To: The Nevada State House, The Nevada State Senate, and Governor Steve Sisolak

Nevada's Public Health is at Risk La Salud Pública de Nevada Está en Peligro

Hydraulic fracturing (fracking) is a method of natural gas extraction that is proving to be very detrimental to public health.

One of our goals as a nation and as a state is to protect public health. It is imperative we know the implications of hydraulic fracturing on our citizens in order to make an informed decision about this industry conducting business in Nevada.

A moratorium is needed in order to allow science time to study the method further.

La fracturación hidráulica es un método de extracción de gas natural que está resultando ser muy perjudicial para la salud pública. Una de nuestras metas como nación y como estado es proteger la salud pública. Es imprescindible que sepamos cuáles son las implicaciones del fracturación hidráulica para nuestros ciudadanos para tomar una decisión informada sobre el funcionamiento de esta industria en Nevada. Se necesita un moratorio para dar tiempo a la ciencia a que siga estudiando el método.

Why is this important?

This is an urgent issue because 350,000 acres of Nevada land has been sold with more due to be auctioned and fracking is set to begin this year.

In states where hydraulic fracturing is occurring such as Pennsylvania, Ohio, Wyoming, and Texas, evidence of cancer, asthma, neurological issues, and death as a result of contamination have been documented. Some of those studying these risks are scientists and professors at Cornell, UC Berkley, Yale, Harvard, and Penn State (to name a few).

Another critical risk is to our food supply. Livestock deaths from fracking fluids seeping into pastures pose serious risks to our food supply: 1) the cattle can directly enter our food supply by being sent to slaughter 2) they can be ground up into feedstock and fed to pigs and chickens which then enter our food supply. Another issue is contaminated crops through seepage of fracking fluids onto farmlands.

There are numerous pathways of contamination that puts public health at risk. If we fail to allow time for research, the costs associated with these could far exceed any projected revenue from drilling.

Nevada wants a moratorium in order to allow science time to study the potential risks of hydraulic fracturing.

Esta cuestión es urgente porque se han vendido unos 350,000 acres en Nevada y hay otros que están a punto de ser subastados, y se proyecta que fracturación hidráulica va a comenzar este año. En los estados en que se está practicando la fracturación hidráulica, como Pennsylvania, Ohio, Wyoming y Texas, hay evidencia documentada de cáncer, asma, problemas neurológicos y muerte producida por la contaminación. Entre los que están estudiando estos riesgos hay científicos y profesores de Cornell, UC Berkeley, Yale, Harvard y Penn State (entre otras universidades).