No Increase in STDs Near Fracking Sites

Scott Detrow at StateImpact PA says Mike Sturla and I are wrong about dirty Texans spreading STDs near fracking sites:

The Troy Community Hospital report did reference “an increase in sexually transmitted diseases,” in the years since drilling had increased in Bradford County. But administrator Staci Covey said she was relying on anecdotal evidence, and couldn’t provide hard statistics to back up her claim.

A preliminary look at Pennsylvania Department of Health data refutes the argument that drilling communities are experiencing increased STD rates. Cases of gonorrhea and syphilis in the commonwealth’s top 11 drilling counties have remained relatively level, when you compare figures from 2006 (the year before Marcellus Shale drilling began) and 2010. And while chlamydia cases have increased in 10 of those drilling counties, they’ve also shot up in 57 of 66 counties statewide. (Philadelphia County wasn’t included in the DOH statistics.)

Fair enough, but the narrower point still holds that Texans can’t keep they junk clean:

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