DISH — Sixty-one percent of the health problems reported by residents in a survey are associated with the toxic air emissions detected here, according to an independent analysis released Thursday.

Wilma Subra, a chemist and recipient of a 1999 MacArthur Fellows Program “genius” grant, compiled and analyzed the information gathered in the survey from 31 Dish-area residents who reported some type of health problem in October and who thought those problems might be related to the air quality.

Subra tallied up the reported frequency of odor events — which ranged from one to two times per day to 24 days per month — and the types of symptoms.

The 15-page report, prepared by the nationwide nonprofit group Earthworks Oil and Gas Accountability Project and its Texas chapter, includes a breakdown of the eight participants who were smokers and the four who had a risk of occupational exposure.

Although only one resident reported not having access to a doctor and nearly all reported their general health as good, 39 percent reported frequent illnesses.

The report found that the most prevalent illnesses could be connected to those toxic emissions that were found above the state’s screening levels — from nasal irritation and nausea caused by benzene and xylene to vision impairment, muscle pain and weakness caused by sulfides.

Subra did not consider many of the dozens of chemicals found or their cumulative effects. Instead, she focused solely on the 16 chemicals detected at levels beyond the state’s screening limits.

“They aren’t just a little over the limits,” Subra said. “They’re a lot over the limits.”

Celina Romero, an environmental attorney speaking on behalf of the Texas Pipeline Association, said the industry, too, is concerned about the high levels of emissions detected.

“We don’t want that pollutant [benzene] to be generated by our activities,” Romero said.

The association recently wrote a letter to Gov. Rick Perry and legislative leaders, pledging to fund a study of the area with all stakeholders involved.

Dish Mayor Calvin Tillman said he would not participate in a study funded by the association, citing the community’s distrust of the industry. In May, an industry-funded air quality study in Dish used a mobile monitoring unit to detect leaks and reported none.

After reviewing Subra’s study, Tillman said he was surprised at the frequency residents reported smelling gas odors.

“I don’t get that many complaints,” Tillman said. “They only call me when it gets really bad.”

He repeated his call for immediate action.

“If we keep waiting, we’ll see the tangible evidence; we’ll see the leukemia,” Tillman said. “That’s not gonna happen with me, not as long as I’m breathing.”

Megan’s story

Former Dish resident Megan Collins completed the survey. Collins moved to Dish in 2005. She said her health began to deteriorate in 2006, particularly after giving birth.

She had respiratory problems, including terrible sinus infections, she said. Soon her balance was affected. Her doctor, an ear-nose-and-throat specialist, was baffled by the polyps that grew in her nose, she said.

“In an instant, they would swell and I couldn’t breathe through my nose,” Collins said. For a time, she was treated with nasal sprays, but eventually she had surgery to have the polyps removed.

The problems continued, she said, and she was told to see a neurologist, but she wouldn’t go at first. After she woke in the night, sweaty and nauseous, and blacked out in the bathroom, she made an appointment.

She went through a full battery of tests that ruled out all sorts of things, including multiple sclerosis. She went through another battery of tests after suffering a small stroke at work. Her doctors began to tell her there was nothing they could do for her, and ordered physical therapy to stem some of the balance loss and deal with the rigidity developing in her legs.

Meanwhile, her body never recovered from her second pregnancy, Collins said. She bled heavily for a year after her baby was born.

At first, she and her doctor tried hormones and endometrial ablation, but the bleeding continued. At age 30, she had a hysterectomy.

Collins moved back to Fort Worth to be closer to friends and family. She had begun to improve after the move, racking up a month of good balance scores at the physical therapist.

After Dish’s air quality study was reported in the news, Collins said she began to realize her problems could be connected to carbon disulfide.

Then a new gas well was drilled near her home in Fort Worth. After fracking began, she relapsed.

“I woke up the day before Thanksgiving staggering around the house,” Collins said. “My balance was gone again.”

Bigger than Dish

Don Young, a member of the Texas Oil and Gas Accountability Project and a Fort Worth activist, said that people outside of Dish are reporting the same kinds of health concerns to him.

“We probably already have a lot of Megans out there,” Young said. “We all have gas wells and pipelines and production facilities nearby.”

Too many public officials and civic groups haven’t grasped the depth of the problem, he said.

“I told them five years ago and they are still saying ‘wait,’” said Young, who launched a Web site, Fort Worth Citizens Against Neighborhood Drilling Ordinance, in 2005, saying urban drilling would affect the environment, human health and safety.

Recommendations

The report includes a set of recommendations for state and local officials to address the problems.

Subra recommended that when state health officials conduct tests of Dish residents early next year, the comprehensive battery include blood and urine tests that can measure the specific chemicals detected in the air.

She also recommended that the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and the Railroad Commission of Texas increase their tracking of “operational upsets,” including spills, releases and permit violations.

TCEQ should also set up a network that takes continuous measurements of the chemicals, air pollutants, sulfur compounds and weather conditions in Dish, Subra said.

Young said he’s worried that one of the recommendations, a process that allows a community to document odors and symptoms, while sorely needed, will completely overwhelm public health officials.

“This year, a lot of people have been telling me, complaining, about respiratory problems they’ve never had before, or their asthma’s back after 20 years,” Young said. “There are lots of anecdotal reports like that.”

PEGGY HEINKEL-WOLFE can be reached at 940-566-6881. Her e-mail address is pheinkel-wolfe@dentonrc.com.

BY THE NUMBERS

* Number of Dish residents: 125

* Number who completed a survey: 31

* Number of households represented: 14

* Percent reporting respiratory ailments: 71

* Percent reporting frequent illnesses: 39

* Percent of health problems connected to the toxins: 61

SOURCE: Subra Co. survey

ON THE WEB

Learn more about the work of the Texas Oil and Gas Accountability Project, and read Wilma Subra’s full report online at www.earthworksaction.org/Texas_OGAP.cfm