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EARTHblog » Nadia Steinzor
Superstition over science: NY’s latest fracking steps
Every year, I take what’s left of my family’s Thanksgiving turkey and make soup. The wishbone always floats to the top of the pot—and I superstitiously save it for when I have an important wish to make. Lately it seems like the New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) might be using wishbones to determine next steps on gas development.
Tagged with: fracking, public health, new york, gas patch roulette, new york water rangers
Gas Patch Guinea Pigs
When Earthworks’ Oil & Gas Accountability Project started working in Pennsylvania, we heard reports from people who said they got sick after gas drilling came to town or had problems that became worse. About children getting nosebleeds every night. Adults in the prime of life who were constantly fatigued. Rural residents surrounded by chemical odors and fumes. Tap water that foams and dizzy spells after showering.
And we heard a lot of frustration and anger that, despite how widespread these problems have become, the gas industry, regulators, and elected officials dismiss them as isolated “personal stories” and “anecdotes.” In other words, nothing that would warrant less drilling, better oversight and enforcement, or tougher regulations.
Today OGAP (in association with ShaleTest) released Gas Patch Roulette, a report showing that decisionmakers with this attitude are gambling with public health and treating people like guinea pigs in a big (and rapidly expanding) laboratory known as shale gas development.
Tagged with: fracking, public health, pennsylvania
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