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Members of the Legislature’s Public Safety Committee were told Monday that local natural gas drilling in the Marcellus shale will likely produce more above-ground emergency incidents—many stemming from human error—and social effects arising from an influx of drilling workers.

Dr. Theodore Them, MD, Chairman of Occupational Medicine at the Guthrie Health Care System in Sayre, PA, also holds Masters degrees in Science and Public Health and a PhD.  In an hour-long presentation to the committee, he spoke not only from his background in occupational medicine, but also from many years of experience as a geologist, who is familiar with drilling operations throughout the country and with Marcellus hydraulic fracturing operations during the past decade in nearby Pennsylvania.  Public Safety chair Nathan Shinagawa invited Dr. Them to advise the committee on public safety and emergency preparedness issues related to drilling in the Marcellus shale.

The gas drilling, Them said, boils down to a matter of risk versus benefit.  With the highly concentrated natural gas supply in the Marcellus shale, he cautioned that too much political pressure exists for the gas not to be extracted:  “The question is not ‘if’, it’s ‘when’,” he said, “…the trick is getting it out safely.”  While much focus has been on chemical hazards, the doctor suggested that “most problems will be above ground”—related to aspects including transportation, deliveries, and dilution of substances.  And he predicted that most hazards “are going to be people, rather than chemicals” related to human error, since “mistakes kill.”  He advised that the drilling will produce “what you have now, but a lot more of it”—more people, traffic, movement, trucks, and accidents.

Based on his experience in other locations, Them advised that an influx of new workers will create  social issues such as increased crime, drug and alcohol problems, traffic, housing shortages, school overcrowding, poaching, and the related effects to an infusion of new money to landowners, including an increased number of scam artists.  Of the workers who will come in to drill the gas, Them said, “These are hardened, tough, heavy-duty people who are used to a hard life,” with “enough bad applies to create a problem.”

Danby Town Supervisor Ric Dietrich, who has been involved in the Tompkins County Council of Governments’ efforts to assess potential effects Marcellus drilling would have on the area and its local governments, expressed concern that there is much for local responders to do to prepare within a relatively short time.

County Director of Emergency Response Lee Shurtleff stressed that the area’s emergency responders are committed and well prepared to protect their communities, and to handle a full range of challenges, and will continue to train and prepare to handle the potential increased volume of events that drilling could eventually produce.

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