Pennsylvania Drilling Settlement: Doctors, Environmentalists Call On Gas Companies To Release Details

The pressure is mounting on gas companies to reveal what they know about the possible health side effects of their activities.

More voices are calling upon a group of gas companies to release a sealed court settlement that last year capped a long-running legal battle. The sealed records concern a Pennsylvania family -- Stephanie and Chris Hallowich and their children, of Mount Pleasant Township -- who say they developed health problems, including headaches, earaches and nosebleeds, after gas developers began drilling on their property.

The Hallowich family reached a settlement with the gas companies, including Range Resources and MarkWest Energy Group, in 2011, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Details of the settlement were ordered sealed by the court. But the PPG and another Pennsylvania newspaper have since been trying to get those details made public.

This week, they were joined by a group of doctors, scientists and environmental advocates, according to the PPG, all of whom argue that whatever the gas companies know about the possible health side effects of drilling shouldn't be kept confidential.

The case is just the latest example of critics expressing concern over the opaque practices of the oil and gas industries, which have made an aggressive push in recent years to mine what they say is a wealth of natural energy resources on American soil.

One of the most contentious issues involves fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, the process of blasting chemically treated water into underground layers of rock in order to free quantities of oil or natural gas.

When it comes to actually disclosing which chemicals are being injected into the ground, laws vary from state to state. In Wyoming, companies have reportedly been allowed to keep secret more than 100 chemicals, saying the information is sensitive and could put energy companies at a commercial disadvantage if it were publicized. That provision has drawn sharp protests from environmental groups.

Meanwhile, in Pennsylvania, health professionals are going head-to-head with energy companies over a law that doctors say could tie their hands when interacting with patients. The law requires doctors to sign a confidentiality agreement when requesting information about drilling chemicals.

Pennsylvania doctors say they're concerned the law would prevent them from talking to co-workers and even patients about industry-sensitive information. Sam Smith, the Republican speaker of the state House of Representatives, has claimed the law would have no such effect.

Comments

[Upnorth Sledtv]

01:11 PM on 09/03/2012

Well glad to see somebody in this country understands how hush money works: "NO MONEY = NO HUSH". "MONEY = HUSH".

WHAT PART OF THAT DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND?

[Dr Danno]

11:25 PM on 06/18/2012

Did you hear of the plan to hook up the Gov mansion with fracking water? Soft water with plenty of bromides,isotopes, and 'propriatary ingredients ' for drinking ,showers,laundry,etc .Note the recent healthy glow, whitened hair , and flushed face of the Gov ? Dont worry ,Chesapeake is carefully monitoring safe levels of stuff.

[Zilo]

07:19 PM on 05/06/2012

With the US economy in such shambles, the oil companies are probably going to win this fight. They'll get their way---especially if Republicans get re-elected. People will become sick and probably die, but the government will bind anyone from suing them because it will be in everyone's 'best interest' to keep jobs here.

Welcome to the future, people. It's bleak.

[Bullitt08]

05:31 PM on 05/06/2012

In this case, the risks to public health and the public interest FAR outweigh any arguments about commercial advantage.

If the drillers refuse full disclosure, they can't drill. Period.

Every company in the USA must disclose to it's employees all workplace hazards including chemicals.
You can find MSDS Material Safety Data Sheets in most work environments.

You CANNOT transport industrial chemicals in the USA with MSDS and required placards.

This is for the safety of First Responders and HAZMAT Teams.

Any argument that people living above or near fracking sites do not have an absolute right to unimpeded access to information about what it being used near them is utterly and completely specious.
We can't provide fewer protections to families in their homes than a breadwinner has in the workplace can we?
Any lawyer who can't make that stick is not competent to practice.

FWIW, these "secret" chemical brews aren't so secret. Employees often change companies and despite any secrecy agreements, so do the trade secrets.

Having said all this, I support fracking when done safely and with full disclosure.

[Josh Weinberg]

03:03 PM on 05/06/2012

As a measure of good faith, Tom Corbett and the republican PA state legislature should fill their office water coolers with fracking waste water. Bottoms up!

[K August]

09:43 PM on 05/05/2012

These companies don't give a crap about who they poison......as long as there is a profit in it they'll keep doing it. I read we already have a glut because of the warm winter.....

[planetjeffy]

08:26 PM on 05/04/2012

Sealed settlements should be banned.

[Dosadi]

08:11 PM on 05/04/2012

The big question is: Why did the courts seal the papers?




They are hiding something.  Guess what it is?

[tacevad]

05:32 PM on 05/04/2012

but but Millions & Millions of gallons of hazardous waste has to go someplace /snark

[slinkymom]

05:04 PM on 05/04/2012

France, Canada, South Africa, and Great Britain have all banned fracking.

[IWantTofu]

03:13 PM on 05/04/2012

you guys know that crude oil has toxiins and carcinogens such as benzene, polynuclear aromatics, etc. much worst than fracking fluids, right?

[slinkymom]

05:03 PM on 05/04/2012

Yes, so leave it in the ground where it belongs.  Dragging it up to the surface releases methane and radioactive material into the air and into local water supplies.

[LunaPark]

02:35 PM on 05/04/2012

Fracking is the only job producer for Obama. Expect Obama to put politics before safety.

[IWantTofu]

02:58 PM on 05/04/2012

Then why are all the oil companies supporting the Republicans?

[Ghoaster]

04:00 PM on 05/06/2012

Luna....Your a Troll.

[demisfine]

02:17 PM on 05/04/2012

Bulgaria Bans Gas Fracking, Thwarting Chevron Drilling Plan
Jan. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Bulgarian lawmakers banned hydraulic fracturing and established a 100 million-lev ($65 million) fine for offenders, thwarting Chevron Corp.’s plans to explore for natural-gas deposits in the Balkan country.
Lawmakers voted 166-6 to prohibit the drilling technique known as fracking. That makes Bulgaria the second country in the European Union after France to ban the process, which uses a mixture of water, sand and chemicals to open fissures in shale rocks and release gas and oil.
The prohibition will “seriously impair” Bulgaria’s efforts to reduce its reliance on Russian gas, Ivan Kostov, the leader of the opposition Democrats for Strong Bulgaria, said in parliament. Bulgaria may hold 300 billion to 1 trillion cubic meters of shale gas, the Energy & Economy Ministry has estimated. The country consumes about 4 billion cubic meters of gas a year.
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-01-19/bulgaria-bans-gas-fracking-thwarting-chevron-drilling-plan.html

[K August]

09:45 PM on 05/05/2012

What good is gas if you can't drink your water after it's polluted?

[demisfine]

09:51 PM on 05/05/2012

Exactly.

[demisfine]

02:16 PM on 05/04/2012

It's called "Hush Money" for a reason.

[Vocalid]

01:49 PM on 05/04/2012

Where's Erin Brockovich when you need her?