A proposed study of people in northern Pennsylvania could help
resolve a national debate about whether the natural gas boom is
making people sick. The study would look at detailed health
histories on hundreds of thousands of people who live near the
Marcellus Shale, a rock formation in which energy companies have
already drilled about 5,000 natural gas wells. If the study goes
forward, it would be the first large-scale, scientifically
rigorous assessment of the health effects of gas production.
Secret Weapon: A Very Large Database recent years, there have
been lots of anecdotal reports about people who say they have
been harmed by the chemicals associated with gas wells and the
drilling technique known as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.
But "there doesn't seem to be a lot of hard data to either
support or refute those claims," says David Carey, associate
chief research officer of the Geisinger Health System, which
provides care to more than 2 million Pennsylvanians.