As an organization representing medical professionals, Physicians for Social Responsibility Pennsylvania (PSR PA) asks women of the Green Party to implore Green Party leadership to ban both the Action 17 state application and the commercial application for LNG terminals. We write to expose the truth that fracked gas is coming to Ireland. As an organization that helped to protect your communities from fracking we ask that you take into account not only the impacts of the proposed LNG terminals on the people of Ireland, but also the way that the proposed terminals continue the expansion of natural gas extraction, transportation and processing in our state which bears the health burdens of fossil fuel infrastructure.
The LNG terminals will not only solidify the continued need for fracked gas, but also release large volumes of toxic chemicals into the air, threatening any progress on the climate crisis and clean air. Fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, and the development that comes with it has left a trail of destruction across Pennsylvania. Results of a three-year study done by University of Pittsburgh researchers and the Pennsylvania Department of Health found that residents living near shale gas development experience a range of health impacts. While we would expect to hear of headaches, skin rashes and the like there were three main findings that stand out:
● Results showed that children who lived within 1 mile of one or more wells had approximately 5 to 7 times the chance of developing lymphoma, a relatively rare type of cancer, compared to children who lived in an area without wells within 5 miles.
● Researchers found that pregnant mothers living near fracking sites have a higher risk of delivering babies who are small for gestational age (SGA) and have lower than average birth weights (LBW). Both of which can have significant health impacts that last a lifetime.
● A strong link was found between the production phase of unconventional natural gas development and severe exacerbations, emergency department visits and hospitalizations for asthma in people living within 10 miles of one or more wells producing natural gas. People with asthma have a 4 to 5 times greater chance of having an asthma attack if they live near unconventional natural gas development wells during the production phase.
In addition, unmeasurable are the mental, emotional and psychological health issues from noise and light pollution and the associated stress of industry.
The entire life cycle of the industry serves as a pathway for air, water and soil deterioration, which in turn harms the health of people living in close proximity. From drilling, pipelines, storage, and processing, toxic and radioactive contaminants are released. The process of hydraulic fracturing has many unintended consequences such as causing failures leading to seepage of toxic chemicals into the water table, which poison aquifers and groundwater resources. In 2010, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PA DEP) blamed shoddy drilling practices by Coterra (formerly Cabot Oil and Gas) for contamination of a large aquifer in Dimock, polluting the drinking water of families. These families are still waiting for clean water today. Not to mention the fake promise of clean energy from blue hydrogen which is just another means of perpetuating the need for more fossil fuels.
Fracking is a community destroyer and pervasive climate offender. Your Green Party leadership is willing to continue this crime against the people of Pennsylvania to fulfill their Energy Security Policy to 2030. As Pennsylvanians, who lack the money and political power to reign in the expansion of fossil fuel extraction, processing and transportation within our borders, we ask for your help. As women (who are the most impacted by fracking) of the Green Party, you have the ability to oppose this plan, which in turn will push back on the continued expansion of this poisonous and climate damaging industry. You have the power to stop the harm.
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