Paying for fracking with their health
Sarah Alexander
Pennsylvania is one of the most heavily fracked states in the U.S., and residents are paying the price with their health.
A recent study is putting a spotlight on Pennsylvania's public health crisis, but so far, Governor Tom Wolf has failed to protect people from the dangers of fracking.
Even if you don’t live in Pennsylvania, you can help us turn up the pressure on Governor Wolf to do the right thing.
Please sign Mark Ruffalo’s petition urging Pennsylvania Governor Wolf to put a stop to this and protect Pennsylvanians' health from fracking. Tomorrow, he'll be joining with Pennsylvanians impacted by toxic fracking to deliver these signatures to the governor. Help us make it a huge delivery!
The recent study shows that Pennsylvanians living in heavily fracked areas are hospitalized for heart conditions, neurological illnesses and other health concerns at higher rates than people living in areas without fracking.1
As if hospital visits aren't enough, we've also learned that Pennsylvania's Department of Health (DOH) was using a list of "buzzwords" to keep field health workers from responding to health complaints that could be related to fracking.2
Food & Water Watch fought the Pennsylvania Department of Health for a full year to gain access to documented fracking-related health complaints made by Pennsylvania residents. In these documents, people reported "breathing trouble, chest tightness, nose bleeds, skin irritation, abdominal issues..." and "in one case, a mother reported that a third of her 13-year-old daughter’s hair had fallen out, and she suspected that a gas well near her water well was to blame."3
People are getting sick and Pennsylvania's state agencies have been negligent in addressing the problem and helping residents. Join Mark Ruffalo in telling Governor Wolf it's his responsibility to protect Pennsylvanians from the devastating impacts of fracking.
News of fracking's impacts in Pennsylvania has fed the national movement to ban fracking and paved the way for bans and moratoriums in other places. Food & Water Watch has been working with communities across the country to harness that momentum and bring people together to target elected officials to protect their communities from fracking. With our allies, we helped ban fracking in New York last December and pass a moratorium through Maryland's state legislature this year. To date, communities have passed more than 480 measures against fracking.
It's long past time we gave Pennsylvanians a hand. By collectively shining a light on this unconscionable situation, we're asking Governor Wolf to take a hard look at how the state has favored the fracking industry over the health of its residents.
Thank you for your support,
Sarah Alexander
Deputy Organizing Director
Food & Water Watch
act(at)fwwatch(dot)org
1. Hydraulic Fracturing Linked to Increases in Hospitalization Rates in the Marcellus Shale Region, According to Penn Study, PennMedicine, July 15, 2015.
2. Fracking health complaints received little follow-up from the Department of Health, StateImpact Pennsylvania, June 25, 2015.
3. Pennsylvania records shed light on shale-related health concerns, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, June 24, 2015.