Pennsylvania has been in the news a lot because of numerous fracking related issues and a lot of the science we have at our disposal now comes from their studies. There isn’t any funding in Canada to do our own studies and our prime minister is known for silencing scientists and environmental groups who would otherwise commit to the studies, and submit them to the government so they would be well informed on the issues. Federal programs and research facilities that have been shut down or had their funding reduced include:
- Environmental Emergency Response Program
- Urban Wastewater Program
- Canadian Foundation for Climate and Atmospheric Sciences
- Smokestacks Emissions Monitoring Team
- Hazardous Materials Information Review Commission
- National Roundtable on the Environment and the Economy
- Municipal Water and Wastewater Survey
- Environmental Protection Operations
- Compliance Promotion Program
- Action Plan on Clean Water
- Sustainable Water Management Division
- Environmental Effects Monitoring Program
- Federal Contaminated Sites Action Plan
- Chemicals Management Plan
- Canadian Centre for Inland Waters
- Clean Air Agenda
- Air Quality Health Index
- Species at Risk Program
- Weather and Environmental Services
- Substance and Waste Management
- Ocean Contaminants & Marine Toxicology Program
- Conservation and Protection Office in Nova Scotia
- Plus much, much more. (See list)
It’s incredible that so many environmental groups have been terminated. Their valuable contributions will no longer be available to the government or the public. However the Harper Government feels they are doing fine without them as you can see from the open parliament debate on June 19, 2015. You see Colin Carrie, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of the Environment say, “We will continue to protect our environment while keeping the economy strong…”
If you have a look at the entire list, it’s easy to see just about any organization could be relied on for data on environmental issues, is extremely limited, and the information on how fracking will impact Canada and its citizens comes from United States studies and resources is being dismissed since their results, soil and tests would be different. Specific Nova Scotia environmental groups have been targeted as well. The article “Nova Scotia talks fracking” shows Jamie Baillie, Progressive Conservative MLA for Cumberland South and leader of the provincial PC caucus, is demanding the Premier Stephen McNeil, have the province open the doors to allow fracking. Our prime minister, Stephen Harper is paving the way by removing restrictions on water and silencing any groups that would oppose oil and gas development.
Shocking Documents Reveal Fracking Health Complaints
Swept Under the Rug in Pennsylvania
Reposted with permission from EcoWatch
June 30, 2015
Heavily-fracked Pennsylvania is a battle ground in the fight to protect affected families from the harms of the toxic drilling method. Last week after months of resisting our efforts, the state finally delivered more than 100 pages of documents to Food & Water Watch that were requested through a public Right-to-Know request. And what we received was shocking. The documents clearly demonstrate an ongoing pattern of alarming negligence and incompetence by the Pennsylvania Department of Health (DOH) in responding to scores of fracking-related health complaints from state residents.
This first came to light in 2014, when a StateImpact Pennsylvania report revealing that DOH health workers were told not to respond to fracking-related health complaints. According to two former DOH employees, the department instituted policies to prevent field staff from addressing complaints from residents regarding natural gas drilling and fracking related health impacts. Employees were given specific instructions to refrain from engaging with residents who called with health complaints containing specific “buzzwords,” according to these retired workers. One of the two stated, “We were absolutely not allowed to talk to them.” The other indicated their department “wasn’t told to be silent on any other topic that I can think of.”
Following up, in July 2014, Food & Water Watch filed a Right-to-Know Law request with Pennsylvania’s DOH to seek out records of complaints received by the agency and their response records. But DOH clearly did not want to turn over the documents, and it wasn’t until the Office of Open Records threatened an injunction, that the DOH finally released these records to Food & Water Watch,.
Between March 30, 2011 and April 6, 2015, the DOH logged 87 complaint records filed by concerned residents, health professionals, state legislators and agencies on behalf of Pennsylvania residents. Respiratory issues, asthma, and throat and nose irritation were the most common health problems reported by residents, followed by noxious odors, skin problems, abdominal issues and noise pollution. Residents also complained of cancer, and extreme hair loss. Doctors even phoned in from “seeing unusual numbers of skin lesions/rashes in residents.”
The types of health concerns reported are consistent with the scientific studies of the potential health effects of fracking. Chemicals used in the fracking process impact the skin, eyes, respiratory, immune, endocrine and cardiovascular systems and can cause cancer.
We fought for almost a year and with multiple administrations for these documents. Now we know why. DOH’s gross irresponsibility in its failure to respond to the serious health concerns of the people it is charged to protect must be documented and challenged. We will continue to use legal tools and grassroots outreach to uncover the evidence and to demand accountability.
Gov. Wolf must break the cycle of abuse by the oil and gas industry by instituting an immediate halt on any new fracking in the state.
The fracking wastewater, generated by companies that also engage in this activity, is toxic as well. With chemicals including and not limited to:
- Methanol
- Isoproponal
- Ethoxylated Alcohol
- Trisodium Nitrotriacetate
- Sodium Persulphate
- Diethylene Glycol Monomethyl Ether
- Acrylamide Copolymer
- Fatty Acid Esters
- Terpene
- Alcohol Alkyl Alkoxylate
There are also radioactive NORMs (Radioactive Naturally Occurring Material) and very possibly Methylene Bis (Thocyanate) and 2-(Thiocyanomethylthio) Benzothiozole biocides which are rated with the highest toxicity category of the US EPA.
January 2014, the CBC reported the provincial environment officials were looking into a leak of fracking waste water at holding ponds in Kennetcook, N.S. It says:
The problem is, the heavy snow and rain in recent weeks has weighed those covers down so much that the wastewater underneath has been spilling out. Environment Minister Randy Delorey said between 6,000 and 14,000 litres of fracking waste escaped from the pond, some of it running into a nearby brook.
The Winter of 2015 we had a record amount of snowfall that hasn’t been surpassed for many years and there wasn’t any mention of similar leaks. Was the media instructed not to report it? They have found dead animals by the pond. It is an environmental disaster waiting to happen — something has to be done with it.
The wastewater in the Debert holding ponds is being shipped to LaFarge in Brookfield, Nova Scotia, where some of the dust gets mixed with biosolids but this certainly isn’t a long term solution as it’s very expensive and an environmental concern. There hasn’t been any decision on what to do with the wastewater at Kennetcook. As soon as they find a solution to it, it’s expected the moratorium on fracking in Nova Scotia will be lifted.
Jamie Bailey has been motivated to push this agenda again since a report was issued last month, “U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: Assessment of the Potential Impacts of Hydraulic Fracturing for Oil and Gas on Drinking Water Resources.” This document has been largely misinterpreted by those who advocate fracking, simply because there was a lot, the report “didn’t” say. As evidence from an article in the Chronicle Herald on July 2, 2015 that states:
So here is where it gets interesting. As we observed in our work, even health researchers may be guilty of partial and therefore potentially misleading presentation of data.
We know this from Wenonah Hauter article (above) and it’s from what the Food & Water Watch uncovered that the DOH “logged 87 complaint records filed by concerned residents, health professionals, state legislators and agencies on behalf of Pennsylvania residents.” However, in the article in the Herald, the author says, “individuals and communities that might have seen substantial economic benefits from approval of the activity were not represented adequately in the process.” So he is suggesting perhaps the health issues could be overlooked in favour of economic benefits to the province. This can be seen again in the reopening of the Donkin Coal mine in Cape Breton.
When our prime minister was pressed to commit to lowering emissions by 2100 at the G7 Summit in Germany, June 2015, he said it would be a “crazy economic policy” but he reluctantly agreed, since polls suggest he won’t be around after the next federal election. This gives opposition parties one less thing to ride him about.
Nova Scotia Power said in the report, “In 2007, just one per cent of the total electricity used by Nova Scotians was generated by wind. That figure is expected to hit 18 per cent in 2020. There are now 274 wind turbines across the province. Most are owned by independent power producers.” It is felt that if the government were to invest in these areas more, the results forecasted for the independent power producers could be exponentially increased.
This doesn’t mean there isn’t problems with wind energy. There is, but working towards solutions to these issues is a step forward for Nova Scotia. Part of the problem the producers face is that their only customer is Nova Scotia Power, but when Stephen McNeil was elected as Premier of Nova Scotia he promised to de-regulate the industry so there could be other options.
A new report has determined that investments in energy-efficient and renewable energy sources yield more jobs for a set amount of spending than investing in maintaining or expanding the fossil fuel industry. The report was published in two volumes, split between overall findings and country-specific policy frameworks. Download the full reports (pdf): Global Green Growth Report Volume 1 and Volume 2.
