Cause of Neonatal Deaths in Uintah County, Utah?

On Feb. 19, 2013

Study finds oil and gas causing pollution problem in eastern Utah Environment » $5M Uinta Basin study IDs causes of winter pollution, but leaders aren’t quite ready to act.

Source:Study finds oil and gas causing pollution problem in eastern Utah

Aren't quite ready to act? Seriously? There seems to be serious consequences to this procrastination. They also seem to be limiting it to winter months only. These deaths take place all throughout the year.

On May 7th, 2014

The rate of neonatal mortality appears to have climbed from about average in 2010 to six times the national average in 2013, according to Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment.

Source: Is air pollution causing Vernal’s neonatal deaths to rise?

Additional articles on the subject matter:
State to Investigate Infant Mortality in Uintah County
Experts discuss possibility air quality a factor in Uintah Co. stillbirths
Advocates question if baby deaths in Vernal are linked to pollution

There seems to be a leaning towards the environment being the cause of these neonatal deaths. Some participants at the meeting felt that the meeting organizers wanted to exclude the possible causes and just focus on wether or not the numbers had any validity at all.

Could this be death by bureaucratic negligence? Could it be a coverup for something greater? Am I missing something here? Does it really have anything to do with the hundreds, if not thousands, of oil and gas wells nearby? Is it a coverup paid for by corporate dollars? Is it sabotage to wreak havoc on the gas and oil industry? Is it the oppressing blanket effect of the chemtrails causing dangerous exhaust to compress into greater concentrations? Is the town doomed because it sits in a topographical pocket prone to trapped exhaust?

I know this part may seem off the wall, but lets not forget that Skinwalker Ranch is close by. The Vernal, Utah area has many secrets, mysteries and not surprisingly... coverups. What the heck is going on in Vernal, Utah?

These poor parents who have lost loved ones deserve some answers.

My fellow ATS'ers, I welcome your insight.

Mods, feel free to move this thread into a more proper category if you see fit.

I am amazed nobody seems interested in this post......the facts indicate that theres a big problem brewing in Unitah county....thanks for the update.....looks like another cover up is in the offing there.....

a reply to: Bloomoon

Does it really have anything to do with the hundreds, if not thousands, of oil and gas wells nearby?

Probably.

Out of sight, out of mind.chemical list

I heard somewhere they even use uranium isotopes in drilling operations to track emissions from the ground water to nearby rivers and streams.

I think massive health consequences are only beginning to show behind this most recent form of industry.

"Drill Baby, drill."

a reply to: Bloomoon

This should be a wake-up call for the rest of the nation!

Seems like every day we're hearing of yet another downside to drilling for oil & gas, not to mention the recent explosion of horizontal fracking using chemical mixtures who's makeup is classified as "proprietary information" and deemed to be corporate secrets that even the EPA doesn't have access to.

From earthquakes to air pollution to groundwater contamination and now neonatal deaths, who knows what negative impact we'll discover next?

The whole while, the big energy companies are running nonstop commercials that are supposed to convince us that all this domestic drilling & fracking for fossil fuels is the best thing since the creation of sliced bread. Yeah right! This is only the beginning.

And to think that these people who "aren't quite ready to act," call themselves "leaders."

Check out this map of oil & gas wells in Uintah County from April, a year ago. Scroll down to south of Vernal and it looks like a pin-cushion. The blue dots are oil wells, the red dots are gas wells, the green dots are dry holes and the black dots are service wells.

www.co.uintah.ut.us...

Sounds like a really serious problem that needs to be recognized, publicized and addressed immediately.

F&S for the OP!

This is so terrible!!

If pollution from fracking is the cause...drag those responsible into hell. Companies, politicians - everyone who enabled this flawed method.

a reply to: Bloomoon

So I actually live in Utah. And I live in Salt Lake County where the pollution is actually the worst. There are times of the year that our particles per foot (or whatever they call it) are the highest in the entire world! We even pass up China many days of the year.
The reason they are focusing on the winter is because that is when the inversion is so severe the city looks like it's in a constant state of disgusting fog - but it's actually pollution. You can taste it in the air. It tastes like exhaust.
They have been working pretty hard at driving down our pollution, but are laying the blame entirely on cars. Not the massive refineries. However, in Uintah county, the refinery that was causing the worst has been shut down for a good 10 years (Geneva Steel - which btw, was the biggest polluting refinery ON EARTH until they shut it down, and guess what? China bought it. So the entire thing was dismantled piece by piece to be rebuilt in China). In Uintah County, the biggest pollutant actually is the cars. And you have to realize, Uintah county has on average, larger families. So that means multiple things.
1) SUVs, Trucks, Vans.... large vehicles with bad gas mileage that spew out more pollution. (Also due to the amount of snow we get 6 months out of the year)
2) Where there are more babies - the higher the mortality rate will be.

It's like saying power lines cause cancer, when in reality if there are power lines, that means there is a population, and the more lines, the more people... the larger the chance for cancer. If that makes sense.

I'm NOT saying that it isn't a part of it. It is. Definitely. When you can't breathe as an adult, you can guarantee children are having an even harder time. Our environment affects us on a cellular level. There are more and more children being born with asthma and chronic lung issues. People who leave Utah and come back end up with severe allergies because of the air quality and dryness.
I even have a pollution mask I wear when running outside during the winter.

The hard part about fixing the pollution in Uintah county is it HAS to come from the people. They HAVE to make a change. (I say THEY because I'm already driving a hybrid). However - that means basically forcing people into a clean-air vehicle. And a clean-air vehicle means less gas being used. Which means less taxes being paid. The economic repercussions could be very dramatic.
In fact, there is a bill on the drawing board to cause hybrid owners to pay higher taxes because we aren't using as much gas, which translates to less taxes to be used for the roads, etc.
So first, they want to give a tax break for hybrids - and then they realize... uh oh... less money in our pockets - TAX TAX TAX!

SO - all that said, it could be one reason why it's being held off. The money that comes with the refineries and oil and gas and taxes... all of the above.

originally posted by: stirling
I am amazed nobody seems interested in this post......

Thanks for caring enough to comment. Maybe society has reached a point where it is numb to death of babies.

originally posted by: intrptr
a reply to: Bloomoon
I heard somewhere they even use uranium isotopes in drilling operations to track emissions from the ground water to nearby rivers and streams.

Thanks for caring enough to comment. Powerful video!!! They're using uranium isotopes in drilling operations?!?!? How is that safe? I'm betting that the threshold to safety is taking a back seat to the economic aspect of it.

originally posted by: Flatfish
a reply to: Bloomoon

Check out this map of oil & gas wells in Uintah County from April, a year ago. Scroll down to south of Vernal and it looks like a pin-cushion. The blue dots are oil wells, the red dots are gas wells, the green dots are dry holes and the black dots are service wells.

www.co.uintah.ut.us...

Thanks for caring enough to comment. I appreciate your detailed thoughts. That map says a lot. I had no idea there were that many. How do the workers survive such conditions? I agree with you.

originally posted by: CeeRZ
a reply to: Bloomoon

So I actually live in Utah. And I live in Salt Lake County where the pollution is actually the worst.

Thank you for taking the time to comment. I appreciate the details that you took the time to share. If you're able to come up with the numbers, can you figure out what the neonatal fatality rate is in your area where the pollution is actually worse?

originally posted by: Bloomoon

originally posted by: CeeRZ
a reply to: Bloomoon

So I actually live in Utah. And I live in Salt Lake County where the pollution is actually the worst.

Thank you for taking the time to comment. I appreciate the details that you took the time to share. If you're able to come up with the numbers, can you figure out what the neonatal fatality rate is in your area where the pollution is actually worse?

Here you go:

Salt Lake County area where the pollution is the worst

2008-2012


1998-2008


As compared to Uintah County: (It wouldn't create a pie chart for some reason)
2008-2012


1998-2008

originally posted by: CeeRZ

originally posted by: Bloomoon

originally posted by: CeeRZ
a reply to: Bloomoon

So I actually live in Utah. And I live in Salt Lake County where the pollution is actually the worst.

Thank you for taking the time to comment. I appreciate the details that you took the time to share. If you're able to come up with the numbers, can you figure out what the neonatal fatality rate is in your area where the pollution is actually worse?

Here you go:

Salt Lake County area where the pollution is the worst

2008-2012


1998-2008


As compared to Uintah County: (It wouldn't create a pie chart for some reason)
2008-2012


1998-2008

Hmm, its suspect that it wouldn't generate a pie chart for Uintah County. I wonder if its a technical glitch or is somebody hiding something? Sorry, i had to ask.

Are you able to dig up data for 2013? According to one of the articles: The rate of neonatal mortality appears to have climbed from about average in 2010 to six times the national average in 2013, according to Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment. Source

a reply to: Bloomoon

This is the website I was using

SOURCE

originally posted by: CeeRZ
a reply to: Bloomoon

This is the website I was using

SOURCE

Thank you. They're a bit anal with their Data Use Agreement.

There's another article released. It appears the study might be doomed to fail.

Is Utah study of infant deaths designed to fail? Environment » Tying air pollution to poor birth outcomes in tiny Vernal no small chore, say experts.

Another disturbing element to this story...

Young documented 11 instances in 2013 when a Vernal-area mother gave birth to a stillborn baby or the baby died within a few days of birth. That year there were two other infant deaths, as well as a fetus lost after more than 20 weeks’ gestation. Four of these infants were born to mothers who lived within a block of the same intersection.

Source

Four of them in the neighborhood of the same intersection? *jaw drop*

a reply to: Bloomoon

If they are talking Vernal, I would DEFINITELY be looking for something other than pollution. The pollution in the Vernal area is as low and normal as most every place.

There is one thing to explain about Utah, and it's something that drives me crazy, but the whole state does it. When something "exciting" happens - for some reason Utah decides to make it about them.
Example - when any shooting or disaster takes place, all of a sudden Utah tries to say the same thing is happening here....when it isn't. Drives me batty. Like a child who needs attention.
Vernal doesn't have bad air quality.... compared to the rest of the state, and honestly - the rest of the country. Is there states with better air, yes. However I wouldn't even put it on the upper 1/2 of bad air quality in the country. So for them to assume it's air pollution.... I think it's a waste of time trying to say it is. However - the fact there has been an increase leads me to think there IS something going on, specific to Vernal. Maybe the water? Maybe something else.
For example, Tooele (Two-ill-uh) (semi close to downtown Salt Lake City, but on the other side of a mountain range) has a lot of birth defects and autism... linked to radiation.

So, I'm guessing there is definitely something to the claims - numbers don't lie. But I highly highly doubt it has anything to do with the pollution (when it comes to Vernal)

originally posted by: CeeRZ
a reply to: Bloomoon

If they are talking Vernal, I would DEFINITELY be looking for something other than pollution. The pollution in the Vernal area is as low and normal as most every place.

I struggle with this perception. The deeper I dig, the more I find that there might be a greater underlying problem than many realize. They're waiting for science to catch up to the issue. There was a recent multi-prong study by several agencies. Their primary focus was on ground-level ozone. Its not the particulate-based, visible-type smog that we're accustomed to, but just as harmful to human health. I wouldn't be quick to dismiss air pollution as not being the problem.

The $5.5-million study involves more than 30 scientists, who are trying to determine what causes high concentrations of ground-level ozone during the winter in the Uintah Basin.

Ozone levels spiked in the winter of 2010-11, reaching levels that were nearly twice the federal threshold.

Source

This is an impressively large study that took place in Vernal. Somebody knows something more than they're telling the rest of us. I think that its sad that babies have died. Its criminal in my opinion that the environment may have been the cause. I wonder if anyone would have noticed if it wasn't for the person who picked up on the spike in neonatal deaths. Neonatal deaths aren't tracked very well according to some of the things that I have read. This could have flown under the radar for several more years before anyone really noticed greater health issues to the general population.

The neonatal deaths appear to have spiked to six times the national average in 2013 according to one of the previously referenced articles. This spike may have taken place after the conclusion of one of the biggest environmental air quality studies ever conducted within the State of Utah.

While it may seem like one of the cleanest-air communities around, there's possibly an invisible pollutant (ozone) that is causing greater harm. If anything, expecting moms should be cautioned to the potential risks.

a reply to: Bloomoon

There IS one thing in Vernal that is much higher.... Radon. And that could be huge link to the ozone issue too, obviously.

However, radon doesn't seem to be linked to neonatal deaths in the research papers I've briefly looked at - it's linked to cancers. But that doesn't mean there isn't a connection.

a reply to: CeeRZ

That is quite possible. I hadn't thought of that. Thank you for bringing that up. We need all of the possibilities brought to the surface in order to possibly grasp what is truly going on.

I wonder if its not a combination of things. Each issue (ozone, radon, etc.) by itself has known effects. It might be easy to dismiss them individually. Is it possible that a combination of two or more issues creates a "perfect storm" scenario?

I would hate for these babies to be thought of as being parallel to canaries in a mine, but their deaths should not be in vain. All of the babies had families looking forward to creating happy memories together. If we can curb future deaths, I believe that we will have made a positive change.

Thank you for continuing to contribute to the thought pot. We need more thinkers like you.

a reply to: Bloomoon

The bigger fear is that it won't or can't be fixed. I was talking to a friend who graduated with a PHd in environmental research. She said the biggest issue is starting the research. If you have two things that correlate, often times the research ends up being considered biased, and unusable.
For example - there is a rare skin cancer that affects a very small portion of people. But over 90% of all this particular cancer comes from workers at a facility in Florida. So, they have a perfect idea of where to begin their research - but there is already a preconceived idea that this particular cancer is being caused by a specific environmental/work hazard, and therefore the research will mean nothing. It's biased.

THat way of thinking doesn't make sense to me. If there is no connections to be made, who is to even think to research it??