Fracking – Is It Just a Dirty Word?
Environmental and Public Health Considerations of Hydrofracturing
Presenters
• Josh Fox, filmmaker of documentary on fracking, “Gasland”
• Avner Vengosh, Ph.D., M.S., Professor, Nicholas School of Environment, Duke University
• John Quigley, M.P.A., principal, John H Quigley LLC
Description
Hyrofracturing, or “fracking,” is a process for removing natural gas from rock formations deep beneath the earth’s surface. New approaches to fracking are raising significant questions about whether the process creates unreasonable risk to human and environmental health. The EPA is studying the impact of fracking on drinking water, which is just one of the health concerns raised by the process.
Public health and environmental advocates are urging policy-makers to employ the precautionary principle and prohibit fracking until the impact of the process is fully evaluated. Several states have considered, and some have passed, legislation regulating fracking or imposing a moratorium during a period of study. This webinar examined the health and environmental hazards of fracking, policies to protect the public’s health from these risks and the reactions of the public health community.
Presented in Partnership by: American Society of Law Medicine and Ethics (ASLME) ; Public Health Law Association (PHLA) ; Public Health Law Network; and PHLR.