Josh Eisenfeld: We need a government that listens to the people
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After a two-year investigation, Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro released the findings of the Statewide Investigating Grand Jury looking into misconduct by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).
The report found that the DEP “did not do enough to properly protect the health, safety and welfare of the thousands of Pennsylvania citizens who were affected by this industry” and outlined a number of recommendations, including increasing the minimum distance between fracking and homes and closing the revolving door between DEP and the industry. All of these recommendations are made in good faith but they miss the point. People were ignored, gaslit and sent home with no hope that their government will protect them. Our democracy is crumbling and communities are paying the price. No bullet points or action items can fix that.
This report validates the experiences of families living along fracking’s front lines who have been ignored and dismissed for more than a decade. It echoes what we have said all along: polluters are exploiting communities throughout our region and flouting the most basic health protections, while elected officials on both sides of the aisle and agencies sworn to protect us turn a blind eye. This isn’t about the environment, it is about basic human rights. It is about access to justice. It is about democracy.
Shapiro shared stories of children with uncontrollable bleeding and rashes caused by contaminated bathwater, stories that are unfortunately all too common for those living alongside petrochemical infrastructure. He explained that when people called the DEP for protection, they were threatened for filing a false complaint. They were told they were crazy and they were abandoned when they needed help most.
We thank Shapiro for leading this investigation and shedding light on these abuses that have been swept under the rug. But permits are still being approved and fracking is still happening without legitimate oversight. Those in power must now be held accountable for the failures outlined in this report and must take action to rebuild the democracy they have destroyed.
To restore our commonwealth we need more than politics as usual. We need our leaders to listen to the people who they have ignored. They deserve more than a political stunt and a pivot to a new direction of safe fracking. The people need to have a say in what happens next.
Josh Eisenfeld is a steering committee member for People Over Petro Coalition and marketing director for Fair Shake Environmental Legal Services.