A study by researchers at Clark University in Worcester, Mass., that examined whether or not Marcellus Shale fracking operations in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio are more likely to be located in poor, rural areas, found that to be the case only in Pennsylvania. “Our analysis shows that environmental injustice was observed only in
Pennsylvania, particularly with respect to poverty: in seven out of nine
analyses, potentially exposed [census] tracts had significantly higher
percent of people below poverty level than non-exposed tracts,” researchers wrote.
Researchers "mapped areas in Pennsylvania, West
Virginia and Ohio to identify areas with a lot of Marcellus Shale
hydraulic fracturing wells and then examined some local demographics:
age, poverty and education levels and race," Brian Bienkowski reports for Environmental Health News. Lead author Yelena Ogneva-Himmelberger said that in poor Pennsylvania communities, "no matter how you estimate proximity, it always came up as exposure was significantly, much higher.” (Clark University graphics)
Ogneva-Himmelberger "said the study raises environmental justice concerns as people under the poverty line often 'have less mobility and access to information' about the potential ills of fracking, especially since the communities she looked at were rural areas without the amenities of larger cities and towns," Bienkowski writes. "She also found local clusters of gas wells disproportionately impacting the poor, elderly and those with lower education in West Virginia, and children in Ohio."
A digest of events, trends, issues, ideas and journalism from and about rural America, by the Institute for Rural Journalism, based at the University of Kentucky. Links may expire, require subscription or go behind pay walls. Please send news and knowledge you think would be useful to benjy.hamm@uky.edu.
Wednesday, May 06, 2015
Marcellus Shale operations more likely to be in poor areas of Pennsylvania, but not Ohio, W.Va.
Labels:
drilling,
education,
energy,
environment,
fracking,
hydraulic fracturing,
natural gas,
poverty,
race,
rural-urban disparities
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment