Perhaps the only thing more heartbreaking than the string of child cancer cases in Washington County in recent years is the total lack of accountability by the region’s elected officials. A quick look at the political landscape makes it easy to understand why. State Senator Camera Bartolotta and State Representatives Jason Ortitay and Tim O’Neal all owe their political existence to campaign money from the oil and gas industry, with O’Neal even working in the industry before being elected. Not surprisingly, they collectively assumed the mantle as ardent defenders of the companies operating in and around their districts. Nowhere has this been more apparent than in response to the public outcry over the cancer cluster in Washington County. Bartolotta, Ortitay, and O’Neal: The Oil and Gas Industry’s Three Stooges The…
