Fracking is responsible for disease spike

When I read about childhood cancer stalking southwestern Pennsylvania, it didn’t take long for the stories to hit close to home (May 12, “Childhood Cancer Stalks Southwest Pennsylvania”).

In 2009, when my now-husband was desperate to get ahead financially in the midst of the recession, he took a job working on an oil rig in Washington County. Although both of us had our concerns about his safety, the drilling company spent most of his training telling him how well-regulated its safety procedures were.

But all it took was four hours on the rig for my husband to realize that the training and safety procedures were all smoke and mirrors. The drillers used diesel mist, a known carcinogen, as drilling fluid, and everyone on the rig was drenched in it.

This toxic fluid spewed everywhere, even beyond the supposed “safety area” of more than 200 feet from the well site. The containment pools, where thousands of gallons of the drilling fluid were stored, were only lined with a single flimsy tarp, making groundwater contamination for nearby communities inevitable.

My husband was so disgusted, he quit on the spot. The prospect of a huge paycheck, luxury vacations and a big house in the suburbs wasn’t worth risking his 24-year-old body.

While I realize that not all drilling companies are in violation of such safety procedures, I shudder to think how many sites out there resemble the one my husband saw firsthand all those years ago, and how the blatant recklessness is not only hurting the employees, but the families who live on nearby land and use the surely contaminated water.

I don’t need a degree or fancy long-term studies to tell me that fracking is responsible for the devastating diseases highlighted by the Post-Gazette. The companies’ denial only proves that they value money more than human lives. STACY ALDERMAN

Munhall