During the craziness of political seasons it is not unusual for politicians to attack regulatory agencies. It is part of the mantra of small-government Republicans, especially when regulations get in the way of big business. We’ve seen Wall Street lobbyists grousing at the Dodd Frank bill that was designed to rein in the excesses of the financial industry. We’ve seen the oil and gas industry lobbyists trying to play nice and be more transparent about fracking chemicals, while screaming for the death of the EPA, which has been studying the impacts of fracking on water.

But I’ve never heard a politician saying that the Center for Disease Control should be dismantled.  I think we can expect some arrows flying in that direction when the powerful oil and gas industry gets wind of what Christopher Portier, director of the National Center of Environmental Health at the CDC had to say recently.

“We do not have enough information to say with certainty whether shale gas drilling poses a threat to public health … More research is needed for us to understand public health impacts from natural gas drilling and new gas drilling technologies.”

Portier went on to say that there should be testing of water wells both before and after fracking, as well as studies to determine if it is safe to eat animals or fish that drink or swim in impacted surface water. He expressed concern that there are no scientific studies or medical standards to define symptoms caused by oil and gas activities.

Bringing it even closer to home, Dr. Portier’s agency consulted on the health studies conducted in Garfield County relative to breathing air close to oil and gas fields.

The involvement of the CDC in looking at fracking has not been widely reported, but the attacks on them surely won’t wait until the public knows about their concerns.

Homework

Dodd Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act

Story about CDC Concerns About Fracking

Agency for Toxic Substance and Disease Registry

ATSDR Consulted on Garfield County Health Survey