The rapid expansion of oil and gas development across the nation endangers the environment as well as the health of every human being exposed. Fracking, the process of drilling down into the earth before a high-pressure water mixture is directed at the rock to release the gas inside, has prompted environmental concerns. Environmentalists say potentially carcinogenic chemicals used may escape and contaminate groundwater around the fracking site. During the process, water, sand and chemicals are injected into the rock at high pressure which allows the gas to flow out to the head of the well. The term fracking refers to how the rock is fractured apart by the high pressure mixture.
Health impacts from fracking are being examined by health experts, since such large-scale drilling is a recent phenomenon. Exposure to toxic chemicals even at low levels can cause tremendous harm to humans’ endocrine system, which is highly sensitive to chemical exposures. Nevertheless, many of the health risks from the toxins used during the fracking process do not show themselves immediately, and require studies looking into long-term health effects.
Occupational Safety and Health Administration, OSHA, as well as occupational medicine physicians have discovered an increasing amount of fatalities linked to oil and gas extractions at fracking sites in the USA. Nine deaths between 2010-2015 have been reported, and every victim was working alone, not confined, at the fracking site during oil tank gauging and sampling. During the investigations following these deaths, it was discovered that fracking may have exposed the workers to extremely high concentrations of “hydrocarbon gases and vapors”, and deprived the workers of oxygen.
Weak safeguards and insufficient supervision have allowed oil and gas producers to run roughshod over communities across the country with their extraction and production activities for too long, resulting in contaminated water supplies, dangerous air pollution, destroyed streams, and devastated landscapes.
If you or a loved one has been unknowingly exposed to escaped chemicals due to fracking, you may be entitled to compensation. The attorneys at the Madeksho Law Firm have thorough knowledge and experience and will work to help you obtain what you deserve.
