New Fracking Study Pulls Rug Out From Under “Safe” Fracking I was aware of the allegations around water contamination but I see now there are also possible issues around human health that are airborne. Another interesting factor is that the industry lays a lot of stress on "documented" evidence yet there seems to be a lid kept on much of the information so documentary evidence is actually not easy to come by. The latest study from Johns Hopkins just turned up this week in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives. Here’s the money quote: …Pennsylvania residents with the highest exposure to active natural gas wells operated by the hydraulic fracturing — or fracking — industry are nearly twice as likely to suffer from a combination of migraine headaches, chronic nasal and sinus symptoms, and severe fatigue. Thanks to a Bush-era loophole in federal water safety regulations, drillers are entitled to keep the ingredients in their fracking brine under wraps. Drillers are also not required to test groundwater in the neighboring community before they begin drilling. That’s part of the reason why it has been almost impossible to document cases of water contamination. Settlements with gag orders have also provided the industry with an avenue for quashing documentation of contamination. Nevertheless, last spring a jury found enough evidence of methane contamination to award $4.24 million to two home owners affected by fracking operations in Dimock, Pennsylvania. See the full story at http://ift.tt/2bSV7EB
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