Transcript Document

Health and Hydrofracking
Katrina Smith Korfmacher, PhD
Department of Environmental Medicine
University of Rochester
Current engagement in issue
• Local networking re: information/education
• National COEC network/UPenn “network”
• 3-state “Information Needs Assessment”
– OH, NC, NY
– 45 interviewees
– Perspectives on information sources, health
issues, and research needs
• Local health dept. capacity building
Goals
• (How) can public health professionals,
researchers, and perspectives help?
• NOT to describe health effects or
concerns
What is the evidence on health
effects of hydrofracking?
Depends on…
• What is ‘hydrofracking’?
• What is a ‘health effect’?
• What counts as ‘evidence’?
1:What is ‘hydrofracking’?
• Industrial practice of injecting fluids into
shale
• All activities at well site (drilling, fracking,
flaring, storage of water/chemicals)
• Physical processes associated with
unconventional shale gas extraction
(trucks, compressor stations, pipelines)
• Changes in communities and economies
resulting from shale gas development
Horizontal hydraulic hydrofracturing. Courtesy www.propublica.org/special/hydraulic-fracturing
Filling a hydrofracturing reservoir. Courtesy of www.shaleshock.org
Photo (c) 2010, Sally S. Howard
A Hydrofracking Tank on double tractor trailer – Rt 15 near Trout Run, PA Nov, 2010
Oct 1, 2009 about 20 miles south of Elmira, NY and 35 miles north of Williamsport, PA. Total
disturbed area: 105.1 acres. The reservoir holds 14,841,128 gallons of hydrofracking flowback
water. The tan area near B is being cleared for a 8,515,651 gallon reservoir. Water for the site will
be withdrawn from the Fallbrook and Fellows Creeks. A wetland exists immediately south of this
site; the effects are unknown. Courtesy of www.PaForestCoalition.org
2. What is a ‘health effect’?
• Health impacts/symptoms directly caused
by hydrofracking
• Changes in incidence of disease
associated with increased hydrofracking
• Changes in environmental quality or
animal health that could affect humans
• Well-being/quality of life (stress, conflict,
wealth, sense of belonging/community)
Worker health and safety
• Exposure: occupational
• “Typical” industrial/mechanical injuries
(falls, accidents)
• Chemical burns/exposures
• Air emissions
• Silica sand
Surface water and health
• Exposure: fish/game consumption, air,
contact recreation, farm animals
• Fracking chemicals/flowback water
• Spills
• Waste water disposal
• Changes in water quantity/flow displacing
other uses (agriculture, wildlife, etc.)
Ground water and health
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Exposure: private drinking water wells
Methane
Fracking chemicals
NORM (Naturally Occurring Radioactive
Materials)
• Naturally occurring heavy metals
• Chemical interactions
Air quality and health
• Exposure: inhaled by workers, neighbors,
regional communities
• Diesel engines (trucks, compressors, etc.)
– particulates, ozone precursors
• Fugitive emissions from wells
• Evaporation from storage ponds
• Aggregate/cumulative impacts (18% of
ozone due to gas development by 2020)
…Climate change and health
• Health effects of heat
• Indirect impacts through:
– Flooding/drought
– Insects
– Agriculture
– Air quality
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Disasters, accidents and health
• Flooding may wash chemicals into local
waters/contaminate soil
• Earthquakes associated with injection
wells
• Explosions/spills may cause injury or
contaminate environment
Community health
• Noise and light pollution
• Stress and mental health (environmental
concerns, economic change, conflict)
• Population/community change (workers)
• Impacts on health services (visits to
emergency room, disaster/spill response,
new disease concerns)
• Increased housing costs/demand
• Benefits from improved economy
3: What counts as ‘evidence’?
• Stories/reports from affected citizens,
health care providers, or organizations
• Newspaper articles
• Evidence of past impact?
• Predictions of future impacts?
• Government agency reports
• Peer-reviewed publications
Does uncertainty trump
knowledge?
• What will be the extent of drilling, where,
over what time?
• What engineering practices, control
systems, and mitigation will be used?
• What chemicals are used, released, how
much, where, when?
• What are the health effects of exposures?
• Accidents, spills, natural disasters…
Can decisions be ‘sciencebased’ despite uncertainty?
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“More research is needed”
Precautionary principle
Regulate, monitor and manage
Pilot test (adaptive management)
Uncertainty will persist
– Latency of health impacts
– Variation in geography/technology
– Long-term processes
– Unpredictable events
“Perspectives of public health”
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Prevention
Risk management
Co-benefits
Economic impacts
Ethical issues
H. Frumkin et al., "Climate Change: The Public Health Response,"
American Journal of Public Health 98 (3) (2008): 435-445
Prevention
• Baseline monitoring of environmental and
human health
• Modeling cumulative impacts
• Ongoing monitoring and adaptation
• Emergency preparedness planning
Risk Management
• Systematically identifying, assessing, and
mitigating multiple risks
• Life cycle analysis
• Health Impact Assessment (HIA)
A special note on HIA
• …NOT ‘science’ or ‘research’
• Applying existing health knowledge to nonhealth decisions
• Process:
– Scoping key health issues
– Assessing using existing quantitative and
qualitative data
– Involves stakeholders
– Makes recommendations to decision makers
• www.healthimpactproject.org
Co-benefits
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Increased environmental/health monitoring
Develop GIS/analysis capacity
Forge new community partnerships
Emergency response capacity/training
Economic impacts
• Timing matters (net present value)
• Prevention pays
• Distribution of costs/benefits affects
health (see “ethics”)
• Cost effectiveness includes internalizing
external (and future) costs
Ethics
• Reducing health disparities
• Environmental justice
• Focus on vulnerable populations (children,
asthmatics, pregnant women, etc.)
• Public participation/community based
research
• Implications of long latency /
intergenerational effects for equity
Tapping into public health
• Beyond “environment versus economics”
• Public health professionals as a resource:
– Communication networks
– Access to health data/analysis
– Local monitoring/management
• Body of experience includes:
– Disaster response (Gulf Oil, flooding)
– Emerging disease
– Surveillance/epidemiology
American Public Health Association
“The public health perspective has been inadequately
represented in policy processes related to HVHF.
Policies that anticipate potential public health threats,
require greater transparency, use a precautionary
approach in the face of uncertainty, and provide for
monitoring and adaptation as understanding of risks
increases may significantly reduce negative public health
impacts of this approach to natural gas extraction.”
Policy statement 20125 “The Environmental and Occupational Health
Impacts of High-Volume Hydraulic Fracturing of Unconventional Gas
Reserves” is publicly available in the APHA policy statement
database. Here is the direct link:
http://www.apha.org/advocacy/policy/policysearch/default.htm?id=14
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Public health resources
• Health care providers (doctors, nurses…)
• Health interest groups (APHA, ANHE,
HSA, communities, insurance agencies)
• Local health departments (NACCHO)
• State/federal agencies (DOH, CDC…)
• Medical associations
• Academics (epidemiology, toxicology,
health behavior/education)
• Foundations and funders
Horizontal Hydrofracturing Rig, November 2009 in Moreland, PA. Wikipedia Commons – photo by Ruhrfisch