Aug 15, 22, 29: Fracking and Community Health

Fracking and Community Health series:  
Gas drilling activity near Knoch School Campus and Saxonburg
Presented by Marcellus Outreach Butler

On September 15. 2011, South Butler School Board approved a gas lease with Phillips Exploration, a part of XTO and a subsidiary of Exxon Mobile.  The School District joined with privately owned property to form a 640 acre “pool” or drilling unit.  Since then, the area has become inundated with gas wells and related infrastructure.  Marcellus Outreach Butler asked then and asks still, “What are the risks and impacts of placing such fracking activity so close to human habitats, especially a school campus?”  Join MOB for a series of online meetings to discuss these concerns about the intensive drilling near Knoch Schools Campus and Saxonburg.

Register with link below for each program by 6:30 on the day of the program.
PART 1, Aug. 15, 7 PM: Overview of the area, including drone footage, and Dr. Ned Ketyer who will review the health risks and impacts fracking and related activity pose to those who live in close proximity. Register at bit.ly/2Dwxof6.
PART 2, Aug. 22, 7 PM: Dr. John Stolz on Radioactive Fracking Waste and Sanitary Landfill. Register at https://bit.ly/33mVi7F.
PART 3, Aug. 29, 7 PM: EHP’s Sarah Rankin and Nathan Deron on potential impacts of fracking. Register at https://bit.ly/3go8tct.
Join MOB for Parts 1, 2, and 3 by clicking links for each Part above.  They will send you the Zoom call link to join each session individually.
Each session will run from 7 to 8:30 and will include time for Q&A.

Presenters:
Saturday, Aug. 15:  Ned KetyerM.D., F.A.A.P.
Dr. Ned Ketyer is a Pittsburgh-area pediatrician with special interests in developmental pediatrics, preventative medicine, and environmental health. After his pediatric residency at Pittsburgh’s Children’s Hospital, Dr. Ketyer practiced general pediatrics for 26 years. Although retired from patient care, he writes and edits his practice’s popular blog, The PediaBlog, and remains a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics Council on Environmental Health. He is a consultant for the Southwest Pennsylvania Environmental Health Project bringing attention to the health impacts of shale gas development, a board member of Physicians for Social Responsibility - Pennsylvania, and a Climate Reality Project Leader.
In all these roles, Dr. Ketyer connects the vast petrochemical “clusterfrack” underway in SW Pennsylvania with local and regional health impacts, and the global ecological and public health catastrophes resulting from plastic pollution and climate change that threaten the health and well-being of all passengers on this shining ball of blue.
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Saturday, Aug. 22:  John Stolz
Director, Center for Environmental Research and Education
Professor, Dept. of Biological Sciences,
Duquesne University
Dr. Stolz studies the microbial metabolism of metals and metalloids, microbial communities in hypersaline environments, and water quality. He has published 95 peer-reviewed articles, 37 book chapters, and author/edited two books. He is currently co-authoring/editing a book on the "Environmental Impacts of Unconventional Oil and Gas Reserves Development" for Cambridge University Press.
Most recently, Dr. Stolz has been looking at sanitary landfills in Pennsylvania and New York that have been allowed to take both solid and liquid waste from oil and gas operations. The leachate is now contaminated with toxins and radioactivity. Dr. Stolz will present the results of his investigation and the questionable ways in which the industry, with the help of legislators and regulators, are using to dispose of their wastes.
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Saturday, Aug. 29:  Sarah Rankin, MPH, BSN, RN
Public Health Nurse
and Nathan Deron, MSPPM-DA, Environmental Data Scientist at Souhwest Pennsylvania Environmental Health Project
The SW PA Environmental Health Project is a nonprofit public health organization that assists and supports residents of Southwestern Pennsylvania and beyond who believe their health has been, or could be, impacted by shale gas development (or fracking).

Sarah and Nathan will review the literature and EHP’s findings about potential health impacts of fracking.  They will also discuss how a community science air monitoring project can measure the pollution faced by communities.

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