Lynn Ringenberg

My View

To make well-informed decisions, policy makers must have comprehensive, unbiased and accurate information. There were some untruths presented to the Senate Environmental Preservation and Conservation Committee last week on Senate Bill 318, perhaps based on lack of knowledge concerning fracking or misunderstanding of the bill. Regardless, the Committee and the citizens of Florida deserve the truth.

The truth is that hydraulic fracturing, is bad for human health and the environment, and cannot be practiced safely or adequately regulated.

Current scientific research and peer-reviewed medical literature published by The Concerned Physicians of New York and Physicians for Social Responsibility in 2015 found no evidence that fracking can be practiced in a manner that does not threaten human health – views shared by the Florida Medical Association and the American Medical Association.

SB 318 calls for a million dollar study to determine if fracking can be safely done in Florida. This is wasteful nonsense. Seventeen states and more than 82,000 fracking wells operating nationally haven’t figured out how to do it safely. It is inherently dangerous; the wellheads leak methane – a potent greenhouse gas; many of the chemicals used are toxic and carcinogenic; the radioactive-laden wastewater needs safe disposal (reported to be 280 billion gallons in 2012). Then there is trucking noise, diesel pollution and work site accidents.

The majority of chemicals used in fracking have no baseline safety studies or data sheets for reference by medical personnel, many chemicals remain “trade secrets,” and the OSHA has little oversight or ability to police the industry.

The EPA Science Advisory Board, found that the EPA’s primary conclusion to its June draft study – that fracking has not caused “widespread, systemic impacts on drinking water resources in the United States” – isn’t supported by the cited data, which has gaps and deficiencies. A new study is expected this month.

Contamination of air and water from fracking activities cause harm to public health, ranging from headaches, nose bleeds and skin rashes, to serious neurologic problems, increase in miscarriages, infertility, birth defects, potential for cancer, reproductive issues, developmental problems and premature births.

Natural gas extraction does not make us safer as a nation, as the senators were told; compression stations, transport and storage sites are easy targets for terrorists. The safest place is in the ground for use when and if it’s ever needed.

Tremendous amount of potable water needed for drinking and agriculture are used during the fracking process. In Colorado, the amount of potable water used “was enough to meet the water needs of nearly 200,000 Denver households for a year.” When our water becomes contaminated or runs out…then what?

Fracking, like cigarettes, damages health. Policymakers must understand the health risks, and move to implement health protective policies.

The best prescription for a healthy Florida is keeping fossil fuels in the ground!

Lynn Ringenberg, M.D., is a physician who has practiced medicine for more 35 years in Florida, and is now president of a nonprofit that works on issues that are the gravest threats to human health.