Susquehanna and Bradford selected for federal fracking study
http://thedailyreview.com/news/susquehanna-and-bradford-selected-for-federal-fracking-study-1.1166184
By Laura Legere (Times-Shamrock Writer)
Published: June 24, 2011
A landmark federal study of oil and gas drilling’s potential impact on drinking water will use Susquehanna and Bradford counties as a case study, the Environmental Protection Agency announced Thursday.
The two counties at the center of Marcellus Shale natural gas drilling in Northeast Pennsylvania will be one among five case study regions where oil or gas wells have been hydraulically fractured and drinking water contamination has been reported. The others are in Washington County, Pa., North Dakota, Texas and Colorado.
The EPA is conducting a multiyear investigation of the possible link between groundwater contamination and hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, the process of injecting a mixture of water, sand and chemicals into underground rock formations to crack the rock and release the oil or gas trapped there.
Along with the five case studies in regions where impacts have been reported, the agency will use Washington County, Pa. and a Louisiana parish above the Haynesville Shale as prospective case studies where the agency will seek to measure any impact from fracking as it happens. In those cases, the EPA will monitor the hydraulic fracturing process throughout the life cycle of a well – from the moment water is withdrawn from rivers through the mixing of chemicals and the fracturing of wells to the disposal of the wastewater that returns to the surface.
The agency plans to release initial research results by the end of 2012. The EPA will begin field work in some of the case study regions this summer, the agency stated in a press release.
“We’ve met with community members, state experts and industry and environmental leaders to choose these case studies,” Paul Anastas, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Research and Development, said. “This is about using the best possible science to do what the American people expect the EPA to do: ensure that the health of their communities and families is protected.”
Case studies were selected from more than 40 nominated sites based on criteria including the proximity of water supplies to drilling activities, concerns about health and environmental impacts, as well as geographic and geologic diversity.
Bradford and Susquehanna counties were selected so the agency can investigate contamination in groundwater and drinking water wells, suspected surface water contamination from a fracturing fluid spill and methane contamination in water wells, EPA officials said.
U.S. Senator Bob Casey, who recommended Pennsylvania sites for the study and has introduced several fracking-related bills in Congress, said the research will “help provide the science needed to assure that natural gas drilling is conducted in a safe and responsible manner.”
Contact the writer: llegere@timesshamrock.com
Program will focus on water safety
http://www.njherald.com/story/news/23Local-briefs2011-06-22T21-37-09
HAWLEY, Pa. — Penn State Extension in Pike County will conduct a Safe Drinking Water program from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. June 29 at the PPL Environmental Learning Center on Route 6 in Hawley. There is a registration fee of $7 per person or couple for handouts. Pre-registration, including payment, is required by Friday. 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 and 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 seven other parameters including coliform bacteria. Test bottles need to be returned to the Extension office by noon on July 6, 13 and 20.
Mapping of underground water pools
http://citizensvoice.com/news/mapping-of-underground-water-pools-1.1164422#axzz1Pup6R8MH
Published: June 21, 2011
Fears that the development of the Marcellus Shale natural gas reserves might lead to anthracite mining era-style environmental degradation are well founded. This is especially true as it relates to protecting the sources of the water that we need to survive.
It is ironic, then, to learn that the natural gas and coal industries, both intent on extracting resources from underground, are linked today. The linkage is in the vast water pools in former mine workings, water that can be tapped for fracking. That is the process whereby water is injected under high pressure into the shale deposits that hold the natural gas, breaking up the shale to allow the gas to escape and be captured.
There are billions of gallons of water in the anthracite coal fields. The total could be more than one trillion gallons, according to Bob Hughes of the Eastern Pennsylvania Coalition for Mine Reclamation. His agency and the Susquehanna River Basin Commission are engaged in a high-tech mapping of underground water pools in the anthracite fields.
The mapping also reveals existing coal deposits. There are billions of tons of coal underground. Yes, billions of tons, and that coal, the billions of gallons of water and even the 65 or so mine fires burning in Pennsylvania all mean that bountiful resources exist that could create, build and sustain economic models that could inure to the benefit of all Pennsylvanians.
The key is developing each resource so that it can turn a profit for whatever entity does the developing, whether it is a private company or a government entity.
The spark that led this column to talk to Bob Hughes was a letter to the editor from Jude O’Donnell of Harveys Lake. He wondered if the tremendous energy being generated by the Laurel Run mine fire might be harnessed. The fire has been burning underground on the mountain east of Wilkes-Barre since 1915. In the 1950s, all homes in the mine fire area were taken by the federal government and the fire was sealed with a clay barrier.
Hughes said O’Donnell’s idea has merit. A plant could be built outside the fire zone and the heat could be piped to the plant and converted by one of several processes into energy. That energy could heat homes or businesses, or sold, perhaps by a local government or consortium of local governments working together. Can you say “regional cooperation?”
The same could be done at other mine fires in the state, including Centralia, the famous fire that led to abandonment of a community in southern Columbia County.
The energy from mine fires likely will last for generations, Hughes said, just as the billions of gallons of underground water will be there for centuries. The mapping partners are looking at historical data on water levels, recorded at boreholes all over the anthracite fields, and safe withdrawal levels can be established. This would preclude mine subsidence threats.
Mine water is undrinkable and unusable, except for industrial uses such as fracking, because of its iron content. However, wastewater from fracking then becomes dangerous if it enters aquifers, reservoirs, streams and rivers used as drinking water sources. This is the key issue on which critics of natural gas development are focused, with good reason.
Then there is the coal. Strip mining continues, especially in the Southern Anthracite Field, but few deep mines exist. The last to operate in Wyoming Valley was the Glen-Nan mine in Newport Township, the closing of which I covered in 1974. It will take technological breakthroughs and an industry commitment to environmental protection before anyone can get excited again about tapping the massive coal reserves.
The mapping project will be invaluable to those watchdog groups and citizens in general worried about the commonwealth’s water resources. In addition to the use of aquifers, lakes and streams by gas companies, we must add mine water pools which should not be discounted, regardless of acidity, as a major part of overall Pennsylvania water resources.
Paul Golias, retired managing editor of The Citizens’ Voice, writes a weekly column on regional issues. He can be contacted at pgolias@ptd.net.
Coal region still far from finding cause for mysterious cancer
http://www.mcall.com/news/local/allentown/mc-tamaqua-cancer-cluster-20110618,0,2997474.story
By Andrew McGill, OF THE MORNING CALL
10:35 p.m. EDT, June 18, 2011
Researchers studying a cancer cluster say they’re still mastering the basics in an investigation that’s stretched five years.
Five years have passed since federal researchers first came to Pennsylvania’s coal region seeking the origins of a mysterious disease.
And while numerous government agencies, hospitals, doctors and universities have joined the hunt, a cause remains elusive, those gathered in Tamaqua for an update of the studies found out Wednesday.
“PV” is as well-known as anthracite in the Pennsylvania coal region, where the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say the rare form of cancer has taken unusually strong root. Estimated to affect one in 100,000 Americans — though researchers aren’t firm on that number — polycythemia vera has been known to hit four families on a single street in Tamaqua.
The victims have little in common, researchers say. They don’t have the same jobs, the same ancestry, the same lifestyle. The only things they share are age — the disease strikes few under 60 — and an attachment to the three-county region of Carbon, Luzerne and Schuylkill counties, home to one of the CDC’s few confirmed cancer clusters.
And to hear scientists speak at a community meeting Wednesday, proving anything further could be slow going.
At the Tamaqua Community Center, researchers said they’re still struggling with the basics of the investigation: finding people with PV, winnowing out the false positives and narrowing down possible environmental causes.
In a University of Pittsburgh study seeking to confirm legitimate cases of the blood cancer, only 27 patients out of the 164 queried agreed to participate. The numbers also are low for a sister study at Drexel University in Philadelphia, which has gotten 26 positive responses out of 117.
To date, researchers have diagnosed 372 cases.
But many of the names provided to researchers by the Pennsylvania Cancer Registry are out of date, either because of death or a change in address. Reporting irregularities mean researchers still aren’t sure how prevalent the cancer is in the general population.
“The primary data collection is very tedious,” said Carol Ann Gross-Davis, a researcher at Drexel. “But things are still progressing. Since Wednesday, we got two more cases. That’s how we have to count them.”
Progress has been similarly slow for state Department of Environmental Protection field workers, who have collected water, soil and sediment samples from homes of PV patients, nearby power plants and area water sources. They’ve found little, with water tests showing scattered elevations of lead and nitrates and a few homes showing moderate spikes in radon.
The one place they haven’t looked? The air. That’ll be left to private contractor Peter Jaran, who’s reproducing some of DEP’s tests and extending the search into the atmosphere, heavy with the grit of several nearby power plants.
But the $8 million in federal funding for the investigation includes a deadline, and several projects are coming due. Gross-Davis said her study, which seeks to find demographic data among PV patients, was supposed to end in September, far too early.
She’ll apply for an extension. But in an investigation that has grown many limbs — funding is split among a dozen separate projects and 10 organizations — coordinating efforts with other researchers has gummed the gears in finding PV’s cause.
At the same time, funding for the Community Action Committee, the investigation’s main public relations link to the coal region community, has nearly run out. Organizer Joe Murphy said the government has denied his request for $50,000 to keep the program going for another year, leaving him scrambling to find donors.
The group runs a PV support organization and distributes information on the progress of the studies.
The need for communication couldn’t have been clearer Wednesday. Residents, who have grown far too familiar with phrases like “allele burden” and “causal factors,” threw out suggestions: Have you looked at heredity? How about coal ash?
Frustration mounted.
Amid their questions, officials began hedging that they may never find the smoking gun that leads to PV.
That keeps Dr. Henry Cole awake at night. A paid adviser to the Community Action Committee, he’s seen the government muddle around and throw its hands up at the end of an investigation before. He doesn’t want the same fate for Tamaqua.
“There’s a distinction between not finding evidence and saying there’s no problem,” he said. “That’s been done all over this country.”
andrew.mcgill@mcall.com
610-820-6533
Drilling areas cause for concern
http://www.timesleader.com/news/Drilling_areas_cause_for_concern_06-17-2011.html
Posted: June 18, 2011
Health matters Pa. wants to create registry to track illnesses in fracking communities
HARRISBURG — Gov. Tom Corbett’s top health adviser said Friday that he wants to make Pennsylvania the first state to create a registry to track illnesses in communities near heavy drilling in the Marcellus Shale natural gas formation to determine what kind of impact, if any, the activity has on public health.
Health Secretary Eli Avila told Corbett’s Marcellus Shale Advisory Commission that creating such a registry is the timeliest and most important step the Department of Health could take, and that his agency is not aware of anything like it in other drilling states.
“We’re really at the frontiers of this and we can make a speedy example for all the other states,” Avila told the commission at its fourth meeting.
Collecting information on drilling-related health complaints, investigating them, centralizing the information in one database and then comparing illnesses in drilling communities with non-drilling communities could help refute or verify claims that drilling has an impact on public health, he said. The aggregation of data and information also would allow the Department of Health to make its findings public, in contrast to the privacy that surrounds its investigation into individual health complaints and the findings that may result.
The Marcellus Shale formation, considered the nation’s largest-known natural gas reservoir, lies primarily beneath Pennsylvania, New York, West Virginia and Ohio. Pennsylvania is the center of activity, with more than 3,000 wells drilled in the past three years and thousands more planned in the coming years as thick shale emerges as an affordable, plentiful and profitable source of natural gas.
The rapid growth of deep shale drilling and its involvement of high-volume hydraulic fracturing, chemicals and often-toxic wastewater are spurring concerns in Pennsylvania about poisoned air and water.
“As drilling increases, I anticipate, at least in the short term, a proportionate increase in concerns and complaints which the department must be prepared to address,” he said.
In the past year or so, the Department of Health has received several dozen or so health complaints, he said.
One woman, Crystal Stroud of Granville Summit in northern Pennsylvania, told an anti-drilling rally in the Capitol this month that she is hearing from others in Bradford County about bizarre and sudden health problems that they blame on contaminated water from the area’s heavy drilling.
Stroud herself blames her barium poisoning on well water polluted by drilling near her home, and accused state agencies of turning a blind eye.
“I am extremely confused as to why our Health Department is not interested in these issues and no one from (the) Pennsylvania Health Department has contacted us, and why are they not investigating this?” Stroud, 29, told the crowd on June 7.
“Every week I receive a phone call from someone different in my county that has unexplained rashes, high blood pressure, heart palpitations, high barium levels, a child with blisters all over his face from his mother bathing him in the water, and even a woman whose spleen burst in an unexplained way, all with contaminated water,” she said.
A spokesman for Corbett has said both the departments of Health and Environmental Protection have active investigations into Stroud’s claims, and the company that drilled the well, Dallas-based Chief Oil & Gas LLC, has denied responsibility for Stroud’s health problems.
On Friday, Avila said his agency has found no links between drilling and the illnesses and diseases presented to it so far, but he added that a wider study is necessary to determine whether there are any associations, and a health registry could accomplish that.
Such health registries are common, and in the past have been created to monitor and study data related to cancer and rare diseases, health department officials said. To set up a drilling-related registry and fully investigate drilling-related health complaints would require another $2 million a year for the department and possibly require the help of the state’s schools of public health, Avila said.
Shale drilling requires blending huge volumes of water with chemical additives and injecting it under high pressure into the ground to help shatter the thick rock — a process called hydraulic fracturing. Some of that water returns to the surface, in addition to the gas, as brine potentially tainted with metals like barium and strontium and trace radioactivity by the drilling companies.
Experts discuss likely sources of the rare blood illnesses in the three-county area
http://www.tnonline.com/2011/jun/16/it-radon-fly-ash-or-something-else
Thursday, June 16, 2011
By DONALD R. SERFASS dserfass@tnonline.com
Is it radon, fly ash or something else?
DONALD R. SERFASS/TIMES NEWS Dr. Jeanine Buchanich, University of Pittsburgh, stresses the importance of participating in studies aimed at targeting the cause of a rare blood disease. Buchanich was one of several speakers at a public forum held Wednesday at the Tamaqua Community Center. Also shown are Tom Murphy, Hometown, health and environmental advocate, and Dr. Henry Cole, Maryland.
Is radon the culprit in an unusually high number of cases of a rare blood illness in Schuylkill, Carbon and Luzerne counties? Or is it fly ash? Or maybe something else?
Those possibilities are being examined, along with a variety of other scenarios as part of $8.8M in research and investigations.
At Wednesday’s public meeting, sponsored by the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) and the Tri-County Polycythemia Vera (PV) Community Advisory Committee, an expert said significantly high levels of radon have been seen in studies here.
Robert K. Lewis, manager, hazardous sites cleanup, Pennsylvania Department of Health (DOH), told 50 in attendance at the Tamaqua Community Center that one environmental analysis of air quality has turned up an area of concern.
“We sampled radon in homes. Fifty percent of homes were 4 picocuries or higher,” noted Lewis, who explained that 48 different locations were tested. One area tested was where a high incidence of PV cases has been identified.
“We were requested to sample along Ben Titus Road,” said Lewis.
In terms of water analysis, Lewis said testing was done on “a combination of well water and commercial water supplies such as the Tamaqua Water Authority.”
Lewis said results indicate that Tamaqua residential drinking water appears to have no problem with contaminants. However, “we didn’t (test for) radon in water,” he added. That is one area that would need to be looked at, said Lewis.
Lewis indicated that drinking water testing turned up only two lead results and two nitrate.
“The department doesn’t feel that drinking water is a problem here, but we should go back and look for radon.”
One expert said the entire effort is multipronged.
“You have an interdisciplinary group of scientists working on these studies,” said Dr. Henry Cole of Maryland, who has been working with Tom Murphy, Hometown, a founder of the CAC group.
The meeting featured updates by the Pa. Department of Environmental Protection, the agency sampling drinking water, dust and soil at the homes of study participants.
In addition, workers are testing water and sediment at the McAdoo Superfund site and cogeneration plants in the area.
A team from Drexel University is trying to identify risk factors for the disease, while researchers at the University of Pittsburgh are studying the frequency of PV cases.
Research updates target PV incidence
The session provided a broad range of updates from a variety of sources:
Ÿ Elizabeth Irvin-Barnwell of the ATSDR said a total of 1,150 persons were screened for the JAK2 mutation, found in those who develop PV. In addition, 3,500 DNA samples were analyzed for the mutation.
“We can link each person’s test with demographic factors … it’s a groundbreaking study,” said Irvin-Barnwell.
Ÿ Dr. Lora Siegmann Werner of the ATSDR outlined initiatives in health education, such as developing literature to address “What does it mean if you have PV?” A comprehensive list of physicians has been completed because there is great need to get information to doctors, she said. She also lauded work by the CAC support group and Michelle Greshner.
Ÿ Dr. Jeanine Buchanich, University of Pittsburgh said, “We’re working with the Department of Health to do an expansion of the original study.” She said 372 cases are included in the study, all from the Pennsylvania Cancer Registry. She said as many folks as possible should take part.
“We’re hoping CAC members will convey how important it is to participate in the study. The success of the study depends on getting people to participate.”
Ÿ Dr. Carol Ann Gross-Davis of Drexel University reported on a case control study of 147 people.
“Of the cases, we have 24 consented who have PV. We had 10 percent who declined to participate, which is their right,” she said, adding, “We’re doing it through the Geisinger system, coordinating through the University of Pittsburgh.”
Ÿ Dr. Jim Logue, Pennsylvania DOH principal investigator for the myeloproliferative neoplasm program, said he’s been involved in cancer analyses since 2004. He announced success with a partnership.
“We secured two contracts with the University of Pittsburgh.”
Ÿ David Marchetto, the department’s program manager, said progress is being made.
“The pieces are coming together,” he said. “We’re working with state, federal and local partners.” Marchetto also said, “Misclassification of the disease is a concern to us. There are cases reported to the cancer registry that aren’t PV, not only here but in southwestern and central Pa. as well.”
Similarly, sometimes PV cases do not get reported, he stated.
It was noted that Dr. Peter Jaran, environmental engineer from New Jersey, will look at groundwater and potential sources of contamination.
Local residents had several questions for the experts.
Irene Genther, a Nesquehoning resident and former educator with extensive background in the sciences, asked for clarification as to whether susceptibility to PV can be attributed to heredity. Irvin-Barnwell said heredity itself isn’t seen as a factor. Still, family history and ethnicity are areas being examined.
Genther advised attendees that contaminants such as fly ash dust and radon aren’t found only in the ground, but are airborne.
Some said a solution isn’t coming fast enough.
“It’s been eight years and we still don’t have an answer,” said PV patient Merle Wertman, Tamaqua. Wertman was on hand with wife Linda. The two have been staying on top of developments with the disease. Wertman was diagnosed in 2003. He has no family history of cancer.
Dr. Cole had words of praise for Murphy, a community volunteer who devotes himself to the role of environmental and health activist.
“Joe has put so much into this,” said Cole. “He’s been the guiding light. He put his whole heart and soul into this.”
Those in attendance gave Murphy a round of applause for his role in coordinating activities of the CAC.
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.