Gas drilling health study continues collecting data in Pa.

Katie Colaneri

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Katie Colaneri is a reporter for StateImpact Pennsylvania and WHYY in Philadelphia covering energy and the environment. Before joining StateImpact, Katie worked as an investigative and enterprise reporter at WBGO in Newark, New Jersey. She covered some of New Jersey's biggest stories including the devastation and aftermath of Hurricane Sandy in 2012 and Tropical Storm Irene in 2011, as well as the day-to-day triumphs and struggles to revitalize state's largest city. A native of New Jersey with roots in South Central Pennsylvania, Katie holds a bachelor's degree from Wellesley College.

January 2, 2014 | 1:26 PM

The Associated Press has an update on Geisinger Health Systems’ ongoing public health study on natural gas drilling in Pennsylvania:

Geisinger spokeswoman Patti Urosevich said in an email that the project has collected Pennsylvania data on traffic and accidents, air pollution emissions, and the locations of thousands of gas wells and more than 600 compressor stations, which feed the gas through pipelines.
Urosevich wrote that once the data warehouse is complete, researchers will be able to identify and investigate trends by merging health information with data such as geography, traffic, or the environment.
Guthrie Health, of Sayre, and Susquehanna Health are other major partners in the study, and as a group they have access to detailed health histories of hundreds of thousands of patients who live near wells and other facilities that are producing natural gas from the underground Marcellus Shale formation.

The Geisinger study includes more than 40 researchers from 16 different organizations. Earlier this year, the Sunbury-based Degenstein Foundation gave a $1 million grant to fund the research.
The first phase of the study is expected to be completed over the next three to five years. Last March, the Associated Press reported New York’s decision on whether to allow natural gas drilling may hinge on Geisinger’s results.
It is one of a few privately-funded research projects focused on whether natural gas drilling in Pennsylvania is having an impact on public health, including the Southwest Pennsylvania Environmental Health Project and a study from the University of Pennsylvania’s Center of Excellence in Environmental Toxicology. Funding for state-led public health research was cut from Act 13, the 2012 overhaul of the Pennsylvania’s drilling laws.