Archive: Cancer
In November 2019, Governor Tom Wolf committed to spending $3 million on a pair of studies to explore the potential health impacts of oil and gas development after families impacted by rare childhood cancers demanded that the state investigate the cause of an apparent increase in rare childhood cancers in communities experiencing shale gas development. The Pennsylvania […]
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“It is always surreal for me, as an impacted resident, to watch others experience the grief of some of our neighbors whose lives have been uprooted by the oil and gas industry,” said Heaven Sensky, Community Organizer for Center for Coalfield Justice. “It is uncomfortable to put ourselves up for display, and sometimes I even forget how vastly different our lives are compared to those who hold the power to make decisions about our safety. I want to thank the DOH for being respectful witnesses to our suffering. I am hoping with everything that I am that they will carry with them what they have seen here and that they will do something about it.”
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contacts: Lois Bower-Bjornson, Southwestern Pennsylvania Field Organizer, Clean Air Council, 412-979-5509, lbb@cleanair.org Laura Dagley, Medical Advocacy Coordinator, Physicians for Social Responsibility Pennsylvania, 540-556-0132, laura@psrpa.org Ned Ketyer, Board Member, Physicians for Social Responsibility Pennsylvania, 724-255- 7440, ned@psrpa.org Stacey Magda, Community Organizer, Mountain Watershed Association, 724-455-4200 x9, stacey@mtwatershed.com Tammy Murphy, Advocacy Director, Physicians for […]
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Despite the financial inconsistencies, the DOH seemed receptive to the ongoing request for a visit to Southwestern Pennsylvania. Heaven Sensky, Community Organizer for Center for Coalfield Justice, said, “It is absolutely imperative that representatives from the Department of Health, who are making decisions and drawing conclusions about our exposure to harmful fossil fuel extraction, come to our communities and witness themselves what we are facing. One cannot begin to understand the proximity and density of families whose homes and lives have been invaded by the fossil fuel industry without taking the time to witness it. We welcome the Department of Health to our community, and we hope that their experience here will better inform them moving forward with the study.”
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Screenshot of the November 19th Virtual Town Hall event On November 22, 2019, Governor Tom Wolf announced that the state would commit $3 million to study the health impacts of fracking in Southwestern Pennsylvania communities after reports showed an alarming number of children in our area were diagnosed with rare childhood cancers. Since then, there […]
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While residents continue to fear for their health, DOH is taking a hands-off approach. In a subsequent virtual meeting, however, on June 26, between DOH Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine and DOH staff members and two public health advocacy organizations – Physicians for Social Responsibility-Pennsylvania (PSR-PA) and the Southwest Pennsylvania Environmental Health Project (EHP) – raised […]
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