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Tagged: fracking

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The Fracking Boom: Missing Answers
1:42 pm
Wed May 16, 2012

Slideshow: Town's Effort To Link Fracking And Illness Falls Short

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By David Gilkey | NPR

The Fracking Boom: Missing Answers
1:41 pm
Wed May 16, 2012

Town's Effort To Link Fracking And Illness Falls Short

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Credit NPR
Credit David Gilkey / NPR
Dish, Texas, was once known for changing its name in exchange for free satellite TV from the Dish network. Now, it's known as the epicenter of the fracking boom.
Credit David Gilkey / NPR
About 225 people live in Dish, which sits right on top of the Barnett Shale rock formation. That shale contains one of the nation's largest natural gas reserves.
Credit David Gilkey / NPR
While energy companies say their fracking and gas well operations are safe, Mayor Bill Sciscoe, seen here, firmly believes the health of his town is in danger.
Credit David Gilkey / NPR
Signs of fracking, such as well heads, storage tanks and big rigs, are an ongoing presence in Dish.
Credit David Gilkey / NPR
Before the wells, says Mayor Sciscoe, "This place was absolutely beautiful. It was serene. It was very quiet. I raised five children here."
Credit David Gilkey / NPR
A working gas well head is fenced in just opposite a home. Dish is about 30 miles north of Fort Worth.
Credit David Gilkey / NPR
Gas infrastructure is mixed in with pasture land. Scientists say they don't yet know whether fracking is endangering the health of nearby residents.
Credit David Gilkey / NPR
Energy companies surround some well sites with wooden fencing to cut down on the industrial feel of their operations.
Credit David Gilkey / NPR
Along with drilling comes heavy traffic from big rigs that transport both clean and contaminated water from fracking sites.
Credit David Gilkey / NPR
A drilling rig (right) marks the spot of an upcoming frack.
Credit David Gilkey / NPR
A noise-dampening curtain surrounds a drilling rig near Dish.
Credit David Gilkey / NPR
Dish's Mayor Sciscoe says he has a message for people in places where fracking is just getting started: "Grab up your family and your belongings, and get out."
Credit David Gilkey / NPR
Dish, Texas, was once known for changing its name in exchange for free satellite TV from the Dish network. Now, it's known as the epicenter of the fracking boom.
Credit David Gilkey / NPR
About 225 people live in Dish, which sits right on top of the Barnett Shale rock formation. That shale contains one of the nation's largest natural gas reserves.
Credit David Gilkey / NPR
While energy companies say their fracking and gas well operations are safe, Mayor Bill Sciscoe, seen here, firmly believes the health of his town is in danger.
Credit David Gilkey / NPR
Signs of fracking, such as well heads, storage tanks and big rigs, are an ongoing presence in Dish.
Credit David Gilkey / NPR
Before the wells, says Mayor Sciscoe, "This place was absolutely beautiful. It was serene. It was very quiet. I raised five children here."
Credit David Gilkey / NPR
A working gas well head is fenced in just opposite a home. Dish is about 30 miles north of Fort Worth.
Credit David Gilkey / NPR
Gas infrastructure is mixed in with pasture land. Scientists say they don't yet know whether fracking is endangering the health of nearby residents.
Credit David Gilkey / NPR
Energy companies surround some well sites with wooden fencing to cut down on the industrial feel of their operations.
Credit David Gilkey / NPR
Along with drilling comes heavy traffic from big rigs that transport both clean and contaminated water from fracking sites.
Credit David Gilkey / NPR
A drilling rig (right) marks the spot of an upcoming frack.
Credit David Gilkey / NPR
A noise-dampening curtain surrounds a drilling rig near Dish.
Credit David Gilkey / NPR
Dish's Mayor Sciscoe says he has a message for people in places where fracking is just getting started: "Grab up your family and your belongings, and get out."
Credit David Gilkey / NPR
A working gas well head is fenced in just opposite of a home in Dish, Texas. Dish is about 30 miles north of Fort Worth.
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Originally published on Thu May 24, 2012 10:35 am

Quite a few of the 225 people who live in Dish, Texas, think the nation's natural gas boom is making them sick.

They blame the chemicals used in gas production for health problems ranging from nosebleeds to cancer.

And the mayor of Dish, Bill Sciscoe, has a message for people who live in places where gas drilling is about to start: "Run. Run as fast as you can. Grab up your family and your belongings, and get out."

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The Fracking Boom: Missing Answers
2:04 am
Wed May 16, 2012

Medical Records Could Yield Answers On Fracking

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Credit Maggie Starbard / NPR
William Reigle has fibrosis, a disease that may be aggravated by nearby fracking. He's one of more than 2 million Pennsylvanians who get their health care from Geisinger Health System. The system wants to use its extensive database of patient records to study the health impact of natural gas production.
Credit All photos by Maggie Starbard / NPR/NPR
Dr. Paul Simonelli is the Director of Thoracic Medicine at Geisinger Medical Center and plans to research the affects of fracking on respiratory illnesses like Asthma.
Credit Maggie Starbard / NPR
Mary Ellen Norquest sets up to administer a lung function test that will measure total lung capacity of William Reigle, a patient with Fibrosis, at the Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, PA., April 19, 2012.
Credit Maggie Starbard / NPR
William Reigle from New Berlin, PA suffers form Fibrosis which is a decease that may be agitated by nearby fracking. Dr. Simonelli is planing to study the affects of fracking on Fibrosis in addition to Asthma.
Credit Maggie Starbard / NPR
William Reigle is if given a lung function test, the results of which will be kept in his Electronic Medical Record (EMR). The Geiseanger Health System has a service area of 2.6 million people and has a database of Electronic Medical Records for hundreds of thousands of people who live near the Marcellus Shale.
Credit Maggie Starbard / NPR
Dr. Simonelli holds a weekly pulmonary conference where he and his colleges discuss particularly challenging cases.
Credit NPR
Credit Maggie Starbard / NPR
Dr. Paul Simonelli is the director of thoracic medicine for the Geisinger system. Geisinger researchers want to find out whether air pollutants associated with gas drilling are affecting people with asthma and other lung problems.
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Originally published on Wed May 23, 2012 9:50 am

A proposed study of people in northern Pennsylvania could help resolve a national debate about whether the natural gas boom is making people sick.

The study would look at detailed health histories on hundreds of thousands of people who live near the Marcellus Shale, a rock formation in which energy companies have already drilled about 5,000 natural gas wells.

If the study goes forward, it would be the first large-scale, scientifically rigorous assessment of the health effects of gas production.

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The Fracking Boom: Missing Answers
2:34 pm
Tue May 15, 2012

Slideshow: 'Close Encounters' With Gas Well Pollution

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By David Gilkey | NPR

The Fracking Boom: Missing Answers
2:33 pm
Tue May 15, 2012

'Close Encounters' With Gas Well Pollution

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Credit NPR
Credit Photos by David Gilkey / NPR/NPR
A worker with Encana Oil and Gas stands near a natural gas "Christmas tree" used in the natural gas extraction process.
Credit David Gilkey / NPR
Jim Rada, who works for Garfield County, Colo., has set up a series of air monitoring stations in downtown Rifle to see if the gas industry is changing air quality.
Credit David Gilkey / NPR
One of Tresi Houpt's first acts as a Garfield County commissioner: kick off a research effort on the air quality impact of fracking.
Credit David Gilkey / NPR
Houpt now finds herself in search of answers for personal reasons. Gas companies are exploring the possibility of drilling just miles from her home.
Credit David Gilkey / NPR
A water truck drives down a rural road in Colorado's vast Garfield County.
Credit David Gilkey / NPR
Trucks, water tanks and fracking equipment amassed on a gas pad near the town of Silt and the Grand Hogback Mountain Range.
Credit David Gilkey / NPR
In 2009, the Battlement Mesa Concerned Citizens group, pictured above, asked Garfield County for a health study to examine the potential effects of drilling in their community.
Credit David Gilkey / NPR
A worker walks across a series of gas pipes coming off wellheads at a natural gas drilling site near Rifle, Colo., run by Encana Oil and Gas.
Credit David Gilkey / NPR
A cow stands in a pasture as a gas flare burns in the distance at a gas treatment and compression facility near Parachute, Colo.
Credit David Gilkey / NPR
Tim Ray owns a home in a neighborhood surrounded by natural gas wells.
Credit David Gilkey / NPR
The natural gas boom has brought much-needed jobs and money to towns across the country. But wells located so close to homes has made many people uncomfortable.
Credit Photos by David Gilkey / NPR/NPR
A worker with Encana Oil and Gas stands near a natural gas "Christmas tree" used in the natural gas extraction process.
Credit David Gilkey / NPR
Jim Rada, who works for Garfield County, Colo., has set up a series of air monitoring stations in downtown Rifle to see if the gas industry is changing air quality.
Credit David Gilkey / NPR
One of Tresi Houpt's first acts as a Garfield County commissioner: kick off a research effort on the air quality impact of fracking.
Credit David Gilkey / NPR
Houpt now finds herself in search of answers for personal reasons. Gas companies are exploring the possibility of drilling just miles from her home.
Credit David Gilkey / NPR
A water truck drives down a rural road in Colorado's vast Garfield County.
Credit David Gilkey / NPR
Trucks, water tanks and fracking equipment amassed on a gas pad near the town of Silt and the Grand Hogback Mountain Range.
Credit David Gilkey / NPR
In 2009, the Battlement Mesa Concerned Citizens group, pictured above, asked Garfield County for a health study to examine the potential effects of drilling in their community.
Credit David Gilkey / NPR
A worker walks across a series of gas pipes coming off wellheads at a natural gas drilling site near Rifle, Colo., run by Encana Oil and Gas.
Credit David Gilkey / NPR
A cow stands in a pasture as a gas flare burns in the distance at a gas treatment and compression facility near Parachute, Colo.
Credit David Gilkey / NPR
Tim Ray owns a home in a neighborhood surrounded by natural gas wells.
Credit David Gilkey / NPR
The natural gas boom has brought much-needed jobs and money to towns across the country. But wells located so close to homes has made many people uncomfortable.
Credit David Gilkey / NPR
Trucks, water tanks and fracking equipment amassed on a gas pad near the town of Silt and the Grand Hogback Mountain Range.
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Originally published on Wed May 23, 2012 9:54 am

Living in the middle of a natural gas boom can be pretty unsettling. The area around the town of Silt, Colo., used to be the kind of sleepy rural place where the tweet of birds was the most you would hear. Now it's hard to make out the birds because of the rumbling of natural gas drilling rigs.

The land here is steep cliffs and valleys. But bare splotches of earth called well pads are all over the place.

"That's the one I'm worried about because it just went in," says Tim Ray.

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