Do no harm

Isn't that the oath doctor's take?

Seems the industry does not share the sentiment. 

What if something was making your child sick and your doctor was forbidden to tell you about it?  WHAT would you do?

Truth-out has a three part gas drilling series YOU must see.  YOUR life may depend on it.

Fracking: Pennsylvania gags Physicians

Fluids used in fracking include those that are “potentially hazardous,” including volatile organic compounds, according to Christopher Portier, director of the National Center for Environmental Health, a part of the federal Centers for Disease Control. In an email to the Associated Press in January 2012, Portier noted that waste water, in addition to bring up several elements, may be radioactive. Fracking is also believed to have been the cause of hundreds of small earthquakes in Ohio and other states.

The law, an amendment to Title 52 (Oil and Gas) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, requires that companies provide to a state-maintained registry the names of chemicals and gases used in fracking. Physicians and others who work with citizen health issues may request specific information, but the company doesn’t have to provide that information if it claims it is a trade secret or proprietary information, nor does it have to reveal how the chemicals and gases used in fracking interact with natural compounds. If a company does release information about what is used, health care professionals are bound by a non-disclosure agreement that not only forbids them from warning the community of water and air pollution that may be caused by fracking, but which also forbids them from telling their own patients what the physician believes may have led to their health problems. A strict interpretation of the law would also forbid general practitioners and family practice physicians who sign the non-disclosure agreement and learn the contents of the “trade secrets” from notifying a specialist about the chemicals or compounds, thus delaying medical treatment.

The clauses are buried on pages 98 and 99 of the 174-page bill, which was initiated and passed by the Republican-controlled General Assembly and signed into law in February by Republican Gov. Tom Corbett.

“I have never seen anything like this in my 37 years of practice,” says Dr. Helen Podgainy, a pediatrician from Coraopolis, Pa.

Putting the Cat Back in the Bag

When you cannot depend on those who are paid to protect you, you must protect yourself and your family.

A letter from former DISH Mayor, Calvin Tillman. Protector of THE PEOPLE.

YOU can't afford to miss it. Unless of course you have no skin in the game....

For those really smart people who think that everything is fine in Gasland, please let me know...I bet I could find you a great deal on a house with a compressor station in your back yard, because it is very easy to say things are fine, when you don't have any skin in the game.

Since the town of DISH released the results of the ambient air study in 2009, the oil and gas industry has worked overtime to put that cat back into the bag. They first attacked the consultant that conducted our study, and then came after me personally with numerous threats and frivolous public information requests. They also spent a tremendous amount of resources to find any angle to put a cloud of doubt around the study, although the lab results clearly showed a problem, and subsequent studies show similar results including those studies perform by the oil and gas industry themselves. This rhetoric did not stop at the industry public relations departments, but also went to the highest levels of government in the State of Texas. Our state wide elected Railroad Commissioners can be heard on public record regurgitating the same vile comments that the industry groups were spewing, all working in collusion to make this little problem go away.

Once the Town of DISH started to get attention worldwide from this air study, the industry worked even harder to cloud the truth. Through my research it is apparent that the oil and gas industry will dispute any and all actions that cost the industry money, even likely spending more money to dispute the facts than accept responsibility and correcting the problem. Although, if they would show even one ounce of responsibility, it would pay huge dividends to their public image. One example of this propaganda is the AskChesapeake (CHK) website. Before the town of DISH air study was made public, there was a section of this website that admitted to the release of many of the chemicals found in DISH, and other areas, including the carcinogen benzene. The site indicated that these chemicals were tightly regulated by numerous state and federal agencies. When the DISH study was released, it became apparent that these sites weren't quite as regulated as Chesapeake (CHK) had indicated. Therefore, shortly after the release of the DISH air study, which had Chesapeake's (CHK) name all over it, that section of their website disappeared, and was replaced with a page that basically said " a little benzene exposure is ok".

The industry also likes to deflect blame from themselves by pointing out other industries that pollute. They act as though bad behavior by others makes it alright for them to do it. I have heard that there have been idle threats aimed at municipalities from Chesapeake, stating that if air testing was accomplished at any of their facilities, they would hire a firm to test the air around some of the area's largest employers. Hmmm, didn't see that advertised on AskChesapeake.

Now when traveling to make presentations around the country, I carry a library of air studies, and numerous photos from around the country. I explain these studies and photos during my presentation, because I know by now that someone will accuse me of dramatizing these issues. The industry would much rather show a photo of a little deer running in front of a drilling rig, than an aerial view of DISH, or better yet, the satellite images that show thousands of large well pad sites. That makes it a little difficult for them to say that there will only be a few wells here and there, and the land will be returned to its original condition. Therefore, the group of paid liars, show up and video my presentation, trying to find something to take out of context and use against me. They then write some hack piece on their websites that are only read by those looking to get paid by the industry, and that makes the band of thugs applaud.

Another issue that follows the same pattern is the small community of Dimock, PA. A private water well actually exploded and yet now the claim is that everything is fine, again trying to put the cat back in the bag. Anyone who has visited the affected people in Dimock, know that everything is not fine, but rather still quite a mess. But the state agency designed to protect the people of Pennsylvania are also working in collusion with the oil and gas industry. This agency has allowed the industry to stop delivering fresh water to those whose water wells are tainted by the irresponsible activities of others. With these sort of actions, does anyone wonder why people are moving out of Gasland? When you cannot depend on those who are paid to protect you, you must protect yourself and your family. None of us are in this position because of our own doing, or because we want to be.

There have been numerous university studies that have attempted to validate the industry's stories. Whether it deals with health impacts, or economic impacts, if they are funded by the industry, they always paint a rosy picture. While typically those who perform studies that are not funded by the industry, typically tell a different story, and if the story is not rosy, it is attacked. In the industries eyes only the studies they fund are valid, and not too many studies show a rosy picture if they are not industry funded. There have been numerous air studies accomplished throughout the Barnett Shale. First there was the DISH Study, that was followed up by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality testing, then the industry performed a study, and lastly the City of Fort Worth perform a study. If looking at only the lab results, all of the studies have very similar findings. There were the same chemicals detected and at levels above the Effects Screening Levels, including benzene that was detected in all of the studies. Frankly, some of the benzene levels found in the other areas were much worse than those found in DISH. However, the study in DISH indicated that there might be a problem with being exposed to benzene, while the other studies indicated that being exposed to a little benzene was ok, and when the levels were very high, they stated that they were being corrected. Although the lab results showed problem, the press release said everything was rosy. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality actually lied to the public about their test results, and had a subsequent internal ethics investigation that showed how this organization intentionally misled the public when they stated that they had not detected benzene in eight air samples, when results showed that half of the samples had elevated benzene levels. No one was ever held accountable for this intentional misleading of the public.

The Texas Department of State Health Services (TDSHS) even came to DISH to take blood and urine samples. This showed several elevated chemicals in the blood and urine of over half of the households, and most of those chemicals had been found to be produced by the compressor station; however, the TDSHS said things like household chemicals and smoking caused the elevated levels, when only four of the twenty seven people tested actually smoked. I was one of the ones who gave samples for the test, and along with 2/3 of those tested, I had toluene in my system. The TDSHS blamed this exposure on my commute, which I had not accomplished in 72 hours, and the half life for toluene is said to be 4 hours. During the meeting where they presented this information, there were several questions posed that the TDSHS could not answer, such as what the number of men vs women that were tested, were there different results in men vs women, how far did each person live from a well or compressor site, did those who lived closer to wells or compressors have higher exposure than those living further away. After it became apparent that the person responsible did not do an effective study, she admitted that this was not a scientific study, and that it should not be looked at as such (you can find the presentation on youtube). However, it has been treated and touted as the smoking gun that things are fine...nothing to see here . There have even been those in academia who have supported this study after it was admittedly flawed, while both the university professors, and the TDSHS are both paid by the State of Texas, where negative talk about the oil and gas industry is not tolerated. Consequently, the governor, who has never had a real job, made a run for President of the United States due to his support from the oil and gas industry, although that is not working out to well for him.

I do not have PhD that follows my name, nor am any kind of scientist, doctor,or lawyer. I admittedly do not understand things like climate change or global warming, but I do believe that I have a little common sense, and I have a lot of smart people that consult me. Therefore, when the benzene level goes up, so does the risk of someone getting cancer, and my children waking up to massive nosebleeds is not normal. Since moving from DISH 9 months ago my children have not suffered one nosebleed in the middle of the night. So although I am not a scientist, and can't explain why my children were getting nosebleeds, or why the noxious odors gave me a headache and a sore throat, I know I feel better now, have a lot more energy, and that moving out of Gasland was a smart move for me and my family. For those really smart people who think that everything is fine in Gasland, please let me know...I bet I could find you a great deal on a house with a compressor station in your back yard, because it is very easy to say things are fine, when you don't have any skin in the game.

Calvin Tillman
Former Mayor, DISH, TX

Welcome to Frackville

This time we're not talking about Cowtown. 

Frackville is just a hop, skip and a jump from another town in PA, which has been taken by eminent domain (yes, the whole town) because the under world is on fire, literally. 

Check it out on Durango.

WHAT did he say??

Thanks to Texas Sharon, YOU can hear for yourself.

Seems local citizens with concerns about their towns, the air their kids breathe and the water that sustains them are actually "insurgents" and to deal with them, you need to download the Army and Marine Corp psy ops info.

Don't believe it?  Listen on CNBC.
Now that it's out, they say it was just a joke. 

It might be funny, if it weren't true.

Another told attendees that his company has several former military psychological operations, or “psy ops” specialists on staff, applying their skills in Pennsylvania.

In a session entitled “Designing a Media Relations Strategy To Overcome Concerns Surrounding Hydraulic Fracturing,” Range Resources communications director Matt Pitzarella spoke about “overcoming stakeholder concerns” about the fracking process.
“This was crossing a line — they considered it was on the American people, sort of like they are going in and occupying our land — which is what they are doing,” Wilson said.

Drilling Down

Contrary to what the industry says, there are down sides to drilling... and if you can believe this, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram mentions some.  Of course the article came from the Associated Press.

One of our regular contributors told us of a recent family trip out of state.  They stopped to stay the night in a small town but hotel after hotel had no rooms available.  When they finally found one with an opening, the clerk told them, "Get your family, get back in your car and get on the highway.  Drive to the next town and stay there.  They don't call these boys, "Oil Field Trash" for nothing..."

Now we aren't painting all the industry with the same brush, but when a hotel passes on revenue for a night, something's up.  Sounds like the crime rate.

Make note in the article of the difference in what happens in Texas.

In a modern-day echo of the raucous Old West, small towns enjoying a boom in oil and gas drilling are seeing a sharp increase in drunken driving, bar fights and other hell-raising, blamed largely on an influx of young men who find themselves with lots of money in their pockets and nothing to do after they get off work.

Authorities in Pennsylvania and other states are quick to point out that the vast majority of workers streaming in are law-abiding. But they also say the drilling industry has brought with it a hard-working, hard-drinking, rough-and-tumble element that, in some places, threatens to overwhelm law enforcement.

But he said that many in the industry obey the law and that authorities in Pennsylvania have less tolerance for troublemakers than police in small-town Texas, where rig workers are used to raising hell and getting a pass from law enforcement.

"You can do that [stuff] and get away with it," Bourque said. In Pennsylvania, "they look at it totally different."

Fort Worth Example

When people across the United States use YOUR city as an example of what NOT to do, you got problems.

Check out the Fort Worth Way gas drilling example @ the Fort Worth Weekly.

And then get your butt off the couch and go vote.

Another day, another blast

Gas line explosion in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Reported - 1 dead, 5 missing. Hundreds evacuated.

Read about it on msnbc.com

Getting Deep

And this time we aren't referring to the river.

If you went to see Gasland in Pennsylvania, you may have ended up on "the list".  The Homeland Security list, that is.  So now going to see a documentary makes you a threat?  To WHO?

Read the unbelievable on TXSharon.  Be sure to check out the links.

Then read about the federal lawsuit being planned by one of the movie goers on DailyMe.  Bet it won't be long before there are more.  Lots more. 

"When people's civil rights are trampled it's a federal issue," said Gene Stilp of Harrisburg, who holds a Virginia law license but does not practice as an attorney.

Gov. Ed Rendell , speaking Downtown this morning, said he does not believe activists' Constitutional rights were violated.

The statement was a reversal from what he said yesterday. Asked in Harrisburg on Tuesday whether monitoring activists was "tantamount to trampling" on their Constitutional rights, he said: "I would say so."

Rendell said he is "deeply embarrassed" by the disclosure that state Homeland Security officials included information about protesters on what was supposed to be a list of possible terrorist threats.

The list, which included information on public hearings that opponents of Marcellus gas drilling might attend, was sent to drilling companies.

When the well is dry,

We know the worth of water...is what Benjamin Franklin said.  Now he'd be saying, WTH?!

They say nothing is being contaminated.  Really?  Then what happened in Pennsylvania last week?

Read about it in The Times Leader.  YOU can't afford not to.

Three drinking-water wells near a Chesapeake Energy gas well in Bradford County were found to be polluted with methane gas after the lid blew off one of the water wells last week.

And what happened in Wyoming?  TXSharon has the info.

From TX to PA

The story remains the same - Please send help!

How can something so simple be so hard for an industry to understand? Are they not human? We know they don't have a heart but don't they too need water and air?

Nothing could be further from the truth. If ever there was a time for an honest reassessment of government policy on energy production, it's now. And what that reassessment would conclude is that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency should regulate natural gas drilling­ otherwise we run the considerable risk to public health and safety from contaminated drinking water and dangerous airborne emissions, including toxic chemicals like benzene.

Sounds like a plan

Article from one of the blogs we watch in PA titled- Make it Go National.

Their wish is our command.

The citizens may be on to something there. WHO's next?

Different State - Part 2

Same story.

Citizens calling for a moratorium on gas drilling in Pennsylvania as well as Texas. Can you hear them now? Read it all at www.philly.com.

Jarrett called for a moratorium on gas leases until the state can assess its ability to manage the rush. "We ought to put on the brakes until a study can be conducted to analyze what kind of impacts the drilling is having," she said.

"If they have a problem, they spend their way out of it," he said of Anadarko, which is based near Houston and has operations around the world. A single well costs $4 million to develop - each four-acre well pad may contain six or more wells - and a rig costs $50,000 a day to operate.

Different State

Same story.

Gas drillers and dollar signs...the environment and the citizens paying the price.

Check out the article on PennLive.com. We can't afford not to.

Citizens of Pennsylvania, you’re being deceived, misled, misdirected, fooled, conned, bamboozled, tricked, and taken advantage of.

2009 will be remembered as the year Pennsylvanian’s traded their most precious renewable resource: water, for a few lousy bucks and the hollow promise of a balanced state budget. In a crazy stampede for short-term profits and an easy financial fix, Pennsylvanians are placing their state’s environmental health and financial future at risk.