Shale Gas Industry Puts Workers at Risk in Rush to Frack.
Labor leaders and health professionals, along with a broad coalition of citizen groups committed to halting shale gas development, assert that risks to workers in the shale gas industry, “from stem to stern,” are being overlooked in the rush to frack.
Five critical issues are:
- Silicosis caused by exposure to crystalline silica sand, a”proppant” used in fracking, which is inhaled by workers during mining, transportation and transfer
- Hydrogen sulfide, a potentially deadly gas which occurs in fracked gas processing operations. Deadly levels have been measured but covered up, and an exemption bars federal oversight.
- Chemical exposures on the job producing skin lesions, severe headaches, gastrointestinal pain, respiratory distress and other symptoms, with inadequate treatment and reporting
- A culture of fear discourages workers from asking for protective gear; workers are also actively directed to participate in environmental cover-ups. Because most shale gas jobs are transient, non-union jobs, workers don’t feel safe speaking up.
- Dangerously explosive methane puts utility workers, residents and rescue responders at risk on the distribution end. Pipeline explosions kill. (Read more….)
