Last Friday Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf announced $3 million from his administration will fund a pair of studies to explore the potential health effects of the natural gas industry, responding to pleas made by the families of pediatric cancer patients who live in the most heavily drilled region of the state, according to the Midland Reporter-Telegram.

Although they haven’t been directly connected to the oil and gas industry, there have been dozens of cases of children and young adults diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma and other forms of cancer in a four-county area outside Pittsburgh. Within this area, companies have drilled 3,500 wells since 2008.

The families of those that have been affected by Ewing sarcoma had been pressing the Wolf administration for an investigation into any possible link between the rare form of bone cancer and shale gas development prior to Wolf’s allocation of funds into research.

Learn more: Midland Reporter-Telegram > Pennsylvania to fund research into fracking health dangers