Individuals and Organizations, please use the form below to sign the letter to Governor Tom Wolf. Those of you signing on for organizations, please provide the name of the organization and indicate if you are authorized to sign on for your group. If you don't know, please ask leaders of your group. Individuals, there's no need to fill out the organization and authorization fields.

Dear Governor Wolf,

For several months, we have appealed to you to take the cancer crisis in southwestern Pennsylvania seriously. We have asked you to conduct an independent investigation into the spike of rare childhood cancers, to stop shale gas activities until fracking can be ruled out as a correlating factor, and to simply show up to meet the people who have been so profoundly affected and hear their stories.

The most you offered was a meeting at Canon-McMillan High School on October 7 that neither you nor Secretary of Health Rachel Levine attended, but which featured instead a panel that was woefully unprepared to address the public’s concerns. It was a shameful reflection of your indifference.

Your absence on October 7 was conspicuous. The anger was palpable at the meeting. Cancer patients, their families, and concerned parents who want to know what they can do to prevent their children from being the next to be diagnosed were provided no answers from their government. Many were unable to even ask their questions of the panelists, as the session was poorly facilitated, the questioning abruptly cut off, and the meeting unceremoniously brought to a close.

You have excused your inaction by putting the burden of proof on those who suspect that fracking may be in some way connected to these cancers. This sets the bar for what will compel you to act impossibly and irresponsibly high. Given the wealth of scientific documentation showing the array of health and environmental harms linked to fracking, this is an unconscionable position to take as the public health crisis is unfolding before your eyes.  

Rather than siding with the industry, given its goal of profitability, and placing the burden of proof on your constituents, who already carry the burden of the cancer crisis and the fear of the ongoing environmental health impacts, we implore you once again to follow through with your own words and truly “defer to the expertise of the health professionals who have devoted their careers to ensuring that the public is protected from health risks.”

We urgently call on you to be the champion for children’s health that every Pennsylvania resident expects from their governor.


Background: (these are hyperlinks in the formatted version of the letter)

May 14 Post-Gazette report, The Human Toll, revealing 46 cases of rare cancers
June 17 letter to Governor Wolf calling for an investigation into spike in rare childhood cancers
June 19 response from Governor Wolf announcing he would not investigate cancers
August 1 letter to Secretary Levine from EHP critiquing PA/CO study Governor Wolf cited in response
October 1 letter to Governor Wolf calling on him to attend 10/7 DOH meeting
October 7 video of press conference and DOH meeting
Compendium of Scientific, Medical, and Media Findings Demonstrating Risks and Harms of Fracking (Unconventional Gas and Oil Extraction)