Area of Concern — Marcellus Outreach Butler (County) PA

Fracking and Community Health Webinar Series, Parts 1 – 3

August 15, 22, & 29 — Register free for each session below

On September 15. 2011, South Butler School Board approved a gas lease with Phillips Exploration, a part of XTO and a subsidiary of Exxon Mobil. The School District joined with privately owned property to form a 640 acre “pool” or drilling unit. Since then, the area has become inundated with gas wells and related infrastructure. Marcellus Outreach Butler asked then – and asks still, “What are the risks and impacts of placing such fracking activity so close to human habitats, especially a school campus?”

Join MOB for a series of online meetings to discuss these concerns about the intensive drilling near Knoch Schools Campus and Saxonburg.

Register below for each program by 6:30 PM on the day of the program and we’ll send you the link to join the Zoom online meeting.

PART 1, Aug. 15, 7 PM: Overview of the area, including drone footage, and Dr. Ned Ketyer who will review the health risks and impacts fracking and related activity pose to those who live in close proximity.
Register HERE .

PART 2, Aug. 22, 7 PM: Dr. John Stolz on Radioactive Fracking Waste and Sanitary Landfill. Register HERE.

PART 3, Aug. 29, 7 PM: EHP’s Sarah Rankin and Nathan Deron on potential impacts of fracking. Register HERE.

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THE PRESENTERS ARE DESCRIBED BELOW:

PART 1, Saturday, August 15, 7 PM

Ned Ketyer, M.D., F.A.A.P., ecketyer@gmail.com

Dr. Ned Ketyer is a Pittsburgh-area pediatrician with special interests in developmental pediatrics, preventative medicine, and environmental health. After his pediatric residency at Pittsburgh’s Children’s Hospital, Dr. Ketyer practiced general pediatrics for 26 years. Although retired from patient care, he writes and edits his practice’s popular blog, The PediaBlog, and remains a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics Council on Environmental Health. He is a consultant for the Southwest Pennsylvania Environmental Health Project bringing attention to the health impacts of shale gas development, a board member of Physicians for Social Responsibility – Pennsylvania, and a Climate Reality Project Leader.

In all these roles, Dr. Ketyer connects the vast petrochemical “clusterfrack” underway in SW Pennsylvania with local and regional health impacts, and the global ecological and public health catastrophes resulting from plastic pollution and climate change that threaten the health and well-being of all passengers on this shining ball of blue.

Register HERE.

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PART 2, Saturday, August 22, 7 PM

John Stolz, Director, Center for Environmental Research and Education, & Professor, Dept. of Biological Sciences, Duquesne University

Dr. Stolz studies the microbial metabolism of metals and metalloids, microbial communities in hypersaline environments, and water quality. He has published 95 peer-reviewed articles, 37 book chapters, and author/edited two books. He is currently co-authoring/editing a book on the “Environmental Impacts of Unconventional Oil and Gas Reserves Development” for Cambridge University Press.

Most recently, Dr. Stolz has been looking at sanitary landfills in Pennsylvania and New York that have been allowed to take both solid and liquid waste from oil and gas operations. The leachate is now contaminated with toxins and radioactivity. Dr. Stolz will present the results of his investigation and the questionable ways in which the industry, with the help of legislators and regulators, are using to dispose of their wastes.

Register HERE.

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PART 3, Saturday, August 29, 7 PM

Sarah Rankin, MPH, BSN, RN, Public Health Nurse,
and Nathan Deron, MSPPM-DA, Environmental Data

The Southwest Pennsylvania Environmental Health Project (EHP) is a nonprofit public health organization that assists and supports residents of Southwestern Pennsylvania and beyond who believe their health has been, or could be, impacted by shale gas development (or fracking).

Sarah and Nathan will review the literature and EHP’s findings about potential health impacts of fracking. They will also discuss how a community science air monitoring project can measure the pollution that communities face.

Register HERE.

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See also: Compendium of Scientific, Medical, and Media Findings Demonstrating Risks and Harms of Fracking – Physicians for Social Responsibility, June 19, 2019

Colorado’s new Governor Jared Polis supported Proposition 112

From an Article by Lorraine Chow, EcoWatch.com, November 7, 2018

Democratic Colorado Governor-elect Jared Polis arrives onstage with running mate Dianne Primavera on November 6th in Denver. Jared Polis, who won Colorado’s gubernatorial race to become the nation’s first openly gay governor-elect, is charting the state’s bold path towards clean energy.

The Democrat, who has served in the House of Representatives since 2009, ran on a platform of transitioning Colorado to 100 percent renewable energy by 2040 — the most ambitious renewable goal in the entire country, Climate Home News reported. That’s even faster than California and Hawaii, which both aim to phase out of fossil fuel generation by 2045.

On his campaign website, Polis said the green energy transition would create tens of thousands of jobs and save consumers 10 percent on energy costs. Pointing to a government study, he said that utility-scale wind is now cheaper than natural gas and that new energy storage technology would further improve these cost benefits. That’s not to mention the public health benefits of cleaner air and water.

Aside from a strong environmental platform, Polis campaigned on other progressive issues such as Medicare-for-all, paid family medical leave and stronger gun laws.

“At the end of the day we all believe in our children’s future, we all believe in protecting our amazing parks and open space, we all believe in saving people money in health care,” Polis said in his victory speech Tuesday night. “And together we are going to get back to work because we have work to do to turn a bold vision into reality here in our amazing state of Colorado.”

The fossil fuel industry has a major presence in the Centennial State — the sixth largest and one of the fastest-growing U.S. oil producing states. Oil and gas companies and their supporters poured about $40 million into a campaign to help successfully defeat Proposition 112, according to the Colorado Sun. The ballot initiative, which Polis supported, would have banned oil and gas drilling on 85 percent of the state’s land, but was voted down 57 percent to 43 percent on Tuesday.

But with a Democrat in the governor’s seat, a Democratic-controlled legislature and the 825,000 Coloradan voters who supported 112, the fight against polluting energy companies is not over yet. Polis had the endorsement of the Colorado Sierra Club, which praised his plans to make Colorado energy independent and his efforts to protect the state’s outdoor spaces.

“The Colorado Sierra Club — with 100,000 members and supports across the state — threw our wholehearted support behind Jared Polis from the early days of his candidacy because of his leadership on climate and protection of public lands,” club director Jim Alexee said in a press release. “As the Trump Administration rolls back critical pollution protections and tries to stifle our nation’s clean energy leadership, the state of Colorado is moving forward with our clean energy future with Jared Polis as our Governor.”

The club also praised Polis for being a leader on environmental issues during his time in Congress. The press release noted that Polis is a founding member of the Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition, that he introduced legislation to designate 90,000 acres of wilderness in Colorado’s high country, led the effort to cut fossil fuel subsidies, defended President Obama’s rules on methane and partnered with environmentalists and ranchers to protect the sage grouse’s habitat.

“The Sierra Club was proud to support Jared Polis throughout this race and we are thrilled to congratulate him on this victory,” National Sierra Club executive director Michael Brune said in the press release. “Coloradans made a clear choice in this election to support Jared Polis because he will defend Colorado values from the Eastern Plains to the Western Slope. Jared will lead Colorado to 100 percent clean, renewable energy by 2040, and work to build an economy that works for everyone, not just those at the top.”

>>> Jared Polis speaks after defeating Walker Stapleton in Colorado’s gubernatorial race. See the video here: https://youtu.be/NUEfqkhHP_k

Public health versus corporate profits in Colorado

From an Article by John Aguilar, Denver Post Newspaper, October 16, 2018

The fight over Prop. 112 has lured big money and clashes over interpretation of health studies.

“The OEHHA chronic benzene REL considers several studies published after USEPA’s 2002 benzene assessment, which found increased efficiency of benzene metabolism at low doses, decreased peripheral blood cell counts at low doses (800−1860 μg/m3)…”

It takes another 20 words — with terms like “metabolic enzymes” and “benzene detoxification” — to close out this sentence from a recent University of Colorado study that looked at the potential health impacts of Front Range oil and gas operations. Thousands of equally abstruse passages fill hundreds of other studies from around the world examining the effects of drilling and hydraulic fracturing on human health.

Welcome to the science behind Proposition 112, the oil and gas setbacks measure that will likely be among the most complex ballot issues to ever go before Colorado voters.

The initiative aims to increase the required distance of any newly drilled wells from homes, schools and water sources to 2,500 feet. The current setback is 500 feet from homes and 1,000 feet from densely occupied buildings, like hospitals and schools.

Opponents say the measure will block off so much acreage to drill rigs — it’s estimated that 85 percent of non-federal land in Colorado would be off-limits — that the $31 billion industry in Colorado would virtually collapse.

Backers of 112 say without bigger buffers, Coloradans will continue to be exposed to noxious emissions from well sites, like toluene, formaldehyde, xylene, and cancer-causing benzene, to say nothing of the environmental harm from potent greenhouse gases, like methane.

What is the average voter supposed to do with the reams of data, some in conflict with one another, in deciding whether Proposition 112 is critical to public health or ruinous to Colorado’s economy?

“It’s hard when we ask voters to vote on technical issues like this,” said Tanya Heikkila, a professor at CU Denver’s School of Public Affairs who focuses on environmental policy, management and law.

She said few voters have the time, patience or expertise to navigate through the copious scientific research that has been done on energy extraction. As such, she said, they’ll likely turn to the people they know for advice on which box to check on the ballot — their friends, their neighbors, their doctor.

“I don’t think people’s decision on this will come down to what the science says — it will come down to who they trust,” Heikkila said.

It’s also likely, she said, that voters will employ “motivated reasoning” or be swayed by “confirmation bias” to make their choice on Proposition 112.

“Cognitive research has shown that when people are emotionally attached to an issue, it’s easier to reason away or dismiss the information that contradicts those beliefs — or conversely use information that supports their beliefs to confirm those beliefs,” Heikkila said.

Arguments from each camp are compelling, she said, and voters may find virtue on both sides of the issue.

“No one wants to be exposed to carcinogens, to noise, to (truck) traffic,” she said. “At the same time, when people say 112 is going to cost them their jobs and ruin the tax base, that resonates too.”

“Something is happening here”

Anne Lee Foster, who is with the pro-112 group Colorado Rising, knows she can’t fight the oil and gas industry on the financial front. As of the most recent reporting period from late September, the anti-112 group Protect Colorado had dropped just over $20 million on its battle against the measure, while Colorado Rising had spent less than $650,000.

Foster hopes science speaks louder than cash. She and her allies point to a compendium of studies — now numbering more than 1,300 — that are assembled and updated on the Physicians for Social Responsibility website. The studies have examined one aspect or another of fracking’s harms and risks, pointing out connections to cancer, low birth-weight babies, asthma, headaches and bloody noses for families living near oil and gas wells.

Industry lobby outspending concerned citizens

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Driven by Trump Policy Changes, Fracking Booms on Public Lands – The New York Times