In-the-Shadow-of-the-Marcellus-Boom: How Shale Gas Extraction Puts Vulnerable Pennsylvanians at Risk. May, 2011
May 10, 2011
In-the-Shadow-of-the-Marcellus-Boom Full Report
In the Shadow of the Marcellus Boom How Shale Gas Extraction Puts Vulnerable Pennsylvanians at Risk
May 2011
Written by:
Travis Madsen and Jordan Schneider, Frontier Group
Erika Staaf, PennEnvironment Research and Policy Center
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday, May 5, 2011
Contact: Erika Staaf, PennEnvironment Research and Policy Center
Office: (412) 521-0943, Cell: (412) 491-4801
New report: Shale Gas Extraction Poses Risk to Vulnerable Populations in
Pennsylvania
Report uncovers local schools, hospitals, and daycares located near gas
extraction
Pittsburgh, PA – Pennsylvania’s vulnerable populations are often situated
near Marcellus Shale gas extraction, which has had a track record of
pollution, accidents and violations, according to a new PennEnvironment
Research and Policy Center report, In the Shadow of the Marcellus Boom: How
Shale Gas Extraction Puts Vulnerable Pennsylvanians at Risk.
The study shows that permitted well sites exist within two miles of more
than 320 day care facilities, 67 schools and nine hospitals statewide.
“Just weeks after a gas well blowout in Bradford County spilled thousands of
gallons of chemical-laced flowback water and forced seven local families to
be evacuated from their homes, our report shows that our most vulnerable
populations across the state could be at risk to a similarly dangerous
scenario,” said Erika Staaf, clean water advocate for PennEnvironment
Research and Policy Center. “Whether it’s air or water pollution, accidents
or explosions, we’ve seen that the effects of Marcellus Shale gas extraction
don’t necessarily end at the drilling pad’s borders. We cannot put our most
vulnerable populations at risk of these problems any longer.”
Children are likely more vulnerable to the impacts of gas extraction because
they are still developing. The sick and diseased, meanwhile, are more
susceptible to health effects from pollution exposure.
“I’m like any other American parent who wants the best for their children.
From the basics of water, food, healthcare, and a home, to the joys we had
in our own childhood – ice cold lemonade after a hot day of, climbing trees,
playing hide and seek in the woods and building space ships to explore outer
space,” said Michelle Boyle, a nurse at Allegheny General Hospital and a
parent of two daughters. “For my own children I now worry if the woods that
our children are playing hide and seek in will suddenly erupt in an
explosion, like in Independence Township in Washington County, or like in
Canton, Bradford County, where seven families had to be evacuated.”
From Pittsburgh to Scranton, gas companies have drilled more than 3,000
wells in the Marcellus Shale and the state has issued permits for thousands
more. During 2010, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection
(DEP) issued permits to gas companies to drill or deepen nearly 3,450
additional wells. With the industry projecting on the order of 50,000 new
wells over the next two decades, gas extraction activity is likely to move
into even greater proximity to more vulnerable populations across the
region.
GDACC 
