Fracking might be as damaging as thalidomide, tobacco and asbestos, UK’s Chief Scientific Adviser warns in new report: “In all these and many other cases, delayed recognition of adverse effects incurred not only serious environmental or health impacts, but massive expense”

Annual Report of the Government Chief Scientific Adviser 2014. Innovation: Managing Risk, Not Avoiding It. Evidence and Case Studies by David Bennett, Graeme Collinson, Mike Edbury, Elizabeth Surkovic and Jack Wardle for UK Chief Scientific Advisor Mark Walport, November 2014, Government Office for Science.

History presents plenty of examples of innovation trajectories that later proved to be problematic — for instance involving asbestos, benzene, thalidomide, dioxins, lead in petrol, tobacco, many pesticides (see case study), mercury, chlorine and endocrine-disrupting compounds, as well as CFCs, high-sulphur fuels and fossil fuels in general. In all these and many other cases, delayed recognition of adverse effects incurred not only serious environmental or health impacts, but massive expense and reductions in competitiveness for firms and economies persisting in the wrong path. As discussed in Chapter 1, innovations reinforcing fossil fuel energy strategies — such as hydraulic fracturing — arguably offer a contemporary prospective example.

Our assessment is that we do not currently have an effective and sufficiently precautionary framework. …

In effect, any response to environmental risks that result in any restriction on the industry was ruled out from the start. [Emphasis added]

2014 11 Innovation, Managing Risk, Not Avoiding It Annual Report UK Chief Scientific Advisor

Fracking risk compared to thalidomide and asbestos in Walport report, Historic innovations that have been adopted too hastily with grave unforeseen impacts provide cautionary examples for potential side effects of fracking, says report by government’s chief scientist Mark Walport by Adam Vaughan, November 28, 2014, The Guardian
Fracking carries potential risks on a par with those from thalidomide, tobacco and asbestos, warns a report produced by the government’s chief scientific adviser. … The controversial technique, which involves pumping chemicals, sand and water at high pressure underground to fracture shale rock and release the gas within, has been strongly backed by the government with David Cameron saying the UK is “going all out for shale”.

Thalidomide was one of the worst drug scandals in modern history, killing 80,000 babies and maiming 20,000 babies after it was taken by expectant mothers.

Fracking provides a potentially similar example today, the report warns: “… innovations reinforcing fossil fuel energy strategies — such as hydraulic fracturing — arguably offer a contemporary prospective example.”

The chapter, written by Prof Andrew Stirling of the University of Sussex, also argues that the UK and the world could tackle climate change with energy efficiency and renewable energy alone but vested interests in the fossil fuel industry stand in the way.

There is a “clear feasibility of strategies built entirely around energy efficiency and renewable energy”, the report, published earlier this month, says. “Yet one of the main obstacles to this lies in high-profile self-fulfilling assertions to the contrary, including by authoritative policy figures.”

“In energy… the obstacles to less-favoured strategies [such as energy efficiency and renewables] are typically more commercial, institutional and cultural than they are technical. Among the most potent of these political obstructions are claims from partisan interests — such as incumbent nuclear or fossil fuel industries — that there is no alternative to their favoured innovations and policies.” [Emphasis added]

UK’s Chief Scientist Compares Fracking to Thalidomide and Asbestos by James Byrne, November 28, 2014, inhabitat.com

The U.K. government’s chief scientific adviser, Mark Walport, argues in his flagship annual report that there are many examples throughout history where the hasty adoption of new technology has had disastrous impacts on health and the environment – and he suggests fracking could be one of them. Walport says in no uncertain terms: “Fracking carries potential risks on a par with those from thalidomide, tobacco and asbestos.”

Fracking could be as damaging as thalidomide, tobacco and asbestos, government’s Chief Scientific Adviser warns in new report, The report fears fracking could prove to be another innovation that takes society in the wrong direction by Lewis Smith, November 28, 2014, The Independent
Fracking has the potential to be as controversial and as damaging as thalidomide, tobacco and asbestos, a report from the government’s Chief Scientific Adviser warns. The technology has been developed to help oil companies extract gas trapped in shale rock but, the report fears, it could prove to be another innovation that takes society in the wrong direction.

The report, the Annual Report of the Government Chief Scientific Adviser 2014. Innovation: Managing Risk, Not Avoiding It. Evidence and Case Studies, said that while innovations and technological advances are to be welcomed, they need to be fully assessed.

“It is not only important that innovation be efficient and competitive in any particular direction. It is also crucial for economic and wider social wellbeing that the prioritized directions for innovation are as robustly deliberated, accountable and legitimate as possible,” it stated.

“An economy that fails to do this exposes itself to the risk that it will become committed to inferior innovation pathways that other more responsively-steered economies may avoid. In other words, innovation may ‘go forward’ quickly, but in the wrong directions.”

It added: “Whether deliberate or inadvertent, each direction for innovation is a social choice involving issues of uncertainty, legitimacy and accountability as well as competitiveness.

Greenpeace UK’s energy campaigner, Louise Hutchins, described the report as a “naked emperor moment” for the government. “Ministers are being warned by their own chief scientist that we don’t know anywhere near enough about the potential side effects of shale drilling to trust this industry,” she told The Guardian. “Ministers should listen to this appeal to reason and subject their shale push to a sobering reality check.” [Emphasis added]

Fracking toxins may be as dangerous as tobacco, asbestos & thalidomide – UK chief scientist by Gareth Fuller, Reuters, November 28, 2014, rt.com
The effects of fracking could be as dangerous as asbestos, thalidomide, or tobacco toxins, the UK’s leading scientist has warned, claiming the government has adopted the process without considering the side effects.

In a flagship report produced by Professor Sir Mark Walport, the government’s chief advisor on science policy, it is warned that fracking could have serious negative impacts on health and the environment that could last for decades.

Sir Walport also said the government is putting too much faith in fracking, and that historical examples of cheap energy extraction often ended up causing more damage to the environment in the long-term.

“History presents plenty of examples of innovation trajectories that later proved to be problematic — for instance involving asbestos, benzene, thalidomide, dioxins, lead in petrol, tobacco, many pesticides, mercury, chlorine and endocrine-disrupting compounds,” he writes in the report.

“In all these and many other cases, delayed recognition of adverse effects incurred not only serious environmental or health impacts, but massive expense and reductions in competitiveness for firms and economies persisting in the wrong path.”

The report, published on Friday, is a huge blow to the British government, which has touted fracking as the best means to produce energy in the future.

Earlier this month, Energy Minister Matthew Hancock dismissed claims that fracking would damage the environment, and that shale was “essential” for economic growth. “This new initiative is part of the long-term economic plan that this government continues to work through,” he told the House of Commons.

Sir Walport’s report also compares fracking to thalidomide – a dangerous chemical that was adopted in a number of drugs in the 1950’s and 60’s, particularly those aimed at pregnancies and childbirth. As a result, the drug killed over 80,000 babies and 20,000 expectant mothers before it was withdrawn in 1961.

The report also suggests the UK needs to invest more money into clean and renewable energy, and that it should focus more on conservation instead of the means of energy production. Additionally, it suggests that too much decision making regarding UK energy production is being directed by “public policy figures.”

“In energy…the obstacles to less-favored strategies [such as energy efficiency and renewables] are typically more commercial, institutional and cultural than they are technical. Among the most potent of these political obstructions are claims from partisan interests — such as incumbent nuclear or fossil fuel industries — that there is no alternative to their favored innovations and policies,” the report says.

The report comes just weeks after warnings from the think-tank UK Energy Research Centre that the British government is “over hyping” the value of fracking and shale extraction, similarly arguing that it needs to focus more on renewables. [Emphasis added]

[Refer also to:

2014 11 08: UK Public Health Report Admits Harm for Residents Living Near Fracing

2014 10 30: Study: Toxic Chemicals, Carcinogens at Levels Far Exceeding Federal Limits Near Frac Sites, Will almost certainly lead to cancer increase in surrounding areas

2014 10 02: New Study: The more natural gas wells in an area, the more residents end up in hospital

2014 10 01; Why was a 2012 Health Canada Report, admitting significant health hazards and risks to groundwater and air from hydraulic fracturing, kept from the public?

2014 09 29: U.S.Centers for Disease Control Preliminary Study: Finds dangerous levels of benzene in frac workers’ urine; Imagine the urine of children living beside frac’ing

2014 09 15: The Parrs’ $2.9 Million jury verdict on frac harm stands: “Dallas County court last week denied Aruba Petroleum Inc.’s request for a new trial”

2014 08 18: Frac’ing could threaten air quality, workers’ and public health, University of Maryland report says

2014 08 05: the Real Cost of Fracking: How America’s Shale Gas Boom Is Threatening Our Families, Pets, and Food

2014 Bamberger and Oswald The Real Cost of Fracking How America's Shale Gas Boom is Threatening Our Families Pets and Food

2014 07 21: Germany EPA Frac Report Released: Risks Associated with Fracing are Too High

2014 07 10: Compendium of scientific, medical, and media findings demonstrating risks and harms of fracking (unconventional gas and oil extraction)

2014 06 24: Alberta Energy Regulator should be ashamed, AER Directive 60 Deregulation as the frac poisons ramp up

2014 06 24: Pennsylvania health officials ordered to ignore fracking-related health complaints

2014 06 03: Chief NSW scientist Prof Mary O’Kane recommends ‘ban on fracking’ in Sydney Water catchment area if health risks can’t be known for certain

2014 04 18: Alberta Moves to Strike Down Ernst’s Fracking Lawsuit, Landmark case could spark a flood of litigation against the province, lawyer argues

Crown counsel argued that Alberta landowner Jessica Ernst’s case could inspire ‘millions or billions of dollars worth of damages’ in subsequent lawsuits against the province.

An Alberta government lawyer argued in court this week that Jessica Ernst’s lawsuit on hydraulic fracturing and groundwater contamination should be struck down on the grounds that it would open a floodgate of litigation against the province.

“There could be millions or billions of dollars worth of damages,” argued Crown counsel Neil Boyle.

2014 04 16 Drumheller Court w Justice Wittmann

Drumheller Court sketch, Ernst v. Alberta Government

2014 04 13: New study links fracking to birth defects in heavily drilled Colorado, Risks of some birth defects increased as much as 30 percent in mothers who lived near oil and gas wells

2014 04 03: Legal brief filed with court in Harrisburg, PA, regulator “practice” not to issue violation notice, fines, formal contamination determinations where shale gas/frac companies reach private (“gagged”) settlements

2014 04 01: Rates of childhood leukemia and lymphoma in Flower Mound are significantly higher than expected,” University of Texas gas-drilling study re-examines link between fracking and Flower Mound’s ‘cancer cluster’

2014 03 11: CBM in Australia contaminates aquifer with uranium at 20 times the safe drinking water levels; Regulator does not test for thorium, radon and radium. Thorium and radon known to cause lung cancer

2014 03 11: Canada’s National Pollutant Release Inventory [NPRI] Oil and Gas Sector Review; Chemicals injected and fugitive or venting emissions by oil and gas industry exempt from reporting

2014 02 11: Alberta workplace fatalities close to record numbers in 2013, led by a near doubling of fatalities caused by occupational disease

Slides below from presentation by Geoffrey A. Clark and Colin Murray WorkSafeBC:

2014 06 24 Oil & Gas Industry Worker Exposure to Drilling Fluids2014 06 24 Health Effects of drilling fluids2014 06 24 Base constituents of Concern2014 06 24 Common additives to drilling fluid

2014 06 24 Occupational Sampling Results from Industry2014 06 24 Other Hazardous Substances in Drilling

Complete WorkSafeBC presentation

December 20, 2013: Pennsylvania Supreme Court Says It’s Unconstitutional For Gas Companies To Frack Wherever They Want; Act 13, Gas Industry Takeover Law thrown out by State’s Highest Court

“By any responsible account,” [Pennsylvanian Supreme Court] Chief Justice Castille wrote, “the exploitation of the Marcellus Shale Formation will produce a detrimental effect on the environment, on the people, their children, and the future generations, and potentially on the public purse, perhaps rivaling the environmental effects of coal extraction.”

2013 09 Slide by Larysa Dyrszka impacts that may be associated with health effects from hydraulic fracturing environmental stressors

Slide from presentation by Larysa Dyrszka MD, September 2013

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