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Researchers warn of negative health outcomes from fracking in the B.C. Peace region
Of course this is British Columbia, but having fracking close to communities in Nova Scotia would be just as dangerous.
Researchers say 52 studies over 20 years show cancer and other illnesses linked to fracking activity
Researchers met with City of Dawson Creek council on Feb. 9 to discuss the potential harms and health outcomes of oil and gas activity in northeast B.C.
Dr. Ulrike Meyer, a Dawson Creek family physician of more than 30 years, said she's seen the prevalence of rare cancers at an alarming frequency, and claims exposure to contaminants from nearby fracking is to blame.
"It's our mandate as health providers to promote and to protect the public health and well-being. This also means to speak up and to inform," she said.
"A number of my physician colleagues left our community citing concerns about the health impacts of living so close to fracking as one reason for the departure."
In the summer of 2023, 25 lung biopsies were performed in Dawson Creek, 23 of them came back positive for cancer.
Ten people were also diagnosed with idiopathic interstitial fibrosis from 2016 to 2018, a scarring of the lungs with no known cause.
The incidence of that type of lung scarring is nine per 100,000, said Meyers, who was startled by seeing ten cases in a population of just over 12,000 in just two years.
Fracking began in the Peace region in the early 2000s, said Meyer, who estimates 30,000 wells are located there. |Read more|