STAND WITH SCIENCE: Calling on Rich Fitzgerald

Making the connections -- 

fracking/pipelines/plastics 

and 

health/environment/climate/human rights 

an open letter to Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald

Pennsylvania and adjacent states have long been a sacrifice zone for fossil energy extraction — oil, coal, and natural gas — and now we are being asked, with your backing, to sacrifice our health and environment for the production of plastics, as well.  Where will this end?  

You have stated that “We believe in science around here.”  However, while claiming to be climate-aware, you have done little to address the climate crisis, and you’ve been a longtime cheerleader for fracking and petrochemical development in our region.  The science is mounting to demonstrate how damaging these industries are to human health, local economies, and the climate.  With the industry spreading through our region, the time is right to change your stance.  

Now that the science is clear — details below — we ask that you issue a statement withdrawing your support for the fracking and petrochemical industries;  that you endorse the new PA bills HB1353/SB645, HB1354/SB644, and HB1355/HB646 to close the hazardous waste loophole;  and when relevant County legislation comes before you (like the ban on fracking in County parks now in Council), that you stand on the side of public health and a sustainable economy with your decision.  These are among the facts you can marshall to protect the citizens you have sworn to represent:

• The International Energy Agency has determined that in order to preserve a livable climate, there can be no further investment in fossil energy extraction.  The Shell ethane cracker will emit half as much CO₂ as the city of Pittsburgh, so just this one plant will undo our laudable climate goals.  And with thousands of new gas wells needed to provide ethane for the plant in the coming years, even more climate-disrupting carbon dioxide and methane will be emitted elsewhere —  meaning more heat waves, cold snaps, and big storms.  In addition to all the present and future impacts of climate change itself, most air pollution is directly linked to fossil fuels.  A recent study out of Harvard  found that 1 in 5 early deaths worldwide are due to ultrafine particle pollution from fossil fuel combustion.  That’s 8 million people a year — of which about 300,000 are people in the U.S. who die prematurely from fossil fuel pollution every year — half as many as we’ve lost to COVID over the past 14 months, but this is year after year after year!

• Shell’s plant in nearby Beaver County will also emit up to 500 tons of VOCs (volatile organic compounds) each year, and 30 tons of hazardous air pollutants, including known carcinogens like benzene, toluene, and formaldehyde.  About one in five Pennsylvanians die of cancer, and Allegheny County is already in the top 2% for cancer risk across the nation due to hazardous air pollutants.    Similarly, Beaver County residents, living even closer to the plant, are beginning to realize what they’re in for.  

• The cracker plant requires the construction of an ethane pipeline system crossing the Ohio River, many other sensitive areas including the headwaters of the Ambridge Reservoir (which serves 30,000 people in 11 municipalities), and regions prone to landslides that can lead to explosions.  And if Shell has cut corners during construction of the Falcon Pipeline, this danger is multiplied.  Other fracking and pipeline companies engaged in projects that feed these petrochemical plants have come under criminal investigation.  If the state Grand Jury Report is too full of legalese, check out the more intimate narrative in Amity and Prosperity: One Family and the Fracturing of America, by Eliza Griswold.  And the situation is not improving;  pipeline incidents are occurring just about every day.

• Fracking has been shown to contaminate residents’ bodies with endocrine-disrupting chemicals that can affect both birth outcomes and the male reproductive system.  Physicians for Social Responsibility’s report speaks out against natural gas, and in collaboration with Concerned Health Professionals of New York, they compile the annual Fracking Science Compendium,  now with more than 1700 peer-reviewed studies demonstrating these hazards.  And the evidence continues to accumulate;  a more recent study from Oklahoma confirms these health impacts.  Here in Pennsylvania, Act 13 setbacks have been shown to be drastically insufficient to protect public health.  

• Shell and its various subsidiaries have demonstrated disregard for the health of construction workers and the community during the coronavirus pandemic (for instance, transporting groups of workers in shuttle buses).  This is not surprising given Shell’s long record of troubled dealings around the world — suppressing science on climate change, leaving environmental messes (in the US, on our shores, off the UK coast, and beyond), participating in exploitative labor practices, fomenting human-rights abuses, and generally being a bad neighbor.   

• Again with little regard for the safety of workers or residents, radioactive material from fracking operations has been spread throughout the region.¹⁸

• What is this all for?  The plant will produce up to 1.6 million tons per year of polyethylene pellets called “nurdles” — much of which will become wasteful single-use plastics.  This will escalate the global plastics crisis — by 2050 there will likely be more plastic in the oceans than fish!  Long-lasting plastics break up into smaller pieces easily mistaken for food, and harm life all the way up the food chain.  Microplastics have been found in every Pennsylvania waterway tested in a recent survey,  in drinking water around the world, and even in our bodies.

• You and many others have pointed to jobs as the reason for our region to take on this burden.  However,  there will be more jobs in a renewables-based economy.  And despite huge subsidies at taxpayer expense,  economic benefits of the natural gas industry are transient and uneven because of the boom-bust character of resource extraction;  promised jobs haven’t materialized and indeed there’s a net decrease!   The whole industry is on shaky financial grounds,  and its future is uncertain. 

• Meanwhile, in Pennsylvania, the influx of out-of-state workers has also led to increased crime; out west it has exacerbated the MMIW crisis (Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women), on top of the health hazards we know all too well.

At least four more ethane cracker plants are under consideration as the industry seeks to turn the tri-state region of Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ohio into a huge petrochemical hub.  The region where this industry has held sway for decades, in Louisiana, is known as “Cancer Alley”!  Is this what we want for the Ohio River Valley?  Is it what any leader wants for a legacy?  We are urging you to do all you can to help in the transition to clean renewable energy and away from single-use plastics.  

The undersigned individuals and community groups ask you, Mr. Fitzgerald, to detail your response to the intertwined pollution, climate, and plastics crises — and to publicly withdraw your support from the fracking and petrochemical development of our region.  

Thank you, 

350 Pittsburgh -- Elise Yoder, Steering Committee

Allegheny CleanWays -- Myrna Newman, Executive Director

Allegheny County Clean Air Now (ACCAN) -- Angelo Taranto, secretary/treasurer

ATM & RiverCubes -- Bob Johnson, Founder

Beaver County Marcellus Awareness Community (BCMAC) -- Marcia Lehman, Executive Board

Berks Gas Truth -- Karen Feridun, Founder

Better Path Coalition -- Karen Feridun, Co-Founder

Breathe Project -- Matthew Mehalik, Executive Director

Center for Coalfield Justice -- Veronica Coptis, Executive Director

Citizens to Protect Oakmont -- Edward J. Grystar

Clean Air Council -- Joseph Minott, Executive Director and Chief Counsel

Climate Reality Pittsburgh & Southwestern Pennsylvania -- Marcel Minutolo, PhD, Chair

Communities First Sewickley Valley -- Gail Murray

Concerned Health Professionals of New York -- Carmi Orenstein, MPH, Program Director

Concerned Ohio River Residents -- Ben Hunkler, Organizer

CREATE Lab -- Ana Hoffman, Director of Air Quality Engagement

Dickinson For Congress Committee -- Jerry Dickinson, Candidate for Congress

Dream of the Earth -- Karen Bernard, President

Environmental Health Project -- Alison L Steele, MBA, Executive Director

Extinction Rebellion Pittsburgh -- Shelly Smiley, Social Media coordinator

Fireman Creative -- Paul Fireman, President

Food & Water Watch -- Megan McDonough, Pennsylvania State Director

Fossil Free Pitt Coalition -- Abhishek Viswanathan, Organizer

FrackFreeMahoning -- Maria Montez

FracTracker Alliance -- Brook Lenker, Executive Director

FreshWater Accountability Project -- Leatra Harper, Managing Director

Friends For Environmental Justice -- Elaine Tanner, Program Director

Garfield Community Farm -- John Creasy, Executive Director

Granny Peace Brigade -- Gayle Morrow

Green Deeds LLC -- Lee Willard, Owner

Green Party of Allegheny County -- Kelly Kuzemchak, Chair

Green Party of Butler and Venango -- Michael Bagdes-Canning

Green Sanctuary Team at First Unitarian Church of Pittsburgh -- Peg Schmidt, Co-Chair

Group Against Smog & Pollution (GASP) -- Rachel Filippini, Executive Director

Health Coach -- Raleigh Taylor, Owner

Heartwood -- Matt Peters, Administrative Coordinator

Henry Family Farm -- Dale Henry, Owner/Operator

Indivisible Grassroots Pittsburgh -- Debra Fyock, Co-Manager

Institute for Green Science (IGS) -- Terrence Collins, PhD, Director (Teresa Heinz Professor of Green Chemistry)

IPAK-EDU -- James Lyons-Weiler, PhD, Chancellor

Izaak Walton League of America - Allegheny County -- Mike Stout, President

KiRi - Energy Healing and Transformational Ceremony -- Kathy Evans-Palmisano, President

Lawrenceville Clean Air Now -- Emily Cleath, Co-Founder

Local Authority Western PA (LAWPA) -- Debra Borowiec, Co-ordinator

Marcellus Outreach Butler -- Michael Bagdes-Canning, Planning Group

NoPetroPA -- Mark Dixon, Co-Founder

Ohio Poor People's Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival -- Mary Aguilera

Ohio River Guardians -- Mary Aguilera

Ohio Valley Environmental Resistance (OVER) -- Greg Kochanski, Steering Committee

Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition (OVEC) -- Vivian Stockman, Co-Director

Open Up -- Tessa Karel, Board President

Pennsylvania Alliance for Clean Water and Air -- Jenny Lisak, Co-Director

People Over Petrochemical Coalition (POPCo) -- Kelsey McNaul, Coordinating Team

Physicians for Social Responsibility Pennsylvania -- Tammy Murphy, Advocacy Director

Pittsburgh Democratic Socialists of America -- Prem Rajgopal, MS, Ecosocialist Chair

Pittsburgh Mennonite Church Sustainability Group -- Phoebe Sharp, Stewardship Advocate

Pittsburgh Vegan Society -- Sean Moundas, Co-Organizer

Pittsburghers Against Single-Use Plastic (PASUP) -- Dianne Peterson, Steering Committee

Plant-Based Pittsburgh -- Sally Lipsky, Founder/President

Project CoffeeHouse -- Barbara Jarmoska, President

Protect Elizabeth Township -- Jill Taylor, Business Manager

ProtectPT -- Lois Drumheller, Board Chair

Putting Down Roots -- Maren Cooke, PhD, Founder

Quiet Creek Herb Farm & School of Country Living -- Claire Orner, VP Steward

Rail Pollution Protection Pittsburgh (RP3) -- Barbara Talerico and Glenn Olcerst, Esq., Co-Founders

Recycle This Pittsburgh -- Sabrina Culyba, Editor

Responsible Drilling Alliance (RDA) -- Robert Cross, President

Scenius LLC -- Ron Gaydos, Principal

Steiner Learning Design -- Mary Ann Steiner, Owner

Strollo Sound -- Christopher Strollo, Owner/Operator

Sustainable Monroeville -- Elisa Beck, Founder

The Earthling's Handbook -- Rebecca Stallings, Author and Site Editor

The Farmer's Wife -- Margaret Henry, Owner/Operator

The Thomas Merton Center -- Gabriel McMorland, Executife Director

Thou Art: The Grounding Lab Art Studio -- Margaret Baco, Creative Director

Three Rivers Waterkeeper -- Bryce Aaronson, Interim Executive Director

Thrive_At_Life: Working Solutions -- Peggy Ann Berry, CEO

Upper Burrell Citizens Against Marcellus Pollution -- Ron Slabe

Westmoreland Marcellus Citizens' Group -- January Milburn, President

Women for a Healthy Environment -- Michelle Naccarati-Chapkis, Executive Director

and

Chris Abell

Diane Abell

Edith Abeyta

Tara Alexander, CPD

Ward Allebach, MS

Lori Altenderfer 

Diana Ames

Laurie Anderson

Jacqueline Apone

Mary Ruth Aull, RN, BSN

Val Bader

Kenneth Ball

Jennifer Bannan

Eva Barinas

Emily Barlow

Robert Baron

Terrie Baumgardner

Stanley Beck

John Beres, RN

Nancy Bernstein, MPH

Molly Berntsen

Fred Bickerton

John Blau

Julie Boetger 

Lois Bower-Bjornson 

Bailey Bowers

Barbara Wendeborn Brandom, MD (ret.)

Marcia Brissett

Margaret Bupp

Seth Bush

Patrick Campbell, M.Div

Paul Carlson

Mae Catino

Connie Cavara

Ryan Chadwick 

Darren Cheng

Jennifer Clark

Frayda Cohen

Alex Cole

Nicholas Coles, PhD (Associate Professor)

Ellen Conrad

Carla Cooke, MALD

Bruce Cooper

Maureen Copeland

Sally Coulson

Holly Cox

Joyce Crock

Zelda Curtiss, JD

Stentor Danielson, PhD (Associate Professor)

Dan Davis

Mo Dawley

Roger Day, ScD (Professor Emeritus)

Lucyna de Barbaro

Darlene Dech

Ann E. Deely

Maura Deely, BS (Environmental Science)

John Deeney, PhD (Professor Emeritus)

Emily De Ferrari

Patricia DeMarco, PhD (Forest Hills Borough Council VP)

John Detisch

Julie DiCenzo

Jill Diskin

Neil McPherson Donahue, PhD (Lord Chair and University Professor)

Alice Doolittle

Larysa Dyrszka MD

Sheridan Edmondson, MS

Andrew O. Ellis

Eleanor Emmons-Apt

Robert Errett

John Fallon

Nita Fandray (Post-Gazette reader)

Ruth Fauman-Fichman

Christopher Fazio

Marge Fekete

Julie Ferringer

Michele Fetting

Gaye Fifer

Kate Fissell

Sarah E Flanders

Sandra Fox

Ayres Freitas

Margaret Fried Whelan

Shannon Frishkorn

Martha Funderburgh, MPH

Sharon Furlong

Catherine Gammon

Ashley Gehlke, CRNP

Peter E. Gilmore

Albert Giovanazzi

Dinnie Goldring

Carol Gonzalez

Henry Gonzalez

Michael Goodhart, PhD

Ellie Gordon

Hamish Gordon, PhD (Assistant Research Professor)

Tatiana Grosu

Barbara Grover, PhD

Cecelia Hard

Frances Harkins

Greta Harmon

Jane Harter

Volker Hartkopf, PhD, M.Arch (professor emeritus)

Patricia Hawkins

Laurie Heller, PhD

Laura Henderson

William A. Hendricks

Marci Henzi

Faith Hersey 

Sarah Hertweck

Colin Hill

Harry Hochheiser, PhD (Associate Professor)

Tom Hoffman

Sharon Hoffman

Josh Homa

Rhea Homa

Matt Hornfeck

Alan Horowitz, PhD

Rob Hosken

Kathryn Hunninen

Jno L Hunt

Travis Hunter

Ginny Iadicicco

Lisa Ireland

Todd Ireland

Laura Jacko

Erica Jackson

Jeff Jaeger

Lydia Jahl

Natalie Jellison

Coty Jen, PhD (Assistant Professor)

Virginia Johnson 

Janis Johnson 

Jocelyn Johnston

Ilyas Khan

Brennan Kaye

Timothy Patrrick Kelly

Cynthia Kirsch 

Walt Kochirka

Dee Kochirka 

David Kolonay 

Sonia Kowal

William Kownacki

Fred Kraybill

Kathleen Krebs

Maria Kretschmann

Marie Kruszewski 

Jenny Kuhn

Claudette Kulkarni, PhD

Marie Kundrat

Adrien Lagasse

Eric lagasse

Françoise Lagasse

Jennifer Lakin 

Eric Lantzman

Nancy Lapp

Susan Largent

Deborah Larson

Diane Lassman

Corey Layman

Javin Lee-Lobel

Miriam Lindauer

Barbara Litt, MS

Vivian Loftness, FAIA, LEED AP, CPHC (Paul Mellon Chair and University Professor)

Tim Lucas

Heather lyle

Deirdre Lynch

Elizabeth Lynch

Ian MacLellan

Megan L MacLellan

Andreas Maihoefer

Mary Beth Mannarino, PhD (Professor Emeritus)

Guillaume Marcais

Katherine Max

Sheila May-Stein

Nicole McCaffrey 

Jason F McCullough

Gale McGloin

Danielle McGuire

Kelsey McNaul

Kelly McQueston

Todd Medema

Rachel Meyer

Kenneth Alan Miller

Leandra Mira

Rachel Mole, MSE

Sandra Monteverde 

Joanne Mulé

John Nagle, PhD (Professor Emeritus)

Rachel Nawrocki

Rachael Renzy Neffshade

Matthew Nemeth

Linda Neumann

Richard Neumann

Gail Neustadt, MA

Kathleen Newman, PhD (Associate Professor)

Robert Nishikawa

Marianne Novy

Mary Obringer

Mel Packer

Dana Palmisano

Tim Pearce, PhD

Dianne Peeling

Marta Pelusi

Elizabeth F. Perkins

Anaïs Peterson

Dottie Peterson

Cindy Phelps

Kari Pohl RN, BSN

Randi Jeannine Pokladnik

Helen Podgainy Bitaxis, MD

Bonnie Prady

Andrew Puglionesi

Ryan Pusch, MDiv

Martha Raak, MA

Douglas Rabuzzi

Jessie Ramey

Jack Read

Jack Rearick 

Barbara Recker, RN, MSN, MPH

Perry Recker, M.Phil

Timothy Reick

Thomas E. Reilly, Esq.

Barbara J. Reilly

Timothy Resciniti

Jo Resciniti

Abby Resnick

Eva Resnick-Day

Ray Roberts

Nancy Robinson 

Kara Roggenkamp

Emily Rollins

Nazmul Rony

Jen Roof

Ann Rosenthal

Jennifer J. Ross

Elizabeth Rotz

Edie Rudolph

Kathy Ruffing

Edith Ruiz

Molly Rush

Mary Rush

Cheyenne S

Pouné Saberi

Tamara Sacks

Abby Samuels

Neal Samuels

Symone Saul

Paul W Scanlon

Hilary Schenker

Barton Schoenfeld

Elizabeth Schongar

Caitlin Schroering, PhD

Greg Schubert

Janet Seltman

Audrey Marie Semel, MPH

Douglas Shields

Sydney Shoff

Dana Siler

Elise Silvestri

Daniel Sleator, PhD (Professor)

Debra Smit

Brenda Lynn Smith

Shannon Smith

Brittany Spinelli

Robert P Sroufe

Suzanne Staggenborg

Judith Starr

Barbara Steinberg

John F Stolz

Janet Strahosky

Rebecca Studer, PhD

Ryan Sullivan, PhD (Associate Professor)

Cecile Sun, PhD (Professor)

Jennie Sweet-Cushman

Naomi Swerdlow

Merrily Swoboda, PhD

Tiffany Taulton

Molly Tighe

Stephanie Ulmer

Peri Unligil

Alexander VanLaningham

Tonyeh Verkitus

Nick Viggiano

Victoria A Vose

Joan Wagman

Garret Wasserman, MS

Suzanne E Watters

Kenneth Joseph Weir

Loretta Weir

Evalynn Welling

Leslie Wessner

Kathie Westman

Christine Weyant

Jason Alan White-Wiedow

Linda Willhide

M. Kathleen Winter, PhD, MPH, RN

Dawn Winters, PhD

Justin Wojtkowski

Peter Wray

Edward Wrenn, M.D.

Mitchell Zotter

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https://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2021/01/21/senator-ted-cruz-paris-climate-accord-pittsburgh/

https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/c-change/news/fossil-fuel-air-pollution-responsible-for-1-in-5-deaths-worldwide/

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https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140988321001286

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https://www.fairplanet.org/dossier/eco-crimes-shell-and-the-niger-delta/

https://abcnews.go.com/Health/toxic-oil-found-half-million-dollar-california-homes/story?id=10647662

https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/news/north-sea-oil-rigs-concrete-legs-oil-sediment-shell-decommissioning-a7567956.html

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http://priceofoil.org/2020/10/08/stretching-back-a-decade-shell-is-once-again-brought-to-court-over-landmark-pollution-case/

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https://www.npr.org/2021/01/29/961997652/shell-ordered-to-compensate-nigerian-farmers-affected-by-oil-spills

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https://time.com/4186250/ocean-plastic-fish/

https://pennenvironment.org/news/pae/new-report-microplastics-found-100-percent-tested-pennsylvania-waterways

https://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/publications/microplastics-in-drinking-water/en/

https://www.forbes.com/sites/victoriaforster/2020/08/18/microplastics-found-in-human-organs-for-the-first-time

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https://newrepublic.com/article/161937/fossil-fuel-companies-job-killers

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https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1752928X21000214  

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/apr/04/navajo-nation-fracking

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/oct/11/plastics-appalachia-next-cancer-alley-fracking-public-health-ethane