Pine Creek Update

Here is an update from Responsible Drilling Alliance:

This is what the Sun Gazette article did NOT say about Airfoam HD, the substance running down the hill in Waterville and into Pine Creek.

From Damascus Citizens for Sustainability:
2-Butoxylethanol (2-BE) is a foaming agent used for natural gas production and is proven to cause cancer in animals. 2-BE is a primary component of AirFoam HD, a product that has been found on drilling pads in Pennsylvania — the Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) for Air Foam HD state that is dissolves in water and that chronic exposure causes cancer. Testing for 2-BE costs over $100 per test, and the cost burden is on the landholder. DEP has failed to test for drilling or fracking chemicals in their standard tests, which are only performed when landowners report problems in their water supply, not before the problems occur. Residents who will soon have natural gas production occurring in their region or upstream from their groundwater supply must hire an independent water testing company to do a “baseline test” to show the lack of contaminants prior to the drilling. Without a baseline test, it is more difficult to convict a drilling operator for water contamination – the drilling operator can claim that there is no proof that the contaminant was not in the groundwater supply prior to the drilling.

From The Endocrine Disruption Exchange a nonprofit organization founded by Dr. Theo Colborn. TEDX is dedicated to compiling and disseminating scientific evidence on the health and environmental problems caused by low-dose exposure to chemicals known as endocrine disruptors, which interfere with development and function.

In order to prevent injury while working with potentially harmful products, Material Safety Data Sheets are designed to inform people who handle, ship, and use these products about their physical and chemical characteristics and their direct and/or immediate health effects. Many MSDSs do not address the outcome of long term, intermittent or chronic exposures, or adverse health effects that may not be expressed until years after the exposure. 2-Butoxylethanol (2-BE) is one of the nastier things the drilling industry uses, It is soluble in water, vaporizes in air, and is taken up through the skin. It can cause a very specific adrenal tumor linked to its exposure. 2-BE is implicated in a wide variety of health effects in most systems of the body and should be handled with great care. Studies have indicated there is no known level of dilution where 2-BE does not have an effect on organisms. Download the spreadsheet at: http://www.endocrinedisruption.com/chemicals.fracturing.php

This incident is of grave concern to us all, especially those who live in Waterville or had planned to catch and eat fish from Pine Creek.