Archive: Around Town

An upcoming educational forum, sponsored by the Tompkins County Council of Governments, will examine the potential health effects of gas drilling on farm animals and pets, and how such potential effects could point to similar effects in humans.

The forum, entitled “Impacts of Gas Drilling on Human and Animal Health,” will take place on Tuesday, April 16, beginning at 7:00 p.m., at the Ithaca Unitarian Church, located at the corner of East Buffalo and North Aurora Streets. The free event is cosponsored by the First Unitarian Social Justice Committee.

“Because animals often are exposed continually to air, soil, and groundwater and have more frequent reproductive cycles than humans, they can be considered sentinels providing a glimpse of impacts on human health,” says Dr. Robert Oswald, a Cornell University researcher.

Using nearby Pennsylvania, where fracking is widely practiced in agricultural regions, Dr. Oswald and veterinarian Dr. Michelle Bamberger have studied the impacts of fracking on animal health.  While their data aren’t yet conclusive, they say their findings illustrate which aspects of the drilling process may lead to health problems.  Their bottom line:  “Without rigorous scientific studies, the gas drilling boom sweeping the world will remain an uncontrolled health experiment on an enormous scale.”  Oswald and Bamberger will detail their studies at the forum.

Dr. Adam Law, a local physician and environmental activist, who co-founded the organization Physicians, Scientists and Engineers for Healthy Energy, will also describe investigative methodologies necessary to enable the scientific community to evaluate the acute and chronic effects of fracking in human populations.

Analysis of how the proposed regulations address public health impacts is a factor in the Cuomo administration’s delay regarding whether to allow fracking in New York.  Dr. Law questions the review process, since he maintains that the document “was not designed with public health in mind,” neglecting many key aspects essential to public health.

With what they describe as anecdotal reports of adverse health outcomes in humans consistent with the findings in animals reported by Drs. Oswald and Bamberger, all three speakers at the April 16th forum will question the wisdom of allowing the hydrofracking to proceed in New York without a much more comprehensive understanding of its effects on human and animal health.

The program will be moderated by Caroline resident Ellen Harrison, who founded the organization Fleased, a group of disaffected leaseholders.  Sponsors note that questions from those attending will be welcomed after the formal presentations.

v9i14