Report finds increases in accidents, arrests and STDs in rural Pennsylvania counties with fracking

The rate of heavy-truck accidents, sexually transmitted diseases and incidents of disorderly conduct increased in rural counties in Pennsylvania after the commercialization of hydraulic fracturing in 2005, according to Food and Water Watch, a Washington, D.C.- based consumer lobby, the Daily Yonder reports. The study compared data from 2000-05 and 2005-10 to compare changes in the 23 rural counties with hydraulic fracturing to the 12 rural counties where it doesn't. (Food and Water Watch graphics)

The average number of heavy-truck crashes per year in heavily fracked counties (at least one well for every 15 square miles) rose from 284 from 2000-05 to 304 from 2005-10, an increase of 7.2 percent, while the number of accidents in counties with no fracking fell 12.4 percent after fracking began in 2005, according to the report. Disorderly conduct arrests in heavily fracked counties rose from 1,336 to 1,564, an increase of 17.1 percent, compared to an increase of 12.7 percent in other rural counties. The average reported cases of chlamydia and gonorrhea was 62 percent greater in heavily fracked rural counties than in rural counties with no fracking.

The report says, "The shale oil and gas boom generates tangible social costs that undermine the quality of life in rural communities. Communities and states must take these real costs into account when they consider approving controversial new oil and gas fracking. These fracking-associated social costs further demonstrate the shortsighted investment and expansion of dirty fossil fuels." To read the full report click here.