Heaven Sensky, an organizer with the Center for Coalfield Justice, asks a question to James Fabisak, who presented the study findings at PennWest University in California, Pennsylvania on Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2023. (Photo by Quinn Glabicki/PublicSource)
While the studies, commissioned in 2019 to research communities near fracking in Southwestern Pennsylvania, did not identify the cause of the health problems, they did conclude that there were numerous correlations.
by Quinn Glabicki, PublicSource
The Pennsylvania Department of Health and the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health convened a public meeting Tuesday evening to release the findings of three studies that examine the relationship between living near fracking operations and childhood cancers, asthma and birth outcomes.
One study found that children living within a half-mile from a fracking well had a higher chance of developing cancer. The results showed that the chances of a child developing lymphoma “were 5-7 fold greater when living within 1 mile of a well compared to children with no wells within 5 miles.” The study concluded that those living closest and among the “highest density” of fracking activity were at the highest risk for developing the rare cancer.
In 2019, then-Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration allocated $3 million to research health concerns for people living in close proximity to fracking operations in Southwestern Pennsylvania. There was a particular interest by many parents if there was a link between Ewing sarcoma and fracking.
The study found “no evidence of an association” between proximity to fracking and Ewing sarcoma, childhood leukemia and other brain and bone cancers. The study was not designed to identify clusters of cancer.
A separate study found that people with asthma are four to five times more likely to have an asthma attack if they live near unconventional natural gas development wells during the production phase. It found a “strong link” between the production phase of unconventional natural gas development and “severe exacerbations, emergency department visits and hospitalization for asthma in people living within 10 miles of one or more wells producing natural gas.”
“The asthma study, to me, is a bombshell,” said Dr. Ned Ketyer, a retired physician who works with Physicians for Social Responsibility, a nonprofit advocacy group. He pointed to the magnitude of risk and also that the probability and severity appear to rise during the production phase, which lasts an average of six years. “These wells are causing severe problems and that’s going to continue for as long as a well produces,” he said.
After the results were released Tuesday, Marcellus Shale Coalition President David Callahan criticized the asthma study’s methodology, claiming it relies on “faulty metrics.”
“As an industry rooted in science and engineering, we take objective and transparent research seriously,” he said in a statement. He also said that past research based on field monitoring has demonstrated that “natural gas development is not detrimental to public health.”
The final study showed that mothers who lived near active wells were more likely to have smaller babies, and that babies were about 1 ounce smaller at birth when born to mothers who lived near active wells during production, compressor stations or facilities that accept fracking waste.
The studies included Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Fayette, Greene, Washington and Westmoreland counties and considered observational health records from 1990-2020.
About Post Author
