Cancer victims compel state to fund $3 million studies seeking link to gas wells

An impassioned confrontation by pediatric cancer patients and their families in Harrisburg this week led Gov. Tom Wolf to announce a pair of studies into potential health issues caused by natural gas drilling, the governor said Friday.

“It hit me in the heart and it also hit me in the head,” Wolf said of the families’ in-person pleas Monday at the Capitol. “This is something that we need to do — we need to understand the science.”

The push for the studies came from the families of dozens of children and teenagers in Southwestern Pennsylvania who have been diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma and other cancers. Questions are being raise particularly in Washington and surrounding counties, where energy companies have drilled more than 3,500 wells in the past decade.

“I’m a strong supporter of the gas industry, but I’m also a strong supporter of making sure we do it right,” Wolf said hours after announcing the studies. He said it’s also a way to show concern for the families affected by the diseases.

The Pennsylvania Department of Health in March said rare Ewing sarcoma cancers that struck 12 children and young adults in southeastern Westmoreland County between 2011 and early 2018 did not reach the threshold to be considered a statistically significant cancer cluster.

In October, the state health department reported that a new study found a slight increase in the expected number of cases of Ewing sarcoma, a rare bone cancer, among girls in Fayette, Greene, Washington and Westmoreland counties.

Ewing sarcoma is not known to have any environmental causes, and gas industry officials have said there is no evidence linking pediatric cancer to drilling and fracking.

The families affected disagree.

Wolf, himself, said he does not believe that natural gas drilling caused the illnesses, “but that’s what we want to find out.”

The $3 million pair of studies will each take three years.

One will use existing research linking gas drilling to conditions such as asthma and see if those findings can be replicated in Southwestern Pennsylvania. The other will look specifically at any possible ties between exposure to fracking and pediatric cancers.

Families also had asked Wolf to place a moratorium on drilling, but he disagreed with that portion of the request.

“I understand and support the concerns of parents and desire of community members to learn more about the possible reasons for these cancer cases,” Wolf said.