Speakers from several public health, community advocacy and environmental groups will participate in a September 19 webinar -- A Year Later: Have Leaders Addressed Health Concerns From Natural Gas Development Raised In University Of Pittsburgh Public Health Studies?  from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m.

In August 2023, the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health released the results of studies it conducted on the health impacts of people living near natural gas development in Southwestern Pennsylvania.

The studies were commissioned by the state Department of Health.

Since these studies were released, families have continued to raise concerns about their health, yet many of Pennsylvania's leaders have been silent about the dangers identified in the research.

The studies linked natural gas operations to childhood cancer, babies born with low birthweight and worsening asthma.

Among the studies' findings: children who lived within one mile of a shale gas well had 5 to 7 times the chance of developing lymphoma, a type of cancer.

This webinar will discuss the studies' findings, promises made by the Department of Health to the people of Pennsylvania and Gov. Shapiro's deal with natural gas developer CNX Resources.

Featured speakers include--

-- Laura Dailey, BSN, RN, Environmental Health & Medical Writer, Physicians for Social Responsibility-PA

-- Edward C. Ketyer, MD, FAAP, President, Physicians for Social Responsibility-PA

-- Katie Jones, Ohio River Valley, Coordinator, FracTracker Alliance

-- Aaron E. Makatura, Appalachia Environmental Health Project

-- Heaven Lee Sensky, The Center for Coalfield Justice

Hosting organizations include: Environmental Health Project, Physicians for Social Responsibility-PA, FracTracker Alliance, Center for Coalfield Justice and Mountain Watershed Association.

Click Here to register.

Resource Links- Oil & Gas Infrastructure Impacts:

-- University Of Pittsburgh School Of Public Health Studies Find Shale Gas Wells Can Make Asthma Worse; Children Have An Increased Chance Of Developing Lymphoma Cancer; Slightly Lower Birth Weights  [PaEN]

-- Environmental Health Project Finds Results ‘Very Concerning’ From University Of Pittsburgh Studies Showing Links Between Natural Gas Development And Lymphoma Cancer, Worsening Asthma Conditions, Lower Birth Weights  [PaEN]

-- State Dept. Of Health Apologizes For Not Listening To Communities Suffering Health Impacts From Shale Gas Development; New Health Study Results ‘Just The Tip Of The Iceberg’  [PaEN]

-- State Dept. Of Health Invites Citizens To File Environmental Health Complaints Related To Natural Gas Development; Health Will Also Review Environmental Test Results  [PaEN]

-- 9th Compendium Of Studies On Health & Environmental Harms From Natural Gas Development Released - ‘The Rapidly Expanding Body Of Evidence Compiled Here Is Massive, Troubling And Cries Out For Decisive Action’  [PaEN]

-- Environmental Health Project: Gov. Shapiro’s Record On Shale Gas And Health - A Look At The Grand Jury Recommendations One Year In

-- Physicians For Social Responsibility - PA: Gov. Shapiro And The Fossil Fuel Industry - Abandoning Climate Science For Industry Support

-- Environmental Health Project Contributes To New Book On Sustainable Development & Rural Public Health - From Fossil Fuels To Greener Futures  [PaEN]

-- CNX: 'Natural Gas Development Is Safe And Poses No Public Health Risks,' Based On CNX Air Quality Monitoring From 14 Sites, Most For Just 4 To 24 Weeks  [PaEN]

-- House Committee Reports Out Bills To Ban Road Dumping Conventional Oil & Gas Wastewater; Prohibit Use Of PFAS 'Forever Chemicals’ In Consumer Products  [6.11.24]

-- House Hearing: Shapiro Administration Supports Bill Banning Road Dumping Oil & Gas Wastewater, Prohibiting Its Use As Coproduct Under Residual Waste Regulations  [6.10.24]

-- House Hearing: Penn State Expert Says ‘Pennsylvania Should Ban Road Spreading Of Oil & Gas Wastewater;’  Contaminants Exceed Health, Environmental Standards  [6.10.24]

-- House Hearing: Penn State Center For Dirt & Gravel Road Studies Says Road Spreading Oil & Gas Wastewater Is Not An Effective Dust Suppressant, Does Not Meet Environmental Testing Standards  [6.10.24]

-- House Hearing: A First-Hand Account Of How Repeated, Unlimited Road Dumping Of Oil & Gas Drilling Wastewater Is Tearing Apart Dirt Roads And Creating Multiple Environmental Hazards  [6.10.24]

-- House Hearing: Protect PT - Road Dumping Oil & Gas Wastewater ‘Is Disproportionately Responsible For Negative Impacts On Human Health,’ Especially From Radioactive Radium  [6.10.24]

-- House Hearing: On Road Dumping Oil & Gas Wastewater - ‘We Studied This For Nearly 30 Years And The Conclusions Are The Same - The Wastewater Contains Harmful Contaminants’  [6.10.24]

-- Senate Hearing: The Case For An Immediate, Total Ban On Road Dumping Conventional Oil & Gas Wastewater  [4.17.24]

-- Senate Hearing: Penn State Expert: ‘No More Research That Needs To Be Done’ To Justify A Ban On Road Dumping Conventional Oil & Gas Wastewater  [4.17.24]

-- Senate Hearing: First-Hand Account Of Health, Environmental Impacts From Road Dumping Conventional Oil & Gas Wastewater - ‘Inhaling Oil & Gas Wastewater 24-Hours A Day’  [4.17.24]

-- Senate Hearing: 3.5 Million Gallons Of Conventional Oil & Gas Wastewater Dumped On PA Public Roads Since DEP’s ‘Moratorium’ On Dumping Started 6 Years Ago  [4.17.24]

-- Gov. Shapiro: We Need Stronger Laws To Deal With The ‘Corporate Greed’ That Let Oil & Gas Operators Get Away With Abandoning Wells For Far Too Long [PaEN]

-- Feature: 60 Years Of Fracking, 20 Years Of Shale Gas: Pennsylvania’s Oil & Gas Industrial Infrastructure Is Hiding In Plain Sight [PaEN]

-- Conventional Oil & Natural Gas Drilling: An Industrial Machine Moving Across The PA Countryside Leaving Behind Big Liabilities & Spreading Pollution Everywhere It Goes  [PaEN]

-- DEP Imposed $2.2 Million In Penalties Against Shale Gas Drilling, Pipeline Companies In 2023 For Violations Dating Back To 2018   [PaEN]

-- DEP Imposed $422,365 In Penalties On 14 Conventional Oil & Gas Well Operators In 2023 For Abandoning Wells, Spills, Venting Gas; 93 Operators Cited For Abandoning 271 Wells   [PaEN] 

-- We’ve Heard This Before: ‘We’re Providing Jobs - Stopping Pollution Threatens Jobs’ - A Brief Review Of Pennsylvania’s Conservation History [PaEN]

Resource Links- Personal Stories:

-- KDKA: Natural Gas Gathering Pipeline Crashes Into, Thru Westmoreland County Home And A Loophole In State Law That Doesn’t Regulate Gathering Pipelines For Safety   [PaEN]

-- CNX Natural Gas Pipeline Pigging Facility Malfunction Dec. 27 Released 1.1 Million Cubic Feet Of Natural Gas; Same Facility Plagued Community With Blowdowns 3 Times A Day, 7 Days A Week For Nearly 10 Years Until Criminal Charges Brought Against CNX   [PaEN]

-- Washington County Family Lawsuit Alleges Shale Gas Company Violated The Terms Of Their Lease By Endangering Their Health, Contaminating Their Water Supply And Not Protecting Their Land  [PaEN]

-- Navy Veterans Patrick & Helen Robinson Relate Their 7-Year Struggle Dealing With Impacts Of Mariner East Pipeline Construction In Indiana County, And They Continue  [PaEN]

-- Cambria County Family Sues Sunoco After 3 Years Of Dealing With Damage To Home, Well, Septic System, Property From Mariner East Pipeline Construction  [PaEN]

-- 3 Days That Shook Washington County: Natural Gas Plant Explosion; Pipeline Leak Of 1.1 Million Cubic Feet Of Gas; 10,000 Gallon Spill At Compressor Station  [PaEN]

-- No One Warned A Cameron County Family Their Water Well Was Contaminated By A Seneca Resources Shale Gas Wastewater Pipeline Rupture [PaEN]

-- Senate Hearing: First-Hand Account Of Health, Environmental Impacts From Road Dumping Conventional Oil & Gas Wastewater - ‘Inhaling Oil & Gas Wastewater 24-Hours A Day’  [4.17.24]

PA Oil & Gas Industry Public Notice Dashboards:

-- PA Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - August 24 to 30 - Water Pipeline Blowout; 9-Year-Old Hits Conventional Gas Well; 5 Abandoned Shale Gas Wells  [PaEN]

-- Range Resources Shale Gas Water Pipeline Suffers Blowout In Washington County  [PaEN]

-- 9-Year-Old Drives Tractor Into Conventional Well Causing Gas Leak  [PaEN]

-- PA Oil & Gas Industrial Facilities: Permit Notices, Opportunities To Comment - August 31 [PaEN]

-- DEP Posted 66 Pages Of Permit-Related Notices In August 31 PA Bulletin  [PaEN]

Related Articles:

-- Sept. 19 Webinar: A Year Later: Have Leaders Addressed Health Concerns From Natural Gas Development Raised In University Of Pittsburgh Public Health Studies?  [PaEN]

-- DEP Oil & Gas Technical Advisory Board Meets Sept. 5 On Strategies To Prevent Well Abandonments; Injection Well Primacy; Tracking Water Contamination; Other Topics  [PaEN]

-- State, United Mine Workers Announce First-In-PA Registered Apprenticeship Program To Plug Oil And Gas Wells Abandoned By Conventional Well Owners; DEP Issued 711 Violations For Well Abandonment So Far In 2024  [PaEN]

-- Appalachian Regional Commission Selects Job Training, Revitalization Groups For Communities Impacted By Coal, Power Plant Closures; Underserved, Marginalized Communities; 5 In PA Serving Coal, Oil & Gas Counties  [PaEN]

-- Pittsburgh Works Together Releases New Report: The PJM Grid In Peril: What Will Keep The Lights On?  [PaEN]

-- Sen. Yaw To Introduce Bills To Establish PA Baseload Energy Development Fund Based On Texas Model; And Have One Permit For Power Plants  [PaEN]

-- Ready For 100% Montgomery County: Communities With Half The County Population Support Clean Energy Future  [PaEN]

-- DEP Permitting Efficiency: 19,222 Permits Since 11/2023; Decisions On 15,794;  2 Currently Eligible For PAyback Did Not Meet Decision Deadlines; No Application Fees Refunded [8.27.24]

-- Washington & Jefferson College To Host Pittsburgh Regional Carbon Capture Conference Oct. 22 In Washington County  [PaEN]

NewsClips:

-- TribLive Guest Essay: Gov. Shapiro Needs To Step Up His Environmental Game - By Tom Pike, Protect PT

-- Public News Service: Shale Gas Fracking Boom In PA Raises Health, Environmental Concerns

-- Tribune-Democrat: Shapiro, Mineworkers Create Apprenticeship To Plug Oil & Gas Wells Abandoned By Conventional Well Owners

-- Wilkes-Barre Times: State Announces Apprenticeship Program To Plug Oil, Gas Wells Abandoned By Conventional Well Owners

-- TribLive: PA Apprenticeship Program Expands To Including Training To Plug Oil, Gas Wells Abandoned By Conventional Well Owners

-- Pittsburgh Business Times: State, United Mine Workers Partner On New Apprenticeship On Plugging Oil & Gas Wells Abandoned By Conventional Well Owners

-- The Center Square - Anthony Hennen: Natural Gas Subsidy Plan Rolled Out To Stabilize Grid [Sen. Yaw’s Energy Development Fund ]

-- Utility Dive: PA Senator [Sen. Yaw] To Introduce Energy Fund Bill, Bill To Require One Permit With One  ‘Statute of Limitations’ For Power Plant Projects

-- Reuters: Texas Energy Fund Approves Gas-Fired Power Plants For Next Stage Of Consideration

-- Utility Dive: Texas Energy Fund Elects 17 Gas-Fired Power Plant Projects Totaling Almost 10 GW For Possible Loans

-- Utility Dive: PJM December Electricity Auction Prices Could Jump 157% Over July Auction, Morgan Stanley

-- The Center Square - Anthony Hennen: Pittsburgh Works Report: Red Tape, New Power Plant Delays Put PJM Electric Grid ‘In Peril’

-- Utility Dive Guest Essay: Getting Real About Electric Grid Reliability In PJM After July Capacity Auction - By Glen Thomas, Former Chair of the PA Public Utility Commission

-- PennLive Guest Essay: Troubling Times Are Ahead For American Energy - By Commonwealth Foundation  [59% Of Energy On PA’s Electric Grid Comes From One Fuel]

-- TribLive Guest Essay: Biden Clean Power Plant Reboot Will Cripple PA’s Energy Affordability - By Sen. Greg Rothman (R-Cumberland)  [Need To Diversify Our Energy Generation Away From 59% Natural Gas To Prevent Price Spikes]

-- WHYY/BillyPenn: PECO Customers Could Face Double-Digit Electricity Bill Increases Next Year; Experts Blame Growing Demand, Lagging Transition To Renewable Energy

-- Inside Climate News: US Appetite For Electricity Grew Massively In First Half Of 2024; Solar Power Rose To The Occasion

-- Chesapeake Bay Journal - Ad Crable: Air Monitoring Study By CNX Resources Finds Fracking ‘Poses No Public Health Risk’; Environmental Groups Critical

-- WHYY: Philadelphia Gas Commission Passes Rules To Limit Public Participation In Budget Process

[Posted: August 26, 2024]

9/2/2024