Pa. health official clarifies new gas-drilling law
ALLENTOWN (AP) — The state’s top health official has assured doctors that Pennsylvania’s new Marcellus Shale gas-drilling law will allow them to talk to their patients about proprietary chemicals used in the hydraulic fracturing process — and share the information with public health agencies and regulatory bodies as they see fit.
The Pennsylvania Medical Society started questioning the new law almost two months ago, and on Wednesday issued a statement saying that Health Secretary Dr. Eli Avila had clarified the issue in a letter.
The Associated Press reported last week that doctors worried the confidentiality provision was too vague, and on last-minute negotiations that stripped up to $2 million in new Health Department funding for research on the public health impacts of gas drilling.