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About 100 local residents came to a public forum Wednesday night on two state-funded studies in Washington County about fracking’s impact on public health. The forum was held even though none of the researchers working on the study were present.
The University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health researchers abruptly pulled out of the event last week, though they had been working with local groups for months to prepare, organizers said, and the Pennsylvania Department of Health — which He provided financial support for his studies – Followed.
Several environmental groups still hold the event, citing the metrics and research on fracking and its health impacts.
The Department of Health provided financial support A pair of studies In the year In 2019, after a push from Western Pennsylvanians who lost family members to cancer.
One of them is Janice Blanok, whose son Luke was born in 1998. He took life Two other youth from the Cannon-McMillan School District. The district is in Washington County, which has the most hydraulically fractured gas wells in Pennsylvania.
Ewing sarcoma has no known local cause. But the family suspects fracking may have played a role.
Blannock was pleased to attend the meeting, which was held in an outdoor tent in a public park in Canonsburg. However, she was disappointed that the two major institutions included in the study were not included.
“It could have been so much better if the Department of Health and Pitt had kept their word and[been]here. There was a lot of planning involved in this, Blannock said. “It was very upsetting for them not to show up, to be denied a week before this meeting.”
Maureen’s statement field of light, The dean of Pitt’s Graduate School of Public Health said the school decided to participate because they had no information.
“As the meeting date approached and plans solidified, it became clear that it was time to engage in a public forum about this study, which recently closed to recruitment and entered the data analysis phase,” Lichveld said.
Haven Censky, a community organizer at the Coalfield Justice Center, said she began working with the study’s researchers in April after they asked her to serve on an external advisory board. She said that the forum is intended to provide information to members of the public about the progress of the research.
“It was the community people who live in these affected areas who asked for this study to be done, and since 2019 they have not been getting updates on the study from either institution,” Senski said. “People wanted to know who was included in the study. Were they looking at wells or were they looking at (fracking) waste permits? Very easy questions as they are already official on study website.
The relationship of fracking to cancer and other health problems
One of the studies is looking at fracking being linked to childhood cancer. Another is investigating whether living near fracking increases the risk of asthma and poor birth outcomes.
Laura Dagley, a nurse and medical advocacy coordinator for Physicians for Social Responsibility, one of the forum’s organizers, said there are many studies showing a link between birth complications and overdose. Low birth weight.
“We have studies that show health effects,” Dagley said. “Ninety percent of studies looking at health effects show harm or potential harm. So whatever this study shows, there is enough data to suggest that we should be concerned.
The study was conducted after dozens of children and adults were diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma and other types of cancer in a four-county area outside Pittsburgh, where energy companies have drilled more than 4,000 wells since 2008, according to state records. There were issues. First reported In the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
State Research It has been confirmed that there is no cancer cluster in Washington County, but that study He did not include it. Many new cases of Ewing sarcoma.
In August, researchers at the Yale School of Public Health found Children who live near fracking sites in Pennsylvania have a higher risk of common childhood cancers.
The Ministry of Health says website Oil and gas infrastructure can pose a risk of exposure to nearby residents as well as oil and gas workers.
In a statement about the forum, Marcellus Shale Alliance President David Callahan said the industry “It is focused on improving the health and safety of workers, residents and the environment by producing and transporting energy that enables modern life, and is “committed to serving as a source of fact-based information throughout the research process”.
Blanock, who has been appearing at public meetings for years to find answers to why her son died, said she doesn’t expect any closure from the results of the Pitt study, which is due at the end of the year.
But she takes solace in the fact that the groups that organized the event are at least trying to find answers.
“When bad things happen, when we lose our child, you have three choices. You can let that bad thing define you, destroy you, or make you stronger,” she said. “So I find strength in this group of people who help us get to the truth.”
This story was produced in partnership. StateImpact PennsylvaniaA collaboration between the Allegheny Front, WPSU, WITF and WHYY to cover the commonwealth’s energy economy.
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