Small Towns vs. Fracking

As dozens of towns look at banning fracking, state governments struggle to balance public health and economic growth.

July 17, 2014 8:24PM ET

by The Stream Team @ajamstream

Did the Pennsylvania Department of Health intentionally ignore medical complaints from residents near fracking sites? Two former employees say they did - pointing to a list of "buzzwords" that immediately sent callers to a supervisor or another department. As dozens of cities and towns look at banning the controversial mining practice, state governments struggle to balance public health and economic growth. As the battle to access natural gas wages on, The Stream explores what's at stake.

Guests

Tyson Slocum, Director of Public Citizen's Energy Program

Twitter: @tysonslocum / Website: citizen.org

Mark Smith, Bradford County Commissioner

Twitter: @marksmithforpa

Katie Colaneri, StateImpact Pennsylvania Reporter

Twitter: @KatieColaneri / Website: stateimpact.npr.org/pennsylvania/

Karen Moreau, Lawyer and advocate for petroleum industry

Website: energyfromshale.org

Helen Slottje, Legal adviser to the Dryden case

Twitter: @TeamSlottje / Website: CedcLaw.org

Linda Lavine, Dryden Town Board Council Member

John Olívas, Chairman of the Mora County Commission

Statement from the Pennsylvania Health Department

The Department of Health is taking action on Marcellus Shale-related health matters. It is strict protocol that all public health inquiries are taken and investigated and that the public’s health and safety comes first on any public health issue. We expect our employees to follow this protocol and believe they play a vital role in fulfilling our mission of protecting public health. We assist our 1,400 employees with their public service responsibilities by providing guidance on how to best address any questions that they receive from the public to ensure they have the information they need to fulfill their role and provide the best public service possible.

We are working with partners, including the PA Department of Environmental Protection, and public health stakeholders across the state in our collective efforts to better understand the potential effects of Marcellus Shale drilling and to fulfill our monitoring activities under Act 13 of 2012. We have not closed the door on a health registry or further studies. The department is focused on solutions driven via public-private partnerships and funding streams, such as we are doing via our work with Geisinger on its Marcellus Shale health outcomes study. State funded studies and a registry cannot be the only options, especially given the budgetary realities we are facing in Pennsylvania. As we focus on these elements, we are ensuring the follow-up and investigation continues on individual health concerns. Our work will continue on behalf of Pennsylvanians.