Bob and Lisa were told by their doctor to move out of their home withing 48 hours because it was too dangerous for them to stay after they were diagnosed with drilling chemicals in their blood and organs.
Flight for survival
Toxic emissions force family to leave home
By Brandon Evans
Lisa was treated by eight different doctors over the course of a year. A source of the sickness was never determined. In June 2009, after exhausting everything he knew medically, her internal specialist suggested that something in the environment might be causing her various ailments.
In early fall 2009, she visited an environmental doctor who confirmed the presence of neurotoxins in her blood that matched chemicals used in natural gas production.
pdf copy with photos
See below for a list of the chemicals found in Lisa's blood and in her lungs:
Chemicals in blood:
Chemicals in lungs:
- Hexane
- Pentane
- Dimethyldecane
- Butane
- etc.
Testing by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) found the identical chemicals emitting from a gas well near Lisa's home.
But more importantly, Lisa may be the first person ever who has a chemical used in hydraulic fracturing in her body.
UPDATE: In response to comments, the hydrochloric acid was not found in Lisa's gut where low levels of hydrochloric acid are normal. It is in the alveoli of her lungs. It is in the highest level her doctor has ever seen. To understand how this chemical could end up in her lungs read the Community Health Survey Results Pavillion, Wyoming Residents. When you breathe the steam from contaminated water while bathing or washing dishes, the chemicals in the water could end up in your body. "Air is the pathway of most concern" Dr. Theo Colborn.
How fracking works: Sand and water go in; natural gas comes out
Large-scale operation
As if a single frack job weren't already big enough, the 1-H and 2-H wells were fractured simultaneously, called a "simul-frack.
If you're pumping into both wells at the same time, odds are you're going to break up the rock more," Middlebrook said. The more rock fractured, the greater the gas recovery.
Some 6.5 million gallons of water and 6.5 million pounds of sand, along with 6,400 gallons of chemical additives, were pumped into the Barnett under extremely high pressure to create fractures in the shale about 8,600 feet below the surface. In addition, 52,000 gallons of hydrochloric acid was injected beforehand.
In all, the job involved 10 contractors and about 150 people on site at varying times, Middlebrook said. Each well cost $2.5 million altogether -- $1 million for drilling and $1.5 million for completion.
At one point Lisa lost her ability to stand on her own and one side of her face was drawn up like a stroke victim.
From Flight for survival
"I started to get a little sick," she said. "I thought I was getting the flu. I was just tired and achy and started going through some little problems.
"Then I started breaking out in a rash. It literally covered my entire body - my scalp all the way down to the bottoms of my feet," Parr recalled. "I made multiple trips to the emergency room. I had six doctors working on me, and they couldn't figure out what it was."
Today, her arms and legs bear pock-like scars from rashes.
If you live in the Barnett Shale, it's critical to your health and safety that you get to know your neighbors. Lisa and Bob knew their neighbors Tim and Christine Ruggiero but they weren't close until one day when Lisa saw Christine's timeline of releases (see video below) and spills at the Aruba Petroleum gas wells on their property. Lisa's medical records match Christine's timeline exactly.
Bob and Emma Parr are also sick. Bob is 50 and until last year had only experienced a nose bleed about 3 times in his life. Now his nose bleeds regularly. Sometimes Bob and Emma have simultaneous nosebleeds.
In the Barnett Shale, asthma rates are staggering. Like 25% of the children who live here, Emma Parr and Reilly Ruggiero have developed asthma. Previously, both were healthy and active.
The saddest, most tragic part of this story is that when Bob Parr built their home--stone by stone--with his own hands, he made sure his home would have clean, renewable energy. So he installed a windmill that provides clean energy to their entire home, their heated pool and a very large barn and shop.
Bob, Lisa and Emma Parr are suffering because of us, because of our energy use.
Sandra DenBraber is a nurse who once enjoyed organic gardening. She lives adjacent to the University of Texas at Arlington where UTA has leased their mineral rights and allowed drilling on their property. They even allowed drilling a few hundred feet from a day care center.
Here are the chemicals in Sandra's blood:
- Ethylbenzene
- m,p-Xylene
- Hexane
- 2-Methylpentane
- 3-Methylpentane
Here is a video of the emissions from this facility:
Sandra has a letter from her doctor saying her health problems and the chemical sensitivity she has developed are caused by the drilling chemicals from natural gas development on UTA's property.
UTA receives millions in royalties from the wells on their property. Rather than applying pressure to make Carrizo clean up their operations and protect the health and safety of students and residents, UTA has been silent. Carrizo recently provided hush incentive to UTA by donating $5M to help build a special events center. This is just one example showing how colleges and universities are participating in pollution activities.
These are only a few examples of the human shale drilling victims, I could continue listing them all day. The list of animal victims is even longer. What does that tell you folks? These chemicals are in our food chain.
It doesn't have to be this way. There are affordable emission controls that industry could use to prevent 90% of the emissions. These are some of the best practices least destructive practices described in DRILL RIGHT TEXAS: Best oil & gas development practices for Texas. Industry refuses to use control technology unless it is mandated.
Before you go all weird and start attacking Texas, have a look at this map and know that they are finding more shale areas everyday, everywhere, all across the globe. Shale gas is the biggest scam ever played on the human race.
TELL CONGRESS TO MAKE ALL GAS DRILLERS OBEY THE SAFE DRINKING WATER ACT
