Pennsylvania health care system tried to study shall-gas drilling impact

A major Pennsylvania health-care system invited New York to participate in a long-term, extensive study of shale-gas drilling's human impacts, but a partnership never materialized.

The February 2013 invitation from a Geisinger Health System administrator was among thousands of pages of documents recently released by the state Department of Health regarding its ongoing review of hydraulic fracturing.

The trove of documents includes dozens of outside studies on fracking, as well as some limited correspondence with state officials. In one 2012 letter, New York's top environmental regulator declined a meeting with famed consumer advocate and third-party presidential candidate Ralph Nader.