Opinion: Fracking is bad health policy – Montreal Gazette

by pmnationtalk on April 26, 2017421 Views

April 26, 2017

Concerns about the health effects of ‘fracking’ — formally called hydraulic fracturing — are high, and Maryland has just become the third U.S. state to ban the practice.

Yet here in B.C., LNG produced by liquefying fracked gas continues to be a priority for Liberal Leader Christy Clark, even though we know very little about the immediate and long-term health effects of such projects. And, because so little is known about the effects, a moratorium on fracking should be an election issue in B.C.

Recently, over 180 physicians and other health professionals signed a letter asking that no new projects that increase the level of hydraulic fracturing, including Pacific Northwest Liquefied Natural Gas (PNW LNG), go ahead in B.C. or the rest of Canada until the health risks are understood, communicated to communities, and mitigated.

In late 2016, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released the final version of its long-awaited report on the effects of fracking on drinking water in the States. The report concludes that “spills of hydraulic-fracturing fluids or additives have reached, and therefore impacted, surface-water resources,” including drinking water. Large gaps in the data prevented the EPA from being able to quantify the extent of fracking’s impact on U.S. drinking water.

Read More: http://www.montrealgazette.com/opinion/op-ed/opinion+fracking+health+policy/13324927/story.html

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