What is Fracking?

Fracking is the shortened version of hydraulic fracturing. It is “The process of injecting liquid at high pressure into subterranean rocks, boreholes, etc. so as to force open existing fissures and extract oil or gas.”

Doesn’t sound too bad until you get a little more information. The first item in Google is:

Why is fracking dangerous for the environment and people? Unfortunately, this process can go wrong, and if the oil or gas wells are not built sturdily enough, they can leak and contaminate groundwater. “Flowback” water can contaminate streams and water supplies.

Why is fracking dangerous for the environment and people?

I personally know of landowners who had fracked water dumped near their property. The results of this have killed animals, mature and new trees, and now had ruined the land for new growth, likely for many years.

Dumping frack water on roads is an abomination to humans, animals, birds, and Mother Earth.

Fracking is a get-rich-quick scheme that has long-term costly effects.

Stop Spreading Brine

I join the many Ohio citizens who are outraged by the spreading of radioactive oil and gas waste in Ohio communities. Ohio Department of Natural Resources tests confirms high levels of radium 226 & 228 in brine from oil and gas production wells. Brine is used on some Ohio roads as a de-icer and dust suppressant, where it gets into the soil, can be tracked into homes, or becomes airborne as radioactive dust and can contaminate drinking water sources and agricultural products.

Results from both sets of tests have revealed that this waste contains dangerously high levels of cancer-inducing radioactivity.

Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Oil and Gas Brine TEST RESULTS Radioactive levels of radium 226 and 228 in brine from 151 oil & gas well samples. Results* Conventional (vertical, shallow) wells, 118 sampled. Results – 66 to 9602 pCi/L* Horizontal (deep) wells, 25 sampled. Results – 173 to 3264 pCi/L Out-of-state (brine disposed of in OH), 8 sampled. Results – 54.6 to 9798 pCi/L * Picocuries: a measure of the intensity of radioactivity; piC/L reflects the intensity of radioactivity per liter of water. ODNR has long maintained that brine spreading is safe because the waste used is produced by conventional wells and not unconventional horizontal wells. As we suspected all along, this statement is not true; waste from conventional wells can be highly radioactive. The testing proves this is not true.

Under federal and state Underground Injection Control (UIC) regulations, any waste containing radioactive concentrations exceeding those designated by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (10 CFR 20 Appendix B, Table 2, Column 2) must be treated as radioactive and disposed of accordingly. For both radium-226 and radium-228 the threshold is 60 pCi/L, for a combined threshold of 120 pCi/L.

Only legal exemptions for oil and gas industry waste allow this radioactive waste to be both sold as a commodity and used indiscriminately on public roads with no assessment of environmental and public health impacts. Protection of Public Health and Safety Radium-226 is especially dangerous because, unlike many radioactive isotopes, it dissolves readily in water. When this contaminated water is ingested, the body mistakenly recognizes Ra-226 as dissolved calcium and deposits it in bone tissue. Radium-226 is a bone seeker and causes bone cancer. Radium decays to radon gas and is the second leading cause of lung cancer in the U.S. Continued exposure to even low levels of radium can result in an increased incidence of bone, liver, and breast cancer.

The EPA and the National Academy of Sciences’ Committee on Biological Effects of Ionizing Radiation has stated that radium is a known human carcinogen (ATSDR ToxFAQs). I am extremely concerned about health risks to my family and members of the public exposed to this radioactive material. To allow the spreading of radioactive waste in the environment is a serious health issue that must be halted now! Citizens are depending on you to prevent this radioactive waste from any further use.

Why is fracking dangerous for the environment and people? The poisons leak into the soil and affect everything around it. This is an abomination to humans, wildlife, plant life, and Mother Earth.

Following is an article from Simplyliving.org.

The Ohio General Assembly is considering two bills that would allow the commercial sale of fracking wastewater, misleadingly labeled as “brine.” We need your help in opposing Ohio House Bill 282 and Senate Bill 171 (Establish conditions for the sale of brine as a commodity) or any such bill that would commercialize brine.

Fracking wastewater is what comes back up from fracking after millions of gallons of freshwater is laced with toxic chemicals and used in the fracking process. During fracking, this water is injected with high pressure into underground rock to split open the rock and collect methane gas that is released.

During the process, frack water picks up radioactive elements. It then comes back to the surface, where it is no longer usable as water, and must be stored in underground injection wells all over Ohio, or disposed of in another way.

The oil and gas industry in Ohio is now labeling this frack wastewater as “brine” – as if it is just saltwater – and wants to sell this product commercially to be spread across Ohio roads as a deicer. One such product, currently marketed under the name AquaSalina, was tested by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. Results from the test revealed that this product contains high levels of Radium-226 and Radium-228.

We need your help to stop the commercial sale of radioactive frack waste. Here’s what you can do:

–> SIGN the letter of support from Buckeye Environmental Network: http://bit.ly/OHSTOPSPREADINGBRINE

–> CALL your Ohio state legislators and tell them you oppose House Bill 282 and Senate Bill 171 (Establish conditions for the sale of brine as a commodity). Find your legislators here

–> TESTIFY against House Bill 282 and Senate Bill 171. House Bill 282 will have its second hearing in the house Energy and Natural Resources Committee this Thursday, May 20. This hearing will only be for those that support the bill. Testimony for those against the bill could come as early as next week, so there is still time to think about doing testimony, either in person or written.

Here is a Brine Fact Sheet – https://www.radiumvalley.org/fact-sheets.php

Here are resources from the Ohio Brine Task Force – https://www.ohbrinetaskforce.org/resources/

Articles:
https://columbusfreepress.com/article/dont-be-fooled-dont-buy-bottled-radioactive-waste
https://www.cleveland.com/metro/2019/02/ohio-legislature-prepares-to-address-law-for-radioactive-road-deicer.html
https://www.post-gazette.com/news/environment/2018/07/02/Radium-radiation-commercial-brine-ohio-pennsylvania-aqua-salina-natures-own/stories/201806260107
https://oglinks.news/hse/news/odnrs-testing-confirms-worst-fears-oil-gas-brine-contains-cancer
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/oil-gas-fracking-radioactive-investigation-937389/
https://local12.com/news/investigates/serious-questions-about-radioactive-element-in-highway-de-icer
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1bOYJBcsav8hx2q_hcMUPxxqblaRcR9bxC4swKUsD0ts/edit?usp=sharing

If you would like help with writing your testimony, please contact Mary Aguilera of Buckeye Environmental Network at mary@benohio.org


While this article is specific to Ohio, fracking is happening all over North America. You can check where at FactTracker Alliance, a non-profit organization, that supports groups across the United States.

May you be exceedingly, generously, and joyfully blessed today.

~Diana Garber, Feng Shui Master