What is Polycythemia vera?
http://www.tnonline.com/2011/jun/16/what-polycythemia-vera
Thursday, June 16, 2011
By DONALD R. SERFASS dserfass@tnonline.com
Polycythemia vera (PV) is a blood disease in which the bone marrow makes too many red blood cells, causing the thickening of blood.
PV usually takes years to develop. Most people are diagnosed with PV later in life, most often around age 60 or older.
People with PV might experience headaches, tiredness and shortness of breath. They are also at risk of getting blood clots, which can lead to heart attacks and strokes.
At this time, there is no cure for PV, but treatment can control symptoms and avoid heart problems. Some people with PV do not need treatment but should see their doctor regularly to stay as healthy as possible and to catch problems early, according to information provided by the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR).
In 2008, the Pennsylvania Department of Health (DOH) and the ATSDR confirmed more PV cases than expected in parts of Schuylkill, Carbon and Luzerne counties.
Much scrutiny is being done to find a potential smoking gun, or factors that would potentially lead to the disease.
The DOH and the ATSDR are tracking patterns of PV and working with research partners in looking for trends and risk factors. In addition, the Centers for Disease Control is working to improve reporting systems for PV.
“This is an environmentally stressed area,” said Dr. Henry Cole of Maryland, noting the prevalence of local power plants, Superfund sites and an abundance of fly ash being dumped in Schuylkill, Carbon and Luzerne counties.
An apparent cancer cluster was first observed along Ben Titus Road, which is situated next to the Big Gorilla coal combustion waste dump of the Northeastern Power Co. The area is also home to the Superfund site McAdoo Associates. Other industrial waste sites are found in the area as well.
While the state agencies are now helping to pinpoint possible causes, critics point out that all of the industrial waste sites were created under the oversight of the former state Department of Environmental Resources, now the Department of Environmental Protection
State eyes new instance of methane near drilling
http://www.timesleader.com/news/State_eyes_new_instance_of_methane_near_drilling_06-16-2011.html
Posted: June 17, 2011
The flammable, explosive gas was found in several Lycoming County water wells.
MUNCY — State environmental officials are investigating another instance of methane contaminating water in northern Pennsylvania near a Marcellus Shale natural gas drilling operation.
The Department of Environmental Protection said Thursday that it found the flammable, explosive gas in seven water wells in Lycoming County and gas bubbling into the nearby Little Muncy Creek.
DEP spokesman Daniel Spadoni said the agency is trying to determine the source of the gas.
He said there’s no information that the methane is affecting the creek’s aquatic life or accumulating in homes.
The initial report of well bubbling came in mid-May.
That home is about a half-mile from a drilling site owned by ExxonMobil subsidiary XTO Energy of Fort Worth, Texas.
The company voluntarily halted drilling operations in the county and is cooperating with the DEP.
Experts share information on cancer cluster in Tamaqua area
http://republicanherald.com/news/experts-share-information-on-cancer-cluster-in-tamaqua-area-1.1162746
By MIA LIGHT (Staff Writermlight@standardspeaker.com)
Published: June 16, 2011
TAMAQUA – Research continues into the high incidence of a rare cancer called polycythemia vera in Schuylkill, Carbon and Luzerne counties near Tamaqua and McAdoo.
A panel of public health officials met Wednesday at the Tamaqua Community Center to provide a public update on the ongoing research.
Tamaqua-area resident Joseph Murphy, chairman of the Community Action Committee, which was established to keep residents of the tri-county area connected to the government agencies conducting the research, said the meeting was called by the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, or ATSDR, to review findings and chart future research.
Robert Lewis of the state Department of Environmental Protection said DEP has been collecting samples of drinking water, soil and air at homes in the Hazleton-McAdoo-Tamaqua area as well as nearby co-generation facilities and mine pools. Among the findings were high radon levels in 20 out of 40 homes tested; high levels of lead in two wells and high nitrates in two wells. Residents of the sampled homes were notified of the findings and the results were also provided to ATSDR, which will use the data in its effort to find the reason for high rates of polycythemia vera in the area.
Researchers are working to combine the environmental information with data resulting from a JAK2 genetic marker blood test conducted in the community last year. The JAK2 marker is found in most people who have been diagnosed with or are at risk for developing polycythemia vera.
Researchers are also working to double-check blood test findings, confirm each diagnosis and ensure the state cancer registry is updated with accurate data.
“All the research projects that were started in 2009 and 2010 are now under way,” Murphy said. “Finally, the researchers are out in the community interacting with the citizens.”
Polycythemia vera is an excess of red blood cells that can lead to heart attacks, strokes, headaches and other symptoms and is treated by withdrawing blood periodically.
In 2005, the state Department of Health found a higher incidence of polycythemia vera in Schuylkill and Luzerne counties than in the rest of the state. Next, state officials asked the federal agency to help investigate whether the people actually had polycythemia vera and to look for other cases in those counties and in Carbon County.
In August 2008, the federal agency made a public report saying 33 cases of polycythemia vera had been confirmed by detecting a gene mutation in the patients.
According to environmental consultant Henry S. Cole, who serves as coordinator and adviser to the Community Action Committee, communication between residents and the agencies is the most important issue at this point in the research.
“We’ve got interdisciplinary groups of scientists working on this, so it is very important to have communication between all agencies,” Cole said. “We have to have that back-and-fourth so that every piece of information, every finding is accurate and current and included in the final reports.”
That crucial role of communication played by the Community Action Committee could be in jeopardy, however, if a continuing funding source is not found.
The Community Action Committee was formed and funded with a portion of a $5.5 million research grant secured through then-U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter. The local committee received $99,000 with which to operate for two years. Its responsibilities include organizing a panel of scientific experts to gather data and advise citizens, hold monthly meetings to update the community, and produce and distribute information on polycythemia vera to citizens and local medical officials.
The action committee’s two-year funding allocation ends in September. But, Murphy said, the need to stay organized and keep the public informed on the ongoing research, the findings and new information on the cause of the local cancer risk remains high.
Murphy said he applied to the ATSDR for a $50,000 grant to fund the Community Action Committee for two more years, but the request was denied.
In the absence of federal funding, Murphy said his next step is to create a nonprofit organization to support the local arm of the polycythemia vera investigation.
“We have got to keep the community aspect of this alive,” Murphy said.
Updates on the ongoing investigations are available online at www.atsdr.cdc.gov/sites/polycythemia_vera.
Public health officials taking part in Wednesday’s meeting included Lora Werner and Stephen Derwent of the ATSDR; David Marchetto and James Logue, epidemiological research associates with the state Department of Health; Carol Ann Gross-Davis, research leader with Drexell University; and Jeanine Buchanich of the University of Pittsburgh.
Geisinger Health System and the Mt. Sinai School of Medicine are also participating in the research.
Poll: Pa. voters strongly back drilling, tax on energy companies
http://www.timesleader.com/news/Poll__Pa__voters_strongly_back_drilling__tax_on_energy_companies_06-15-2011.html
Posted: June 15, 2011
Sixty-three percent support drilling, and 69 percent approve of an extraction tax.
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania voters support natural gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale by a 2-to-1 margin, according to a new poll that also shows strong backing for an extraction tax on energy companies.
The Quinnipiac University poll released Tuesday shows that 63 percent of Pennsylvanians say the economic benefits of drilling outweigh the environmental impacts, while 30 percent express the opposite view.
The poll appears to reflect the prosperity that drilling has brought to economically struggling regions of the state. Drilling firms and related industries added 72,000 jobs between the fourth quarter of 2009 and the first quarter of 2011 — at an average salary higher than the statewide average, according to the state Labor Department.
Meanwhile, 69 percent told pollsters they support a drilling tax on gas companies, unchanged from an April survey. Pennsylvania remains the largest gas-drilling state without an extraction tax. The state Senate plans to debate a bill as early as next week that would impose an “impact fee” on natural-gas drilling.
“‘Drill, baby, drill,’ is the call from Pennsylvania voters, and ‘tax, baby, tax,’ is the follow-up as voters see natural gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale as an economic plus more than an environmental negative,” said Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. “They also see added taxes on gas drillers as one of the few acceptable ways to help balance the budget.”
Gov. Tom Corbett, who promised in his 2010 campaign not to increase taxes or fees, has said recently he would consider a fee that helps drilling communities cope with the impact.
The Quinnipiac poll also shows that Pennsylvanians’ views of Corbett differ markedly along gender lines as he approaches six months in office.
Pennsylvanians as a whole remain divided over Corbett, with 39 percent approving of the job he’s doing and 38 percent disapproving. The numbers are similar to April’s poll results.
But men and women have much different impressions of Corbett’s performance. Tuesday’s results show 30 percent of female respondents approved, compared with 48 percent of men. The 18-point gap is more than twice the 7-point margin in the April 29 poll.
Researchers will discuss polycythemia vera progress
http://standardspeaker.com/news/researchers-will-discuss-polycythemia-vera-progress-1.1161276
Published: June 14, 2011
Researchers on Wednesday will discuss progress on studies begun after they detected a blood-cancer cluster in the region.
The meeting at 6 p.m. in the Tamaqua Community Center, 223 Center St., will bring together researchers from two universities, two state agencies and the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry who are studying polycythemia vera.
Polycythemia vera or PV is an excess of red blood cells that can lead to heart attacks, strokes, headaches and other symptoms and is treated by withdrawing blood periodically.
In 2005, the state Department of Health found a higher incidence of PV cases in Schuylkill and Luzerne counties than in the rest of the state. Next, state officials asked the federal agency to help investigate whether the people actually had PV and to look for other cases in those counties and in Carbon County.
In August 2008, the federal agency made a public report saying 33 cases of PV had been confirmed by detecting a gene mutation in the patients. Some areas studied had higher incidences of PV than the rest of the three-county region, and one of the clusters was statistically significant, the federal agency said.
In May 2010, doctors Kenneth Orloff and Bruce Tierney of the federal agency reported that 1,170 other residents of the three counties had been tested.
Of those, 19 had the gene mutation. Five of them had been diagnosed with PV previously, but the 14 new cases represented an incidence of 1.2 percent out of the total group tested.
Although PV patients frequently have the gene mutation, known as JAK 2, the disease is not hereditary, nor is its cause known.
At Geisinger Health System, researchers are studying how often people with the mutation get the disease and how prevalent the JAK 2 mutation is in Northeastern Pennsylvania.
Researchers at Mt. Sinai School of Medicine in New York City are examining genetic differences between PV patients in Northeastern Pennsylvania and elsewhere. They also are studying the relationship of cells to certain chemicals while looking for links between chemicals and PV.
Employees of Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection are sampling drinking water, dust and soil at the homes of study participants. Also, the department’s workers are testing water and sediment from the McAdoo Superfund Site and cogeneration plants in the area.
Drexel University’s team is looking for risk factors for PV and related diseases in the region.
At the University of Pittsburgh, researchers are studying the number of PV cases in a four-county area and reviewing reports of PV and related diseases.
One family’s life in the gas patch of Bradford County, Pennsylvania
I’ve blogged before about the water contamination linked to natural gas production in Bradford County, Pennsylvania. Companies have been fined for contaminating the water there, both groundwater and creeks, but there continue to be reports of contamination.
Today I spoke on the phone to Jodie Simons, a mom in West Burlington Township. Her story is a very upsetting tale of what is happening to some families living in the gas patch. The first well near Jodie’s home was drilled in 2007. Within six months, five of her horses died. According to Jodie, “The vet could not explain this rash of horse deaths in such a short time period.” In 2008, Jodie was pregnant, went into early labor, and tragically lost her baby. Also that year, a number of pheasants, ducks, chickens, and turkeys on her farm died, and a pig went from around 500 pounds to 100 pounds in a two week period, continually vomiting, and then died. Dozens of animals died; only a few are now left. She consulted multiple veterinarians and none could provide an explanation for the symptoms. Jodie now wonders if these problems were related to water quality.
In 2009, a second well was drilled near the Simons’ home. Jodie reports that it was re-fracked in February, 2011. Shortly thereafter, their tap water turned gray and hazy. After the water changed, both Jodie and her young son began getting severe rashes with oozing blisters. Jodie’s 10-year-old daughter had to be taken to the hospital for torrential nosebleeds that would not stop, nausea and severe headaches. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) tested the water and found very high levels of methane and other contaminants in the water, but said it was safe to drink. Since the Simons family stopped using any of their water, these symptoms have gone away.
Jodie reports that her water still “stinks awfully; it is a scummy, rotten, nasty smell…”
The oil and gas company that owns the nearby wells originally offered to supply the Simons’ with water for only 3 to 6 months – and only if they signed a document stating that the company did not cause any problems. The Simons family declined to sign. In mid-May, the company began providing bottled water, but there is no fresh water coming out of their faucets. Jodie reports that four neighbors also have water contamination.
Thanks to Jodie Simons for sharing her story.
Amy Mall’s Blog: Posted June 10, 2011
http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/amall/one_familys_life_in_the_gas_pa.html
Stacked Fracking Panel Has Public Meeting Monday in Pennsylvania
http://www.ewg.org/release/stacked-fracking-panel-has-public-meeting-monday-pennsylvania
Monday night, June 13, is your chance to speak up on behalf of America’s drinking water and to help protect your land from damage from oil and gas drilling.
Not content with the appointment of a federal panel heavily biased in its favor, industry backers are pulling out all the stops to dominate the panel’s first public meeting on Monday night in western Pennsylvania.
An industry group called Energy in Depth has sent an email enticing people to attend Monday’s meeting, apparently hoping to draw an audience that is friendly to wide-open drilling. The group is offering to pay for transportation to the event, including “airfare (for older folks, especially… and for heads of landowner groups),” hotels and meals.
As an additional inducement, the group’s email originally offered to provide those who attend the meeting with tickets to the Pittsburgh Pirates/New York Mets game that day, but a spokesman said later that offer had been withdrawn. Could that be because the game is at the same time as the Department of Energy panel’s meeting?
People with legitimate concerns about the potential harm from drilling activity need to show up, too, to counter this blatant effort to pack the hall for the meeting of the Natural Gas Subcommittee of the Secretary of Energy Advisory Board.
Gas and oil drilling is nothing new, but today’s drilling relies more heavily than ever on a controversial method known as hydraulic fracturing, known as “fracking.” Fracking has been associated with drinking water contamination and property damage across the nation, from Pennsylvania to Wyoming. In one incident that polluted a Colorado creek, nearby groundwater was still contaminated with benzene six years later.
The Energy Department set up its advisory board to make recommendations to improve the safety of fracking. The problem is, six of the seven panel members have direct financial ties to the natural gas and oil industry, and there is no one on the panel representing communities that could be harmed by water contamination or other problems caused by fracking.
Environmental Working Group has gone on record requesting that the panel’s chairman John Deutch step down because he has a conflict of interest: He has received nearly $1.5 million as a board member of both Schlumberger Ltd., one of the world’s three largest hydraulic fracturing companies, and Cheniere Energy, Inc., a Texas based company focused on liquefied natural gas.
The Energy Department panel’s first public meeting is scheduled to be held at Washington Jefferson College, 60 South Lincoln Street, in Washington, Penn., from 7 p.m to 9 p.m. on Monday, June 13. Anyone can speak. We hope you’ll attend the hearing to learn more about fracking in your area and to stand up for your right to know.
Click here for more information about the Energy Department meeting, http://www.shalegas.energy.gov/.
Interested in speaking? Here are some key issues.
• Fracking and its effects on Pennsylvania’s land and water are serious matters that should be discussed by everyone in the community.
• Government advisory panels should be fair and balanced.
• John Deutch cannot be impartial and should step down from the panel.
• An impartial person should lead the panel. It should also be expanded to include local people directly affected by oil and gas drilling and also independent experts.
Click here to read more information about this fracking advisory board, http://ewg.org/release/ewg-chair-dept-energy-natural-gas-panel-must-step….
We hope you can attend this public meeting!
Hundreds at Capitol Rally for Action on Marcellus Drilling
http://www.berksmontnews.com/articles/2011/06/08/tri_county_record/news/doc4def7d0c7c9df756950929.txt?viewmode=fullstory
by Pennsylvania Campaign for Clean Water
Largest Rally in Harrisburg Calls for Drilling Moratorium and Environmental Protections
(Harrisburg) – Hundreds of Pennsylvania residents rallied at the State Capitol today protesting the state legislature’s inaction on Marcellus Shale drilling. The coalition of groups holding the rally called it the largest that Harrisburg has seen to date protesting Marcellus Shale gas drilling.
The coalition called for:
1. A moratorium on further drilling in Pennsylvania until a full cumulative impact analysis on gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale is conducted.
2. Improved protections from gas drilling for drinking water supplies and rivers.
3. Ensuring that gas drillers pay their fair share in taxes, and utilizing these funds to restore cuts to the DEP budget.
4. Require full disclosure by gas drillers of all chemicals used.
5. Maintain the moratorium on further leasing of State Forest land for gas drilling.
Groups sponsoring the rally and lobby day included: PA Campaign for Clean Water, Sierra Club, Clean Water Action, Delaware Riverkeeper Network, PennEnvironment, Gas Truth of Central PA, League of Women Voters of PA, Physicians for Social Responsibility Philadelphia, Marcellus Protest, EARTHWORKS Oil and Gas Accountability Project, Green Party of Philadelphia, Mountain Watershed Association, Responsible Drilling Alliance.
Crystal Stroud, a resident of Towanda, PA, in Bradford County, described her health problems caused by drinking water contaminated with barium and other toxins from nearby gas drilling. “No one is receiving help from our DEP, local, state or federal governments. Our family has become collateral damage! We are just 1 of the 33% failure rate of these gas companies. The failure to keep the residents of Bradford County’s wells contaminant free,” she stated.
Other speakers at the rally included Josh Fox, the creator of the film documentary, GASLAND, and Craig Saunter, a resident of Dimock, PA, where considerable water contamination from drilling has occurred. Also speaking was Jonathan Jeffers, a former worker in Pennsylvania for Bronco Drilling, who described the neglect he saw for health, safety, and the environment while working on gas drilling jobs.
Myron Arnowitt, PA State Director for Clean Water Action, stated, “Drilling has been going on for nearly four years now, but still our state legislature has taken no action to protect residents from harm. Legislators should take note that the crowds in the Capitol calling for action keep getting bigger.” In addition to attending the rally, protesters made over 160 appointments with state representatives and senators, covering almost every corner of the state.
Several legislators attended the rally, many of whom have introduced legislation on the issue. Senator Daylin Leach (D-Montgomery) stated, “We are the only state that doesn’t tax them. 70% of Pennsylvanians understand this and want a tax. Last year and half alone, drillers racked up over 1500 violations. A severance tax will hold the industry accountable and ensure that the people of Pennsylvania are not left footing the bill.”
“The people of Pennsylvania are alarmed at the growing list of pollution incidents at gas drilling sites across the state,” said Jeff Schmidt, Director of the Sierra Club Pennsylvania Chapter. “They are here today because they know that Pennsylvania’s gas drilling law and regulations don’t provide enough protection for our health or the environment. We don’t need an industry-dominated Marcellus Shale Advisory Commission, whose roll has been to stall the needed reforms. We call on the Pennsylvania General Assembly to immediately enact amendments to our antiquated Oil and Gas Act legislation, such as HB 971, to protect our communities,” he concluded.
“Every day, the gas industry succeeds in making its voice heard, trying to convince us and our decision-makers that Marcellus Shale drilling isn’t the biggest public health and environmental threat to hit Pennsylvania in a generation,” said Erika Staaf with PennEnvironment. “Yet poll after poll tells us that the majority of Pennsylvanians want industry to pay its fair share in taxes and want clean air and clean water. We’re here to make our voices heard and tell our leaders exactly that.”
“The elected officials of Pennsylvania need to listen to the people who live and work here — we need protection from the gas industry’s out of control violations through a statewide drilling permit moratorium,” said Tracy Carluccio, Deputy Director, Delaware Riverkeeper Network.
“Elected officials heard loudly and clearly today that they have a duty to protect communities from the rush to drill,” said Nadia Steinzor, Marcellus Regional Organizer for Earthworks Oil & Gas Accountability Project. “Citizens are simply asking for health and the environment to be given priority over industry profit.”
Autism Experts Urge Reform of U.S. Chemicals Law
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/jun2011/2011-06-08-01.html
WASHINGTON, DC, June 8, 2011 (ENS) – Environmental health and autism experts Tuesday called for reform of the outdated U.S. law regulating chemicals, the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976.
They warned that the recent sharp rise in autism is likely due, in part, to the cocktail of toxic chemicals that pregnant women, fetuses, babies and young children encounter.
“Lead, mercury, and other neurotoxic chemicals have a profound effect on the developing brain at levels that were once thought to be safe. With some complex combination of insults, little brains reach a tipping point,” warned Donna Ferullo, director of program research at The Autism Society, told reporters on a conference call convened by the Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families Coalition.
The nationwide coalition represents more than 11 million people, including parents, health professionals, advocates for people with learning and developmental disabilities, reproductive health advocates, environmentalists and businesses.
Today in the United States, about one in every 110 children has autism, a disorder of neural development characterized by abnormalities of social interactions and communication, severely restricted interests and highly repetitive behavior. Boys are affected more than girls – one in every 70 boys will have autism.
Ferullo called autism the “fastest growing developmental disability in the United States.”
“It has increased 600 percent in the last two decades – 1.5 million Americans are living with autism,” she said. “This epidemic within one generation cannot be solely accounted for by genetic causes, or wider diagnostic criteria or even increased awareness.”
Read more
Learn about safe drinking water test
http://www.wayneindependent.com/news/x1595580764/Learn-about-safe-drinking-water-test
Posted Jun 05, 2011 @ 03:39 PM
Palmyra Twp. (Pike) — Homeowners and business people often take it for granted that the water coming out of their tap is safe for drinking. There are a number of potentially harmful substances that can harm your family or customers. These include bacteria, nitrates, iron and manganese. Some of these substances have health effects and others can cause unwanted stains and odors.
If you depend on your own well or spring for your drinking water, it is your responsibility to have your water tested periodically at a certified water testing lab. NO government agency is going to require you to have your water tested.
Penn State Extension in Pike County will be conducting a Safe Drinking Water program on Wednesday, June 29 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the PPL Environmental Learning Center on Route 6 near Hawley. There is a registration fee of $7/person or couple for handouts. Pre-registration, including payment, is required by June 24. Make checks payable to: PSCE Program Account and mail to Penn State Extension, 514 Broad St., Milford, PA 18337.
In addition, Penn State Extension is offering water testing for a discounted fee through Prosser Labs on July 6, 13 & 20. In order to participate in the water testing, you must attend the Safe Drinking Water program to receive your test bottles. Four different sets of water tests will be offered ranging from coliform bacteria/e coli bacteria to a test of 7 other parameters including coliform bacteria. Test bottles need to be returned to the Extension office by 12 noon on July 6, 13 & 20.
For more information on the Safe Drinking Water program or water testing, contact Peter Wulfhorst at the Penn State Extension office at (570)296-3400 or visit http://extension.psu.edu/pike and go to events.