New Study Shows Connection Between Fracking & Asthma—Call for Tougher Drilling Standards

From Conservation Voters of PA (http://www.conservationpa.org):

A new study has come out that shows there’s a correlation between fracking and asthma. People who live close to fracking wells suffer worse than people who live farther away.

It’s been proven that drilling can contaminate our water if it’s not done safely. Now there’s growing evidence that shows that if we keep drilling the same way we have for years, people who live near that activity are at risk of getting sick just from breathing.

Pennsylvania was this close to making conventional drilling safer and protecting communities from pollution, but extremists in the legislature blocked the new rules. Now, the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) must go back to the drawing board.

We all need to send a message that the DEP must not be intimidated by extremists whose only agenda is to protect drillers no matter the risks to our health and safety. Tell the DEP to write the strongest rules possible for conventional drilling to protect our families’ health at https://secure3.convio.net/lcv/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=3495.

If natural gas operators are going to reap billions in profits off our resources, they should follow strong and up-to-date safety standards that will keep communities safe. But that’s not what’s happening.

In fact, the DEP has tracked thousands of natural gas drilling violations and hundreds of incidents of water pollution.

Part of the problem is that our state’s drilling standards haven’t been updated in decades. Experts at the DEP worked for years to close loopholes and modernize the rules. But extremists in the legislature have yet to let the new safety standards see the light of day.

Help us shore up support at the DEP to not back down to the legislature. Our families’ health, the air we breathe, and the water we drink depend on making drilling safer.

Send a message to the DEP today. Ask it to support tough safety measures on conventional drilling.

Thanks for all that you do to protect our air, water, and public lands.