As a longtime resident of Pennsylvania, the number of fracking sites concerns me.
The claimed economic benefits are not what they seem — in reality, fracking has not done us any favors. In addition to increasing traffic and driving up rent prices, frackers give most of the jobs they claim to bring to out-of-state employees instead of hiring locals.
Fracking also harms the air and water quality by injecting toxic chemicals into the ground, much of which is kept secret from the public. The mixture of water and chemicals cause benzene, a carcinogen, to be released from the rocks. The benzene gets into the air and the chemicals make their way into the water supply, so the health risks associated with fracking are no surprise.
More than 80 percent of fracking-related health studies have linked closeness to fracking ells to increased risks for a slew of negative health effects, including birth defects, respiratory and nervous system problems, blood disorders and even cancer.
What can you do about this? Take your health and your loved ones’ health into your own hands. Contact the governor and tell him to place a moratorium on fracking.
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Samantha Roth
Class of 2019
1 Comment
Ms. Roth is quite right. The long term health impacts of the unconventional gas development industry endanger Pennsylvanians in ways that the promised economic benefits will never outweigh. It is time for our government to honor our environmental rights embedded in our Pennsylvania Constitution and to adhere to the moratorium already called for by the Pennsylvania Medical Society.
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