Protect children from fracking
Last week I received another call from a distraught mother trying to find an area in Western Pennsylvania where her family would be protected from the adverse health effects of fracking.
The story is the same. The family bought property in an area zoned for residential or agricultural use, not for industrial purposes, yet gas well permits have recently been approved by the Department of Environmental Protection. So the family will move, unwillingly.
Health studies indicate serious adverse health effects from exposure to gas operations: lower birth weights and apgar scores, which measure the physical condition of newborn infants; more difficult pregnancies; premature births; an increase in heart and neural tube defects in babies; asthma; neurological effects; and an increased risk of cancer. Accordingly, delegrates of the Pennsylvania Medical Society have unanimously voted to support a moratorium on fracking.
Who is going to stand up for the families of Pennsylvania? Too many politicians have sold out to the powerful gas industry, so only the courts can now prevent further degradation of the environment and increases in adverse health effects. As a volunteer, I only wish I had the power to keep this industrial activity far from the thousands of families who want their children to have the right to develop in a healthy environment.
New York instituted a ban on fracking to protect the public. What will Pennsylvania do to protect our children?
Jan Milburn
Ligonier
Milburn is the president of the Westmoreland Marcellus Citizens’ Group