PSR PA Medical Advocacy Director Tammy Murphy and colleagues met with the PA DOH for a fourth time. These meetings have centered on two fracking studies, sponsored by the DOH and to be carried out by the University of Pittsburgh’s Graduate School of Public Health. Originally, Governor Wolf promised two three-year studies totaling $3.9 M to investigate health impacts of fracking and address the concerns of families who lost children to cancer. Now, the funding has been reduced to $2.6 M, which leaves $1.4 M unaccounted for.
Advocates have also been urging the PA DOH to include radioactive waste streams into their fracking study. Radioactive streams are a known pathway of exposure, and can be investigated at a relatively low cost. “As designed, the retrospective academic studies continue to ignore radioactive waste streams, fall short of the DOH’s mission of the prevention of injury and disease, and fail to help residents and workers know whether or not it is currently safe to live and work in their respective environments. The full amount of money to address these concerns was already promised and should be allocated immediately,” said Tammy Murphy.
Apart from the studies, the group has been calling on the DOH to use existing educational materials and to come see what is happening in shale communities.
Click here to read a press release about the fourth meeting.
Click here to read a blog about the previous meetings.
