An energy outreach group says notable facts were missing from a report earlier this week on fatalities and sicknesses in livestock near hydraulic fracturing areas.
A recent article by The Nation magazine, in collaboration with the Food & Environment Reporting Network (FERN), accused shale development, including hydraulic fracturing, of contaminating our food supply.
The article reported cattle in North Dakota near a fracking area experienced weight loss and other negative symptoms and the owner didn’t sell the animals, fearing the meat may not be safe to eat.
In a response to the article by The Nation, Steve Everley, an Energy In Depth (EID) spokesman, says information missing from the report is as important, if not more so, than what was shared and the story only used scientific assessments tailor-made for an anti-natural gas crowd.
Calling the source used by The Nation fatally flawed, EID points to reports from Texas and Pennsylvania showing improvement in key indicators of health even as natural gas development expanded significantly in the area and no significant health risks from shale development in the areas.
Additionally, EID points to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics undermining the suggestion that hydraulic fracturing is a grave threat to occupational or community health.
Everley says farmers and landowners should be interested in the impact of natural gas development and their questions should be answered with facts. Everley said the author of the article by The Nation contacted EID, but failed to use any of its resources.
According to the website, Energy In Depth is a research, education and public outreach program of the Independent Petroleum Association of America focused on getting the facts out about the promise and potential of responsibly developing America’s onshore energy resource base.
Source: Drovers Cattle Network
Posted by Northern Ag Network
