Sherry Vargson, who leased the mineral rights under her Pennsylvania farm to an energy company, demonstrates that methane has leached into her well water by lighting the water on fire as it pours from her kitchen sink.
MCMURRAY, PA —When several unrelated patients visited McMurray, Pa.-based plastic surgeon Amy Paré, MD, she initially was unsure what to make of the bleeding, oozing legions covering their faces.
The wounds were not cancerous, but the inflammation was severe and becoming worse. Dr. Paré’s suspicions grew when she learned that the patients lived near the same natural gas drilling site. Tests later found that the patients had phenol and hippuric acid in their urine, two contact irritants rarely found in humans. The patients improved after they stopped drinking water from their underground wells.
‘Knowing what chemicals they had been exposed to would have sped up the process’ of treating the patients, said Dr. Paré, who specializes in treating skin conditions.”
— Alicia, Gallegos, American Medical News
