“White Lung” like Black Lung is a debilitating (permanent) condition

From the Message by Patricia Popple, Frac Sand Sentinel # 428, January 30, 2023

Doug Wood, who lives with his wife, Dawn, in Michigan, just south and west of Detroit, is besiged with a continually developing silica mine right next door to his home. Silica dust is carcinogenic and has known to be so for many years. It settles in the deep lung and in other body parts, unable to be released in anyway due to the small glasslike particulates that are a part of the geological formation.

While Michigan may have a standard set for respirable crystalline silica dust, it seems there is no enforcement by state protection agencies in residential areas. Who is responsible? Doug and his wife have worked endlessly it seems to get someone in the regulatory agencies and mining industry, to install air quality monitoring, and yet nothing has been achieved. Neighbors seem to be unconcerned about the presence of a mining operation that continues to spew dangerous dust into the air without concern for the residential areas that exist around the silica mine. There are other problems also associated with this operation including truck traffic and noise, but the dust produced is horrific and dangerous.

While it could take 20 years for silicosis to develop in the deep lung, it could take less. The glass like particulates don’t seem to be much different than asbestos which is also a known carcinogen.

Take a look at the video at the site and see for yourself the problems that the Wood family members are dealing with. They need help and support from the state and neighbors and Michigan’s protective agencies and organizations to spread this information and their concerns and more than that, take action.

Fractracker has played a role in the production of this video, and there are other videos in this series about the problems faced when regulatory agencies aren’t much concerned about the health, safety, and welfare of people and their offspring living near silica or other mines that bring the potential for grave health conditions to a neighborhood. Also, look for them on YouTube.

Please click on the video link here:
https://youtu.be/T6PSl9Cdhvw

I know that Wisconsinites are aware what the Wood Family is facing, but there are others of you in other locations who may be in similar situations. The industry must tighten its regulations, states and local governmental officials and groups much enforce. Residents and others must get involved by speaking out and by attending meetings of local and state agencies who can make a difference through rules, comprehensive plans, ordinances, zoning, and action.

>>> And by the way, register to VOTE in your communities at upcoming primary and general elections. It is critical that everyone get to the polls or participate in voting via absentee ballot. You can make a difference by researching candidates who are responsive to people facing environmental and health issues in your communties across the nation. Make a difference by exercising your right at your nearest voting location. VOTE!

>>> Welcome to the Frac Sand Sentinel, a newsletter highlighting resource links, news media accounts, blog posts, correspondence, observations and opinions gathered regarding local actions on, and impacts of, the developing frac sand mining and processing industries.

Destructive Frack Sand Mining in WI, MN, IL, etc.

From an Issue by Patricia Popple, Editor, Frac Sand Sentinel, December 1, 2021

First hand experience with silicosis and respirable crystalline silica dust is not too common of an event with lawmakers, politicians and governmental officials and others when it comes to issuing permits and sanctioning industries wishing to blast out and mine silica. A Michigan friend sent this video of Michigan Senator Tom Ward as he tells his personal story on YouTubeabout his experiences with silica and dust dangers.

He feels the need for greater oversight and avoiding practices that create the harms done by some industries which are polluting the air we breathe. He feels additional health and safety measures in the industry with regulatory standards would not only improve the health of workers but also that of people living near silica dust producing industries.

https://youtu.be/z-xqWByL_ew

The old film on silicosis entitled “Stop Silicosis” produced by the federal government and the work of many researchers including Frances Perkins, Secretary of the Department of Labor is still available for viewing. It is well worth taking the time to see this film produced in 1938 as 83 years have passed since silicosis has been identified and many states including Wisconsin have not studied nor listed silica dust as a carcinogen. Neither have they introduced standards for respirable crystalline silica dust. While appeals from citizens in Northwest Wisconsin were made at the onset of silica mining in Wisconsin, the rationale listed by the Department of Natural Resources indicated that the priority for study of this chemical was lowest on the list of concerns and that it would be too expensive to do.

Take a look at the film on YouTube. I think you will enjoy seeing this old film but also determining how relevant it is to practices still being used today…83 years later!

Stop Silicosis (US DOL 1938) : US Dept. of Labor 1938 : Free Streaming : Internet Archive

https://archive.org/details/StopSilicosis

In 1938, the US Department of Labor released this film aimed at preventing the occupational disease of silicosis. It was produced in response to the national outcry over the death of more than 500 workers at Union Carbide’s Hawks Nest Tunnel project near Gauley Bridge West Virginia in the early 1930s. That overexposure to silica dust caused this deadly disease had been known for more than 100 years, but many employers ignored workplace dust control methods. Sadly, almost 70 years later, hundreds of workers each year still develop this preventable lung disease. The current OSHA exposure limit for silica dust is based on science from the mid 1960s. Most of the information and prevention measures in this film are still relevant today.

>>> FRAC SAND SENTINEL | 561 SUMMIT AVENUE, Chippewa Falls, WI 54729

Bird's Eye View: Frac Sand Mine in Wisconsin

COURAGEOUS CITIZENS RAISE ISSUES AND QUESTIONS

EXPANDED FRAC SAND MINING IN THE TOWN OF BRIDGE CREEK IN EAU CLAIRE COUNTY IN WISCONSIN

READ THEIR COMMENTARIES!

KUDOS TO THESE PEOPLE FOR ALLOWING THEIR MESSAGES TO BE PRINTED IN THE FRAC SAND SENTINEL, ISSUE 132, APRIL 5, 2017.

>>> On April 6, 2017, Frac Sand Sentinel wrote:

Address to Hi-Crush at Bridge Creek Town Public Hearing, March 18, 2017

EVERY LIVING THING IS DEPENDENT UPON FRESH AIR, CLEAN WATER AND FOOD SOURCE.  THE SAND MINING PROCESS IMPERILS ALL THREE.  For the past  five years every living thing in Bridge Creek has been affected by the mining process and now Hi-Crush is asking our local government to expand and to continue consuming the basic necessities of life.   I SAY NO.

I say no because Hi-Crush Mine:

>> depletes our ground water faster than nature can replenish it;

>> cannot and does not control nor ensure the air quality around the mine;

>> sand particulates are not captured and over time impact health;

>> blasting the hill sides impacts the stability of homes, wells and peace of mind;

>> destroys the ecosystem;

>> reclamation of the land to return to productive crop land has not been demonstrated;

Hi-Crush has not been forth coming to local government regarding its business plan for expansion on contiguous land; I SAY NO TO EXPANSION BECAUSE:

I AM CONCERNED THAT THIS SAND MINING:

>> will  drive people and other living things away from the land due to its nuisances;

>> perils of blasting, trains night and day, loud conveyors, fugitive sand particulates;

>> that private wells will collapse and property values will continue to devalue as the mine expands due to blasting, noise and transport methods;

>> that the history of Hi-Crush’s disregard for following the rules will continue with no regard to the impact on every living thing (ie: hi-capacity well violation, fugitive sand for one year when not in operation, etc).

>> that nothing will grow of any value on this land for decades.

I SAY NO TO EXPANSION BECAUSE: EVERY LIVING THING IS IN RELATIONSHIP TO EACH OTHER AND THE EARTH.  IF BASIC NEEDS FOR LIFE ARE CONTINUOUSLY IMPERILED FROM OVER USE, OUR LIVES, THAT OF OUR CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN ARE IMPERILED TOO.  CORPORATIONS ARE NOT PEOPLE.  THEY HAVE NO VALUES NOR ETHICS AND CONTINUE TO SEEK OUR RIGHTS AS CITIZENS UNDER THE CONSTITUTION.  LOGIC DOES NOT ALLOW CITIZENS TO TRUST THE JUDGEMENT OF CORPORATIONS THAT WILL NEVER BE HUMAN.  MONEY IS NO SUBSTITUTE FOR THE BASIC NEEDS OF EVERY LIVING THING.

>>> Christine Yellowthunder, resident, tax payer, land owner in the Town of Bridge Creek, WI

Source: Save The Hills Alliance, Inc. | S6650 County Road G, Augusta, WI 54722

Web Site: www.ccc-wis.com

Diesel trucks deliver frack sand & chemicals

Boulder County’s New Fracking Rules: Three (3) Things To Know

From an Article by Jackie Fortier, KUNC, Boulder, Colorado, March 27, 2017

With its moratorium on new drilling permits set to expire in a few weeks, Boulder County commissioners unanimously passed new oil and gas regulations. The county calls them the “most restrictive” of such regulations in Colorado. They are about 60 pages and require a much higher environmental and public health standard than the state. Boulder County began the new rule process following two state Supreme Court decisions in 2016 that invalidated hydraulic fracking bans or long term moratoriums.

“In light of those decisions, the board terminated our moratorium that was in effect until 2018, and established a new moratorium until May 1, 2017, for the purpose of allowing us [Boulder County planning department] to update the regulations that we had adopted in 2012 and prepare for their implementation,” said Kim Sanchez, chief planner for the county.

Now that the commissioners have adopted these regulations, here are three key takeaways:

These regulations are ‘the most restrictive’ in Colorado

Boulder County wants to push the envelope. For example, an oil or gas company that wants to drill in unincorporated Boulder County would have to give notice to surrounding landowners and residents, have multiple public meetings, and do soil and water testing, which could be a very long and probably more expensive process than anywhere else in Colorado. State officials told Boulder County it is overstepping their local authority, a position that Commissioner Elise Jones said they would defend.

“Our focus is on adopting regulations that we think are the strongest possible, for our citizens and the environment, and our understanding of the law as we see it,” she said. “If the state disagrees well, so be it, we’ll deal with that. If the state wants to pre-empt local governments, on oil and gas then they need to do their job and protect us from the impacts of oil and gas, and they are not doing that. And until they do that, local jurisdictions like Boulder County will continue to push to do that work themselves.”

What can the state regulate and what can local governments like Boulder County regulate?

The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission regulates location and construction of drill sites and associated equipment, for example what machinery is used. Local governments like Boulder County have substantial regulatory authority through their land use code, such as building permits for structures, traffic impact fees, and inspecting for compliance with local codes and standards related to water quality and wildlife impacts. Boulder County’s new regulations are the most stringent in terms of land use.

New regulations aim to minimize the noise, dust and pollution associated with oil and gas drilling, like the sand loading in the photo above.

You could get paid to live by oil and gas drilling

One of Boulder County’s regulations could require a company to pay residents “disruption payments.” Not every company would have to do this; it’s an option for the county to require. Within a mile radius of the drill site, companies would need to pay residents enough money to move and pay rent somewhere else during some operations. The closer you are to the drill site, the more money you would get. The amount would be calculated based on federal data for the area. Every month residents would get a check. It would be up to them if they would want to move temporarily or just keep the money.

Commissioner Jones said they thought disruption payments were necessary to include.

“Industry has never been required to say ‘Yes, I’m impacting those people’s lives and I’m going to pay to help move them to a place so their quality of life isn’t diminished by my noise and my dust and my vibrations and my emissions,’ Jones said. “We think that it’s an important first step in industry taking ownership of the significant impacts that drilling has, particularly when you’re drilling near homes and schools and the like.”

>  >  >  >  >  >  >  >  >  >

>>> Hear a reporter debrief with KUNC’s Erin O’Toole and Jackie Fortier on the new oil and gas regulations, and how they compare.

OSHA’s Final Rule to Protect Workers from Exposure to Respirable Crystalline Silica

From the Summary of the U. S. Occupational Safety & Health Administration, March 25, 2016

“Rule requires engineering controls to keep workers from breathing silica dust”

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued a final rule to curb lung cancer, silicosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and kidney disease in America’s workers by limiting their exposure to respirable crystalline silica. The rule is comprised of two standards, one for Construction and one for General Industry and Maritime.

OSHA estimates that the rule will save over 600 lives and prevent more than 900 new cases of silicosis each year, once its effects are fully realized. The Final Rule is projected to provide net benefits of about $7.7 billion, annually.

About 2.3 million workers are exposed to respirable crystalline silica in their workplaces, including 2 million construction workers who drill, cut, crush, or grind silica-containing materials such as concrete and stone, and 300,000 workers in general industry operations such as brick manufacturing, foundries, and hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking. Responsible employers have been protecting workers from harmful exposure to respirable crystalline silica for years, using widely-available equipment that controls dust with water or a vacuum system.

Key Provisions

>> Reduces the permissible exposure limit (PEL) for respirable crystalline silica to 50 micrograms per cubic meter of air, averaged over an 8-hour shift.

>> Requires employers to: use engineering controls (such as water or ventilation) to limit worker exposure to the PEL; provide respirators when engineering controls cannot adequately limit exposure; limit worker access to high exposure areas; develop a written exposure control plan, offer medical exams to highly exposed workers, and train workers on silica risks and how to limit exposures.

>> Provides medical exams to monitor highly exposed workers and gives them information about their lung health.

>> Provides flexibility to help employers — especially small businesses — protect workers from silica exposure.

Compliance Schedule

Both standards contained in the final rule take effect on June 23, 2016., after which industries have one to five years to comply with most requirements, based on the following schedule:

Construction – June 23, 2017, one year after the effective date.

General Industry and Maritime – June 23, 2018, two years after the effective date.

Hydraulic Fracturing – June 23, 2018, two years after the effective date for all provisions except Engineering Controls, which have a compliance date of June 23, 2021.

Background

The U.S. Department of Labor first highlighted the hazards of respirable crystalline silica in the 1930s, after a wave of worker deaths. The department set standards to limit worker exposure in 1971, when OSHA was created. However, the standards are outdated and do not adequately protect workers from silica-related diseases. Furthermore, workers are being exposed to silica in new industries such as stone or artificial stone countertop fabrication and hydraulic fracturing.

A full review of scientific evidence, industry consensus standards, and extensive stakeholder input provide the basis for the final rule, which was proposed in September 2013. The rule-making process allowed OSHA to solicit input in various forms for nearly a full year. The agency held 14 days of public hearings, during which more than 200 stakeholders presented testimony, and accepted over 2,000 comments, amounting to about 34,000 pages of material. In response to this extensive public engagement, OSHA made substantial changes, including enhanced employer flexibility in choosing how to reduce levels of respirable crystalline silica, while maintaining or improving worker protection.

More Information and Assistance

OSHA looks forward to working with employers to ensure that all workers exposed to respirable crystalline silica realize the benefits of this final rule. Please check back for frequent updates on compliance assistance materials and events, and learn about OSHA’s on-site consulting services for small business.

OSHA approved State Plans have six months to adopt standards that are at least as effective as federal OSHA standards. Establishments in states that operate their own safety and health plans should check with their State Plan for the implementation date of the new standards.

See the HAZARD ALERT here.

See also: www.FrackCheckWV.net

Informative Work of Art

The DCS Frac Sand Poster is Here, Incredibly Informative, Work of Art

Letter from Barb Arrindell, Director, Damascus Citizens for Sustainability, June 1, 2015

Frac sand mining companies come at local communities like a runaway bulldozer going 100 mph. – Ric Zarwell, Allamakee County Protectors

“Frac Sand, Why Worry…” is an educational folding poster that summarizes in easy-to grasp-form the nature and impacts of frac sand mining and ways in which the public can act to put the brakes on it.

This project was designed with a graphic arts team of advanced students and their teacher at Messiah College, and was all done over one semester. With a lot of time and effort invested and the students really responding to the material, what their teacher thinks is a possible award winner has been hammered out in a very short time. I worked intensively with them – having filed a grant proposal with their college’s DesignAsService program to get this graphics help, but also working with Pat Popple (Chipewa Concerned Citizens), Robert Nehman and Ric Zarwell (Allamakee County Protectors) and Ted Auch (FracTracker.org in Ohio) and others as well as my own research, to have the content be both ample and accurate. For DCS, this frac sand poster is another effort to help our fellow citizens, and foster a precautionary approach to the Commons.

Barb Arrindell, Director, DCS, P.O. Box 147, Milanville, PA 18443

From the poster: Frac Sand — Why Worry?
(See the full poster for more information, including what you can do.)

As a vital part of the full cycle of fossil fuel mining, frac sand is the proppant that holds the induced fractures open for the gas or oil to flow when the pressure is released. According to research from The FracTracker Alliance, the average horizonal shale gas well is currently using 4,300-5,300 tons with demand increasing by 344 tons per year as the wells are drilled longer.

WHY WORRY… The essential frac sand is obtained by strip mining, which leaves behind it a range of devastation from lunar landscapes similar to mountaintop removal in the case of surface operations, to destruction of vital aquifers in the case of subsurface mines, and water contamination (ex. Rockwood Quarry, Newport, MI). As is evident in the experience of Wisconsin and other states in which frac sand mining has already progressed, the list of health, safety, economic, and environmental problems caused is devastating. To start mining operations before essential controls could be put in place for this entirely new industry, mining companies have financed propaganda campaigns that have overwhelmed township and county officials lacking the knowledge of the industry required to make foresightful decisions on behalf of those they represent.

As the frac sand mining industry proceeds without extremely tight controls, the degradation it is causing could well exceed all other damages since white settlement; and the social fabric, tax burden, and quality of life, and health in rural communities is being negatively impacted, perhaps for decades, if not forever.

Contact DCS to get your hard copy of the poster. Donations to support this work are greatly appreciated.

See also: www.FrackCheckWV.net

Conaway Lake on Tyler County road

W.Va. wildlife land fracking could yield $6M, royalties

From an Article by the Associated Press, Huntington Herald Dispatch, November 21, 2014

Charleston, WV — A company has bid $6.2 million plus royalties to drill for natural gas and oil under state wildlife conservation land in Tyler County. Denver-based Antero Resources is offering to pay more than $12,000 an acre for fracking rights under Conaway Run Wildlife Management Area, state Commerce Secretary Keith Burdette said.

The bid includes a 20-percent royalty on what’s extracted, and the lease would likely last three years. The bid on the 518-acre wildlife area’s oil and natural gas rights was unveiled Friday in Charleston. The land is used for hunting, fishing and camping, and includes a 100-yard rifle range.

It’s the second time West Virginia has offered to let companies drill horizontally under its land. Leasing the land for the technique called hydraulic fracturing, commonly called fracking, is a new venture for West Virginia, and officials think it could produce plenty of money during uncertain budget times.

In West Virginia’s first try at fracking leases, officials opened bids for 22 miles of state land under the Ohio River in September. Six miles are under contract negotiations and another 11 miles are out for bid or will be shortly. Seven additional miles are being considered for bid openings.

Environmental groups cautioned Gov. Early Ray Tomblin to reconsider the Ohio River leases, since they would allow drilling beneath a river that provides drinking water to millions of people. Burdette said the drilling would occur about a mile under the river. State environmental regulators would still have to approve permits for the operations. All drilling equipment would need to be off-site of the state lands, Burdette added.

Other properties the state is thinking about leasing rights for include: 131 acres under Fish Creek in Marshall County; Jug Wildlife Management Area in Tyler County; and 24 acres in Doddridge County.

No fracking contracts have yet been finalized, however. All the money from the state’s fracking leases would go back into Division of Natural Resources needs, like upgrades at state parks.

See also: www.FrackCheckWV.net

Environment America Speaks Up

Environment  America Speaks Up: The Scary Facts About Fracking

From the Article by Margie Alt, Enviroment America, October 31, 2014

Across the country, fracking has contaminated drinking water sources, made nearby residents sick, turned pristine landscapes into industrial zones, and caused air and global warming pollution. The oil and gas industry has spent untold millions of dollars on advertising and public relations campaigns to convince the public that fracking is necessary and safe, but their efforts have included distortions of the truth or outright falsehoods.

Environment America researchers have compiled the top five fictions spread by the oil and gas industry and their allies, followed by the facts from our report, Fracking by the Numbers, and other sources, that refute them. The truth will scare you!

>>> FRACK FICTION #1. “There’s never been one case — documented case — of groundwater contamination in the history of the thousands of thousands of hydraulic fracturing [wells].” — Senator James Inhofe (R-OK)

FACT: State regulators have documented at least 1,000 instances of water contamination by oil and gas operations,including more than 700 in New Mexico alone. That’s because from start to finish, from the injection of toxic chemicals underground to spills of fracking fluid and waste pits, the entire process of fracking is a threat to rivers, streams, and our groundwater.

>>> FRACK FICTION #2. “Hydraulic fracturing is… not a significant source of [methane] emissions.” — Anadarko Petroleum

FACT: In 2010, the average fracking well released an estimated 110,000 pounds of methane, a potent global warming pollutant, just in its first nine days of operation.Moreover, a 2014 analysis of fracking wells in Pennsylvania found that methane leakage rates were 100 to 1,000 times greater than previous estimates by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

>>> FRACK FICTION #3. “There will be virtually no visual signs that a well was once there.” — Marathon Oil Corp

FACT: While drilling rigs come and go, the surrounding infrastructure of fracking — including pipelines, access roads, compressor stations, and processing plants –permanently turn pristine landscapes into industrial zones.Each well pad involves clear-cutting over eight acres of land. One study in Pennsylvania found that forest damage from fracking was more than twice as great as that caused by development. Another found that homes located close to a well site predictably lose up to 14 percent of their value; many have lost far more. Pollution from fracking chemicals and toxic spills can kill livestock and cause permanent damage to wildlife and farmland.

>>> FRACK FICTION #4. “I know of no [wastewater] tank trucks being dumped onto roads.” — Kathryn Klaber, former CEO of the Marcellus Shale Coalition

FACT: New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania all currently use fracking production brine as a de-icing agent on public roads; it is marketed for this purpose because of its high salt content. The EPA has recommended against spreading production brine on roads, because it may carry the toxic chemicals applied to frack fluid and concentrated levels of the contaminants found in shale formations. An analysis by the Natural Resources Defense Council has found that production brine, and not just flowback wastewater, can contain pollutants and harmful levels of radioactivity. Applying these dangerous substances to roadways places groundwater at risk of toxic pollution and local infrastructure at risk of degradation, and poses a threat to public health.

>>> FRACK FICTION #5. “Proper well cementing ensures groundwater protection.” – Energy From Shale

FACT: Fracking wells can and do leak. Numerous studies — including those done by the oil and gas industry — have shown that oil and gas wells are leaking. Most recently, the National Academy of Sciences published a report by four scientists who reviewed 75,000 compliance reports from oil and gas wells in Pennsylvania: “Statewide data show[ed] a sixfold higher incidence of cement and/or casing issues for shale gas wells relative to conventional wells.” Former industry engineer Chip Northrup explains in this video how and why cement around well casings can shrink and crack, creating pathways for pollution of groundwater.

Dust on WV Well Pad

Charleston Gazette Editorial: “Horror of silicosis”

Editorial from the Charleston Gazette, March 19, 2014

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Choking, wheezing sickness and death among U.S. workers who breathe rock dust has declined greatly during the past half-century – but a disturbing number of blue-collar laborers still suffer agonizing silicosis.

The menace is expected to worsen because large amounts of “frac sand” are used at Marcellus Shale horizontal gas wells. The sand is mixed with liquids and pumped into deep strata, to prevent fractures from closing after high pressure splits them. Workers on the surface can encounter clouds of tiny silica particles. West Virginia is up to its neck in the Marcellus boom, and thus at risk.

Currently, Washington hearings are being held on proposed new rules to cut allowable silica exposure in half. The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration says the reduction would save 700 America worker lives per year and prevent 1,600 new cases of silicosis.

Naturally, industry opposes this lifesaving change, claiming that it would be too expensive. But as environmental reporter Ken Ward Jr., pointed out, the crackdown would cost $637 million per year across America – yet it would save an estimated $5.3 billion in medical and other expenses.

U.S. silica rules haven’t been changed since 1971. Since then, more medical research has linked silica to cancer and made other ominous discoveries. We hope the new health reform is enacted.

Silicosis carries a tragic echo in West Virginia because hundreds of workers died of it when the Hawks Nest tunnel was drilled near Gauley Bridge during the Great Depression. Now, that sad episode seems long ago. But Steve White of the Affiliated Construction Trades Foundation told Ward:

“People think those bad old days are over, but the facts are, construction workers still get exposed to silica when they drill rock, cut concrete, brick and stone, and many other tasks.”

Many West Virginians gladly accept hard-hat jobs offered by industry. But they shouldn’t sicken and die from dust at the workplace. The tough new OSHA rules are humane and cost-effective. They should be imposed.

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

Industry Comments: Limit on silica would hurt fracking industry

From an Article by Katherine Lymn, Jamestown ND Sun, March 19, 2014

DICKINSON, N.D. — A proposed lower limit of silica exposure from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) would drastically affect the hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, industry, a trade group said. The American Petroleum Institute (API) is one of about 80 organizations and industry groups that will speak in Washington, D.C., at hearings stretching from Tuesday through April 4. The hearings are part of the rulemaking process before a rule is made final.

OSHA has proposed cutting the limit of exposure to silica to 50 micrograms of respirable crystalline silica per cubic meter of air as averaged over an eight-hour day. The inhalation of crystalline silica particles can cause silicosis, lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and kidney disease, according to OSHA.

Currently, OSHA enforces 40-year-old permissible exposure limits, or PELs, for silica in general industry, construction and shipyards. It estimates the proposed rule, if implemented, would save 700 lives and prevent 1,600 cases of silicosis a year. But industry groups say the rule is not well-researched and that the health effects aren’t sufficiently proven to warrant the new limit.

Exposure to silica is common in construction — airborne silica dust occurs with cutting, sawing, drilling and crushing of concrete, brick and block — and about 1.85 million of the 2.2 million workers exposed to respirable crystalline silica are in the construction trade, OSHA estimates. The rest are exposed through general industry, including about 25,000 in the oil and gas industry. More than 16,000 of those workers are currently exposed above the proposed levels.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce filed its own comments, charging OSHA with building its rule on “a chain of assumptions.” It urged OSHA to withdraw the proposal because employers won’t be able to keep up with the costs not applicable to foreign competitors, chamber spokeswoman Blair Latoff Holmes said in a statement.

Frac site workers are exposed to high concentrations of respirable silica dust as they work with fracturing fluids, according to OSHA. Sources of exposure on the frac jobs include dust ejected from thief hatches on sand movers, released from conveyor belts under the movers, dust generated by truck traffic and created as the sand is dropped into or agitated in the blender hopper, OSHA said in its analysis.

One fracking services company with a large presence in North Dakota, Sandbox Logistics, is testifying in support of the rule because it would be good for business — its product would bring companies in compliance with the proposed rule, spokesman Cameron Oren said. The sandboxes are a gravity-fed way to transport frac sand that nearly eliminate the dust associated with blowing off sand from a trailer to a storage vessel on-site.

OSHA estimated based on its research that 88 percent of frac workers would require more controls to comply with the proposed rule. It recommends compliance through “local exhaust ventilation” systems on thief hatches and conveyors, adding a water misting system and providing operator booths for the most exposed workers.

Submitted by: Duane Nichols, www.FrackCheckWV.net

Extreme Levels of Benzene Floating Around

From an Article by Casey Junkins, Wheeling Intelligencer, August 25, 2013

NEW MARTINSVILLE – Levels of carcinogenic benzene in the air 625 feet away from one natural gas drill site were so bad that a West Virginia University professor said he would recommend “respiratory protection.”

Although these extreme levels of benzene lasted for only about three hours at one particular site, Michael McCawley, chairman of the Department of Occupational & Environmental Health Sciences in the School of Public Health at WVU, said the readings show that air emissions from Marcellus and Utica shale drilling need more regulation.

A West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection study – which the state Legislature requested and which included McCawley’s work – does not recommend any change to existing state law, noting “no additional legislative rules establishing special requirements need to be promulgated at this time.” The report concludes there are no indications of a public health emergency or threat based on air quality monitoring data.

However, McCawley said this is only a small part of the picture because the DEP study primarily dealt with whether the Legislature should extend the current 625-foot setback requirement for wells to be located away from occupied dwellings.
“Not everything happens at the center of the well pad, the way the Legislature seems to believe,” McCawley said. “Distance is less important than monitoring.”

In multiple legal advertisements during the past few years, natural gas producers have confirmed the “potential to discharge” various amounts of chemical substances, listed below, into the air on an annual basis from the operations at the natural gas wells and compressor stations:

>>>>> benzene, carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, methane, carbon dioxide equivalent, xylenes, toluene, formaldehyde.

McCawley studied the air near seven wells throughout the state, including five in Wetzel County, one in Brooke County and one in Marion County. Each well was in a different stage of development at the time he monitored them from July through October 2012.

He said benzene was the primary constituent that he found at the sites, though he does not believe all of this came from the well itself. “It appears the diesel activity at the well sites could be contributing to the readings we are seeing at the sites,” McCawley said.

For those who live in the rural areas near these well sites, such as Wetzel County Action Group member Bill Hughes, the time for more regulation is now. “These things are totally unregulated, unmonitored and unaccounted for,” Hughes said of the air emissions from well pads. “The diesel fumes are continuous and almost unbearable. My neighbors do not live in the country to constantly breath in diesel fumes.”

In terms of the immediate hazards for those living in the vicinity of natural gas wells, McCawley said, “There is cause for concern.” However, he said the Legislature does not have to change any rules to protect public health because he believes the DEP already has all the authority it needs. The DEP study determines the agency already has the “regulatory framework” to reduce air emissions from drilling. McCawley would like to see this put into action.

“The DEP could require companies to monitor their own air emissions as a way to control this,” he said. “That way, they could at least know when there is a problem.”

McCawley also said he is working with the Wheeling-Ohio County Health Department to conduct a long-term study regarding how drilling is impacting Ohio County’s air quality. “You are not necessarily going to see benzene at well sites. But we need to know what is being emitted, how it is being emitted, and for how long it is being emitted,” he said.

Hughes agrees, noting his neighbors do not want their children or grandchildren to get sick from the fumes. “We will make no progress in minimizing the long-term regional air quality deterioration in our state until we formulate a process that requires all natural gas exploration and production companies to inventory and measure all emissions,” he added.