leary, fiscal policy analyst with the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy. “Local officials will note jobs in gas industry are going to out of state workers.”

Unemployment in the county remains 3 percent higher than the state average at over 10 percent. ”There hasn’t been a population boom as you see in other counties (including Pennsylvania and Ohio drilling counties),” O’Leary said. “The population continues to decline – you’re also not seeing new home constructions, sales, real estate prices are the same.”

The community in Wetzel County was, according to the WVCBP, still impacted by the industry in the fact that officials were caught off-guard when it came to town, so to speak.

O’Leary said his best advice for communities would be proper planning, as Wetzel County has a task force of county leaders to discuss road damage from heavy truck traffic as well as other primary concerns.

By promising more jobs, the oil and gas industry hasn’t delivered in many cases and Wetzel County continues to suffer from the double-digit unemployment despite having some of the highest natural gas production in the region, the WVBPC said.

“In Wetzel County the Marcellus shale boom has brought some growth but less development,” said Ted Boettner, executive director of the WVCBP. “This highlights why it is so important for communities to enact policies that ensure that they are better off, not worse off, after the drilling subsides.”

As draft legislation to regulate horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing in West Virginia is making progress in committee, WV SORO takes up dispute with one particular amendment that has not been proposed yet: the buffer between a home and a well pad.   As the draft legislation stands, a rig could be set up 200 feet (or less, possibly) from a private structure, including a home.  Julie Archer of WV SORO says this is unacceptable, and wants the buffer to be at least 1,000 feet.  While this distance may protect inhabitants’ safety, it still doesn’t protect property value.

The most common complaint of those living in close proximity to a rig is the light and noise, but accidents, explosions, and air pollution are also concerns.  Pro-Publica published an article late last week covering the lack of comprehensive studies to track air quality and health complications from persons living in close proximity to shale gas operations.

As part of its series of recommendations to Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett’s Marcellus Shale Commission, the State’s Department of Health wants to create a health registry of individuals who live in close proximity to drill sites or are occupationally exposed.  According to the spokeswoman from the department, Brandi Hunter-Davenport, more data and investigations are needed in order to conclude whether adverse health effects can be linked with Marcellus Shale drilling.

Dr. Bernard Goldstein of the University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Healthy Environments and Communities said that, ”What the health department needs, what we need in the public, is a prospective ongoing study of people in communities potentially affected by Marcellus Shale activities.  That means looking at what their exposures are and trying to understand whether or not there will really be health effects.”

Read the full article here…

Delegates Barbara Fleischauer (Monongalia County) and Mike Mannypenny (Taylor County) and 21 other Delegates have joined in calling for a moratorium on any new permits for Marcellus gas wells. Their guest editorial in the Morgantown Dominion Post says that “Everyone in our State will soon be affected in some way by Marcellus shale gas drilling.” Our roads, our land, water and air as well as the health of our family and our animals can each be impacted, as has happened to many already.

The City of Lewisburg has joined these Delegates in the call for a moratorium; and, the City of Morgantown will take up a moratorium resolution this coming Tuesday evening. The Morgantown Dominion Post supports a moratorium; and, the Beckley Register-Herald has called for a moratorium on all drilling. “It’s clear that everyone in Charleston isn’t on the same page on this ultra-important issue, so that really leaves them with no other option other than to halt everything right now and issue a moratorium on all drilling until adequate regulations and protections can be agreed upon.”

According to the guest editorial by Fleischauer and Mannypenny: “Please encourage other delegates and senators to join in our request for a new permit moratorium and ask gubernatorial candidates where they stand on a new permit moratorium and a special session. And don’t forget to vote.” The primary for a new governor is May 14^th and the election is October 4^th.

The West Virginia and Pennsylvania Monongahela Area Watersheds Compact is asking state lawmakers to consider legislation regarding water quality. Representatives handed out letters to State legislators this week  in Charleston describing the crisis in the Monongahela watershed and other streams state-wide.

The Compact includes about 50 organizations which share a concern about drinking water quality.  They are asking lawmakers to set a total dissolved solids (TDS) in-stream standard of 500 parts per million as proposed by the W.Va. Department of Environmental Protection Agency.

“We’ve come to a crisis in our streams where the TDS has increased to the point that it’s a health hazard. Our drinking water is at stake and if we don’t do something now we’re going to endanger hundreds of thousands of people,” said Duane Nichols, W.Va./Pa/ Monongahela Area Watersheds Compact, according to WBOY television news.

An air monitoring study by Pennsylvania’s DEP concluded that emissions from Marcellus Shale natural gas operations in Northeast Pennsylvania do not pose a risk to human health in the short term.  Potential cumulative impacts, like a lifetime cancer risk analysis, require a long-term study of at least one year.

The study was conducted at four drilling sites in Susquehanna county from August to October.  Found in samples were the basic components of natural gas: methane, butane, propane, ethane, as well as CO, the gasoline additive methy tertiary butyl ether, and the odor-producing compound methyl mercaptan.

A similar study was conducted in North Central Pennsylvania’s Washington and Greene counties. Those results are currently being analyzed.

Find the full report on the PA DEP website here…

A national poll conducted by the nonprofit think tank Civil Society Institute shows nearly half of Americans are aware of the  hydrofracking issue and more than two out of three (69 precent) who are aware are concerned about the potential threat to clean drinking water.  From the CSI website: Nearly three out of five (72 percent) Americans say that they would tell their Member of Congress, governor or state lawmaker the following: “When it comes to energy production that requires large amounts of water or where water quality is in jeopardy as a result of the energy production, my vote would be for coming down on the side of the public’s health and the environment. We should favor cleaner energy sources that use the least water and involve the lowest possible risk to the public and environment.” Only about one in five (21 percent) would say the following: “When it comes to energy production that requires large amounts of water or where water quality is in jeopardy as a result of the energy production, my view is that energy production priorities have to come first. There is always going to be some risk involved when it comes to energy production. We have to accept that there are going to be tradeoffs when it comes to the public’s health and the environment.” Clean water is favored over energy production by Republicans (62 percent), Independents (80 percent), and Democrats (82 percent).  Poll highlights report.