College Student trying to learn more... Help!

Hello, 

My name is Tara, I attend Keystone College majoring in Biology with a minor in Chemistry and Bradford County is my hometown. As you likely know, it is one of the most drilled, or fracked, counties in Pennsylvania. I am very interested in researching the potential benefits and risks of natural gas drilling and am conducting an epidemiological study in four counties. I am investigating whether people are experiencing health changes due to the drilling, and if they are, are they reporting the issues to their physicians. 

Whether you're for the drilling, against it, or neutral, all viewpoints matter! The survey takes five minutes and is completely anonymous, do not type your name on the survey! 

Just load the attachment below, fill it out, save it, and then email it back to banfieldresearch@gmail.com as an attachment, your survey will be saved and your email will be immediately unassociated with the survey! 

 

Thank you so much for your interest in my undergrad research! 

Any questions, email banfieldresearch@gmail.com

Civilian%20Survey.docx

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Permalink Reply by Tara on January 16, 2015 at 6:18am

Meant to post this under Bradford County discussion! Sorry!

Permalink Reply by George on January 17, 2015 at 2:51am
Every manufacturing business creates pollution. Go to Saudi Arabia where they have been drilling years and test their tissue. You are buying into the hypocrisy and targeting one industry. Study the emissions from the GM plants that paint cars, the Apple factories etc.
Permalink Reply by Tara on January 17, 2015 at 5:33am

Exactly, every manufacturing business creates pollution that is why extensive studies are done to try to reduce or eliminate these pollutants. My study is titled the "perceived" health effects of natural gas drilling because they are just that, perceived. My personal research of the subject has found that underground fracturing actually produces minimal, if any, residual pollution. Pollution is produced from other aspects, just with any other business. My study is being conducted in order to see what kind of health problems people Think they are getting, and to see if they are reporting these issues. Thank you for your response, if you live in Lackawanna, Bradford, or Wyoming counties take my survey to help my research!

Thank you! 

Permalink Reply by Mark McGrail on January 17, 2015 at 5:24am

Tara,

Hope you will post your findings when available.

Permalink Reply by Tara on January 17, 2015 at 5:34am

I wo

0ym9x5ag7ury2Permalink Reply by 0ym9x5ag7ury2 on January 17, 2015 at 8:16am

Tara,

    In Ohio, where the Utica Shale is being drilled at a depth of 8,000 feet the probability of surface & ground water contamination by hydraulic fracturing chemicals/water is low but there could be faults that angle upward to the surface where water can be forced to the surface during fracking.

I live on land where the earth is angled at 45 degrees with shale and there is a fault within 5 miles of my property. These are examples where Frack water could find it's way to the surface.

Over in your State of PA, the drillers are in the Marcellus Shale which is closer to the surface of the earth around 4000 feet at the Ohio border and shallower in Eastern PA from my memory. Some locations in PA have had frack water surface contaminating wells over the past years from fracking.

O&G companies have tested our well water in Ohio prior to the beginning of drilling in order to have before and after well sample data in case someone files a complaint about bad well water due to drilling.

The O&G companies have begun taking Oil, Gas & Natural Gas Liquids from our wells without paying the royalties agreed upon with no action by state and local officials, so I suspect if water wells in Ohio should be contaminated the same elected officials will continue to accept Political Action Committee/Slush Fund money and turn their heads when a bad well shows up.

Methane gas in water wells is caused by cows getting into the local ponds according to methane results found in the before drilling well testing. If the methane in the wells increases after the drilling starts it will be due to a case of cows having an increase in gas due to a bad diet. The sand and proprietary chemicals that show up in the wells will be ignored to protect the drillers frack formulas, and besides, those folks using the wells who got sick and died would have died even if the frack water hadn't gotten into their wells.

Nothing can stop the greed and theft in progress except maybe OPEC and a few 8.0 earthquakes that cost the insurance industry a fortune. The insurance companies may not be an issue If they pull the "Act of God" clause which has been used on most of us after a tree landed on our autos, campers, or boats parked in the yard. "You just can't stop an act of God".

The only sure thing about an insurance company is that you will pay them each month. They have such high overhead with the tall buildings in the major cities, blimps and stadiums to fund, not to mention a King (who use to be called a ceo) and his court to pay millions to, that they can't afford to pay someone for a loss.

If one of your friends is doing a study on Criminal Activity, you might put them onto doing a study of how PA, OH, and WV landowners are being cheated by big O&G companies. There is plenty of data out in the countryside where landowners are being paid Rationed Royalties each month for allowing large volumes of Oil, Gas and Natural Gas Liquids to be removed from under their land.

Good luck with your survey and your future O&G and insurance company interactions. And remember, Never, Never, Never sign a contract that someone brings to your door regardless of the high pressure tactics they use. As always "Money Brings Out The Worst In People"

Permalink Reply by Jim Litwinowicz on January 17, 2015 at 1:52pm

Tara; if you are truly studying all the health affects of drilling on the people of Pa, will you also study all the health benefits of drilling?  When people get hired by drilling and related companies they almost always get excellent healthcare benefits like insurance, day care, health screening, and more. This is a huge improvement for people that were unemployed or under employed.

Also, I have been taught for decades that being unemployed or working in a poor paying job results in things like drug and alcohol abuse, spouse abuse, depression, suicide, higher divorce rates, poor nutrition, and more.  Children of such people also suffer from all of the above plus poor nutrition, housing, clothing and education. Even charitable giving increases, helping those that are not employed in the industry. Tax revenue also increases allowing te government to spend on various programs from better road maintenance, education and even social programs.

It would seem that getting a high paying job with good benefits result in a sizable improvement in the health of the population. Any study of the health affects of the O & G industry should show the good along with the bad.

Good luck!

Permalink Reply by Barry D on January 18, 2015 at 3:47pm

How about the main health benefit realized from the increased use of natural gas ? Less emissions.

The air is cleaner and far less likely to cause respiratory problems.

Permalink Reply by Jim Litwinowicz on January 18, 2015 at 4:12pm

Excellent point, Barry D.  Pittsburgh met ozone regs for first time ever because of reduced use of coal.  Very important for people with asthma and other OPDs.  Add in reduced mercury and other heavy metals. Less coal mining accidents. If we can accelerate converting from diesel to nat gas that will be even better as diesel is a major pollutant.

Permalink Reply by Ragnars Repo on January 18, 2015 at 4:51pm
Notice the subtle change lately? CO2 is not the main threat anymore, methane is now the whipping boy.
Permalink Reply by Brian Powers on January 18, 2015 at 10:02am

Tara-

Your query and the wording in your questionnaire lead me to think that you've already developed a causal relationship between O&G development and adverse health without having much data; which seems to me to  be contrary to the Scientific Method of formulating hypotheses, collating and evaluating data to test each one, winnowing out the theories that do not hold up and landing on the best causal relationship supported by the data .

I worked over a wide geographic area in the US and abroad over 30 years; my asthma was attributable to a house cat allergy, my elevated cholesterol and hypertension were likely attributable to diet, inconsistent exercise habits and stress, the stress likely also led to the stroke that ended my last job four and a half years ago. I was never once  asked by a doctor if I ever kept my head over the mud pits too long or drank stimulation fluid for the heck of it.

I'll grant you that many facets of the industry can be hazardous to health, but as another poster on this thread indicated, the industry can also be very beneficial.

I also have concerns that you may not end up with a large enough sample size containing the quality of data required to form good, statistically supportable conclusions, and I wish you all the best in your research efforts,

Brian

  

Permalink Reply by paleface on January 18, 2015 at 2:51pm

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