I wouldn’t wish living next to an active frack site on my worst enemy. The low humming noise, bright lights, and vibrations keep you up all night. The foul smells fill your home and your lungs.
But worst of all, the constant worrying slowly consumes you. How will the proven health risks of industrial oil and gas operations manifest in my family? Will I develop asthma? Will this exacerbate my migraines? Will my child be eventually diagnosed with cancer? Every nose bleed, headache, or cough fills you with dread and anticipatory anxiety.
In 2021, just a few months after buying our first home in Erie, my husband and I learned that 3 sizable fracking sites had been approved just outside our new neighborhood. The sites, with a total of 28 wells, plus compressors, tanks and other equipment, were approved in 2017 and 2019…