Health and Safety Considerations in the Extraction of Fossil Fuels

1. Health and Safety Considerations in the Extraction of Fossil Fuels Bernard D. Goldstein, MD bdgold@pitt.edu University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health Department of Environmental and Occupational Health

2. Major Themes • Human health and the environment are a unity • We are now better able to predict the public health consequence of oil and gas exploration- but we have a long way to go; • The majority of the expertise needed for environmental protection, just as the majority of the impact, will always be local – and we are deficient in the expertise we need • This is a long term issue – BUT WE MUST START NOW

3. My Basic Assumptions about Fossil Fuel Production • The public health approach to fossil fuel extraction begins with the precautionary assumption that we humans eventually will use virtually all fossil fuel resources on the planet, with the only limitation being technical feasibility and competitive costs with other sources of energy.

4. My Basic Assumptions about Fossil Fuel Production • The public health approach to fossil fuel extraction begins with the precautionary assumption that we humans eventually will use virtually all fossil fuel resources on the planet, with the only limitation being technical feasibility and competitive costs with other sources of energy. What’s the rush?

5. My Track Record • In 1979, based upon the available literature, I confidently predicted that the world would run out of oil in 30 years.

6. My Track Record • In 1979, based upon the available literature, I confidently predicted that the world would run out of oil in 30 years. • The only certainty is that we will be surprised.

7. Major Recommendation START THE EPIDEMIOLOGICAL STUDY NOW. BEGIN WITH ASSEMBLING THE COHORT(S) AND WITH ACCURATE EXPOSURE ASSESSMENT.

10. John Vidal 30 May 2010 Nigeria's agony dwarfs the Gulf oil spill. The US and Europe ignore it “more oil is spilled from the (Nigerian) delta's network of terminals, pipes, pumping stations and oil platforms every year than has been lost in the Gulf of Mexico.” “a ruptured ExxonMobil pipeline in the state of Akwa Ibom spilled more than a million gallons into the delta over seven days before the leak was stopped.” Williams Mkpa, a community leader in Ibeno: “Oil companies do not value our life; they want us to all die. In the past two years, we have experienced 10 oil spills and fishermen can no longer sustain their families. It is not tolerable.”

11. John Vidal 30 May 2010 Nigeria's agony dwarfs the Gulf oil spill. The US and Europe ignore it “Shell, which works in partnership with the Nigerian government in the delta, says that 98% of all its oil spills are caused by vandalism, theft or sabotage by militants and only a minimal amount by deteriorating infrastructure.” One industry insider, who asked not to be named, said: “Major spills are likely to increase in the coming years as the industry strives to extract oil from increasingly remote and difficult terrains. Future supplies will be offshore, deeper and harder to work. When things go wrong, it will be harder to respond.”

13. ACCIDENT vs INCIDENT

16. Alcoa Lost Workday Performance1987-2004

17. Issues in Toxicological Testing of Fracking Compounds Fate and transport Hazard To individual species; including humans To ecosystem Dose Persistence Bioconcentration and biomagnification Degradation products Of chemical Of natural gas components following interaction with chemical Interactions with existing chemistry and geology of air, soil and water; and in waste streams

18. COREXIT 9500 MSDS: NALCO(edited) 2. COMPOSITION/INFORMATION ON INGREDIENTS Our hazard evaluation has identified the following chemical substance(s) as hazardous: Hazardous Substance(s)(w/w) - Distillates, petroleum, hydrotreated light 10.0 - 30.0% - Propylene Glycol 1.0 - 5.0% - Organic sulfonic acid salt (Proprietary) 10.0 - 30.0%

19. Corexit is a Poster Child for the Reform of the US Toxic Substances Control Act

20. Core Regulatory Issues Pertinent to the Marcellus Shale include: 1)  If you own the risk you own the harm (It is not just the fault of the subcontractor) 2) Avoid regulatory whackamole (Regulate groups of chemicals)

21. Newsweek By Ian Yarett August 03, 2010 Five Unanswered QuestionsAbout the Gulf Spill Many important unknowns remain… Exactly how much oil has leaked? Where has all the oil gone? Does the wellbore have good integrity? Are underwater seeps from old wells common? Why aren't there more dead animals?

22. Image: Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council Image: Chris Wilkins/AFP/ Getty Images

23. Effects of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill “When the Exxon Valdez ran aground in Prince William Sound, it spilled oil into a social as well as a natural environment” Palinkas, LA et al. Human Organization 52:1-13, 1993

24. OLD TOXICOLOGICAL ADAGE

25. OLD TOXICOLOGICAL ADAGE “rats don’t retch”

26. Social Determinants of Health(World Health Organization) “…the circumstances in which people are born, grow up, live, work and age, and the systems put in place to deal with illness. These circumstances are in turn shaped by a wider set of forces: economics, social policies and politics” (see Satcher, D. Public Health Reports 125:6-7, 2010

27. Usual Progression of Environmental Issues Related to Human Health 1) Potentially harmful environmental manipulations occur before all health and safety information is available 2) Report of adverse health outcomes potentially associated with environmental manipulation 3) Major public concern 4) Inability to establish cause and effect relationship primarily because of inadequate exposure information

28. Problems with Retrospective Exposure Assessment • Expensive • Inaccurate

29. Other impediments to obtaining information relevant to the health effects potentially caused by Marcellus Shale activities

30. Impediments • Lack of background information • Failure to ask the right questions early enough • Failure to look at entire public health picture • Urgency of environmental/economic issues • Failure to seek and engage local expertise • Failure to evaluate actions and outcomes • Multisectorial, multidisciplinary, multi-governmental, multi-everything else • Unwillingness to say “I don’t know” • Barriers caused by litigation

31. What we want from industry: • Comply with the law • Have a corporate culture that empowers all to intervene if something is not right • Respect the local culture • Understand that it is in their best interest to be open and transparent, and to anticipate real or imagined problems

33. Dr John Snow and the Broad St Pump • John Snow is famous as the “founding father” of epidemiology because of his scientific investigation of a disastrous cholera epidemic in London in 1853 which led to identification of cholera as a water-borne disease. • He is credited with removal of the pump handle from the water source that was causing the cholera outbreak

34. Dr John Snow and the Broad St Pump • In fact, Dr Snow did not remove the pump handle. Instead, he convinced the local public health authority who had it removed. • Without the action of this local public health authority, Dr Snow’s scientific achievements would today be little more than a footnote.

35. BEWARE

36. BEWARE • Pennsylvania ranks last in the United States in the size of its public health workforce • Only 6 of 67 Pennsylvania counties has a local public health authority