"In short, water contamination has been widespread; our air has been
polluted; countless individuals and families have been sickened; farms
have been devastated, cattle have died, and our pristine streams and
rivers have turned up dead fish; only a fraction of the promised jobs
and revenue for the state have come to fruition; and our communities
have been transformed into toxic industrial zones with 24/7 noise,
flares, thousands of trucks, and increased crime. What's more, the jobs
have made many workers so sick that they can no longer work in the industry ... Because the chemicals used in fracking operations are highly toxic, water contamination is a very serious problem ... They include chemicals such as benzene, toluene, hydrochloric acid
and petroleum distillates. In addition to the chemicals used by the
industry, the operation releases many hazardous materials from the shale
itself, including radium, uranium and radon, arsenic, and mercury.
Cows that have consumed water contaminated with used fracking fluid
(flowback waste) have quickly died, and land where it has spilled has
been scorched.
For us, fracking has been a public health disaster. Victims
experience symptoms ranging from headaches, dizziness, burning eyes,
sore throats, rashes, hair loss, severe nose bleeds, nausea, blood
poisoning, liver damage, intestinal pain, neurological damage, cancers
and many more ... Pennsylvania State Legislature passed Act 13, which, among other things, places a gag order
on doctors who deal with victims of fracking and who wish information
about the possible chemicals to which their patient may have been
exposed ... One major, uncontrollable problem is hazardous air pollutants,
which are emitted from wellheads themselves, as well as from flares,
dehydration devices, compressor stations, and the thousands of diesel
trucks that are needed to service each well. Silica dust--a known cause
of lung cancer and silicosis--is also a problem in an around drilling
and fracking operations. We live with the knowledge that our children
are breathing in hazardous air, and are left to wonder what and how
severe the ramifications will be in their future ... The oil and gas industry cannot and must not be trusted."
Zum Offenen Brief der Bewohner von Pennsylvania an Illinois' Pat Governeur Quinn, Attorney General Madigan und Mitglieder der Illinois General Assembly, erschienen in der Huffington Post (28. Mai 2013) »
Zum Offenen Brief der Bewohner von Pennsylvania an Illinois' Pat Governeur Quinn, Attorney General Madigan und Mitglieder der Illinois General Assembly, erschienen in der Huffington Post (28. Mai 2013) »
