5 Reasons Why Health Impact Assessments Will Benefit Shale Communities

摘要

Unconventional oil and gas development (UOGD, shale development or "fracking") is occurring across the U.S. It is an industry that can, and does, build its infrastructure in close proximity to residences, workplaces and schools. Local governments are often in the position of permitting sites, but are at a disadvantage when it comes to objective information about the proposals they must decide upon. This paper presents the argument that local governments and community groups can use a Health Impact Assessment model to structure their approach to decision-making on the complex set of factors that define shale gas and oil sites. Many types of facilities and operations make up the infrastructure. Each produces emissions of multiple air or water toxics. Furthermore, sites can be near to one another so that a home or school can be subjected to more than one site's emissions. Over the past few years, research on the industry's emissions, individual and community exposures, and health effects associated with exposure, has grown considerably. Much more is now known about the content and patterns of emissions and exposures. Similarly, much more is known about associations between exposures and health impacts such as respiratory, neurologic, and developmental conditions. A well-constructed health impact assessment will help decision-makers apply existing scientific findings to their deliberations rather than rely primarily on the information provided in a company's permit application and associated materials.