Thursday, December 17, 2009

Survey shows link between shale gas and health impacts




Today, public interest groups and the Town of DISH released the final results of a health survey of area residents focused on the impacts of Barnett Shale gas infrastructure. According to the results, over half of the health complaints can be attributed to toxics first revealed in September in a DISH-commissioned study of area air quality. Now the residents in DISH, along with Earthworks and the Texas Oil & Gas Accountability Project, are asking state regulators to take action. They want the state to perform an in-depth health investigation, implement continuous 24-hour emissions monitoring, and establish a same-day community odor and symptom tracking system.

Earthworks launched the health survey in September, after Wolf Eagle Environmental and the Town of DISH released air-sampling results showing that neurotoxins and carcinogens exceeded the state regulatory limits. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality promised to do their own air sampling and should release a report later this month. And the Dept. of Health Services plans a health investigation in 2010 to analyze oil and gas impacts. You can read more here.

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