during drilling and fracking – something the gas industry is not required to do for “proprietary” reasons.
But Alison Steele, executive director of the Pittsburgh-based Environmental Health Project, said meaningful action has lagged in Harrisburg. The 2,500-foot buffer proposal – which the gas industry says would effectively shut down drilling – remains stuck in the House of Representatives.
“We have a mountain of studies pointing to health harms, but we’re still not seeing enough of a meaningful health protective response from the government, from people who are tasked with protecting the health of Pennsylvania’s residents,” said Steele. “We have a massive gap between what is known in the scientific community about the health harms of fracking, and how that is being reflected in health protective policy.”
Bryan Latkanich of Deemston said his life “has been a nightmare” since Chevron put a well pad and pump station on his property in 2013.
“It has sucked all the joy out of life,” said Latkanich, a former counselor at Washington County jail who is now on disability and battling a host of illnesses, including a brain tumor, stage four kidney failure, and congestive heart failure.
Latkanich’s 14-year-old son, Ryan – who broke out in a rash and welts when his mom bathed him in April 2013 – has been diagnosed with severe asthma and suffered from incontinence, ringing in his ears, and other health issues.
Latkanich is suing Chevron in Washington County Court, claiming he and his son were sickened after the company drilled the natural gas well on the property.
“I remember I stepped into the water after Ryan got out of the tub and it was the slipperiest substance I felt. It did not feel right,” he recalled. “And that was the beginning of all of this.”
A toxicology study of Latkanich’s and Ryan’s urine and saliva showed the presence of high levels of benzene and styrene in their bodies, and additional tests showed Ryan had been exposed to hydrocarbons and radiation, Latkanich said.
“I worry about my son. The anxiety and stress from this is off the charts,” said Latkanich. “My health is destroyed, my house is destroyed. I don’t want anyone else to have to go through what I’m going through.”
‘An accidental advocate’
Janice Blanock, of Cecil Township, who co-founded MAD-FACTS at Center for
Coalfield Justice with Borello, calls herself
“an accidental advocate.”
In 2016, her 19-year-old son, Luke, died
from Ewing sarcoma. Only about 200 cases
of Ewing sarcoma are diagnosed in the U.S. each year, but 27 cases – including six in the Canon-McMillan School District – were diagnosed in Southwestern Pennsylvania during a 10-year period.
Blanock, who suspects Luke’s illness was linked to fracking, said, “there are enough studies that show kids are getting sick.”
Through MAD-FACTS, Blanock and Borello promote common sense solutions to help protect families who live near fracking, and
to educate others about fracking.
“I wasn’t aware of what fracking was. When Jodi and I created (MAD-FACTS), we wanted parents to be informed. Sometimes you feel like you’re taking three steps forward but get knocked back one or two, but you just keep pushing forward and spreading the word and getting people involved. We’ve got to do it together, we’ve got to do it as a team,” said Blanock.
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“I lost an exceptional child. He could have been a great leader in this world and we certainly need those now, so I’ll keep pushing on.”
Blanock said she would like Gov. Josh Shapiro – who as Pennsylvania’s attorney general said there was a need to hold oil and gas companies to account – to put the eight grand jury recommendations into action.
Borello, along with Lois Bower-Bjornson, a field organizer with Clean Air Council who hosts “Frackland Tours” in Washington County to give elected officials and members of the media a first-hand account of what it is like to live near fracking and related operations, travel monthly to Harrisburg.
They set up a MAD-FACTS table, organize meetings with legislators and do drop-in visits.
“It’s really relationship-building with legislators, getting to know them and letting them know what’s happening. They see us and they know us, and we’ve been met with positive responses and we’ve been met with negative responses,” said Bower-Bjornson, who started the tours after her family – including her four children – started getting sick with nosebleeds, rashes, and swollen limbs, when natural gas compression stations were built within a mile of her home. “It’s a chance to get our message out,” she said.
On Nov. 4, Cecil Township supervisors are set to vote on changing the oil and gas ordinance that would place surface drilling operations 2,500 feet away from “protected structures,” but waive that distance if all homeowners within that buffer zone agree to permit drilling.
Josh and Michelle Stonemark, who live about 530 feet away from a well pad in the township, plan to attend the meeting. The couple moved into what they thought was their dream home around Christmas of 2018, and drilling began in 2020.
“Every time they drill, it’s 24/7 noise, the smells, it’s not sleeping, it’s constant anxiety about whether or not my kids are going to get sick,” said Michelle Stonemark.
She said she and her husband and their three children have experienced health problems, which she declined to disclose.
“It’s unbearable at times,” said Stonemark, who has installed two air monitors in the family’s back yard. “I want people to know that these problems are real. We have seen the impacts, we have dealt with them. We’re being impacted on a daily basis. They exist.”
Lisa DiPaoli, communications director at Center for Coalfield Justice, said it’s critical to work for policy change, especially with the Appalachian hydrogen hub on the horizon.
DiPaoli said CCJ isn’t seeking to stop fracking (although other groups would like an outright ban), but wants to make sure regulations are in place that will better protect the communities where fracking takes place.
She pointed to a recent poll conducted by the Ohio River Valley Institute and Upswing Research & Strategy that suggests Pennsylvanians are open to stricter regulations on the fracking industry. The survey of 700 likely voters across the state showed that 90% of respondents support measures such as requiring fracking companies to disclose all chemicals used and increasing the distance between fracking operations and schools. It also found that 80% of respondents support classifying fracking fluids as hazardous materials. A majority of Pennsylvanians (58%) oppose a complete ban on fracking.
“We recognize we can’t just stop fracking because, first, we need the energy, and second, we don’t want anyone to lose their jobs, but there has to be a just transition toward cleaner energy sources,” said DiPaoli.
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