Frackfree
Mahoning
Valley
News Release
_______________________________________________________
For
Immediate Release: March 2, 2015
or
E-mail: frackfreemahoning@gmail.com
______________________________________________________
Frackfree
Mahoning Valley says newly obtained public documents show that the Ohio
Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) denied a Mahoning County injection
permit based upon their finding that “ … the Khalil #3 saltwater injection
well is located in close proximity to an area of known seismic activity”:
If
ODNR has not already done so, Frackfree Mahoning Valley calls for ODNR to
uphold this order despite company’s letter saying it will appeal the Chief’s
Order:
Frackfree
Mahoning Valley is planning a Townhall – style, open public meeting on Friday,
March 13, 2015, featuring a nationally renowned leader and speaker, to discuss
these documents and what communities can do to protect their drinking water,
air, land and public health, safety, and property values in relation to
fracking waste injection wells and man-made earthquakes.
Youngstown,
Ohio, March 2, 2015 – Frackfree Mahoning Valley (FFM) was made aware of two
new, important Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) public documents
showing that the state denied a permit for injection of
waste into a Mahoning County injection well based upon risks of man-made
earthquake activity in Youngstown and the surrounding area. The ODNR “Order By
the Chief” is dated September 24, 2014.
Teresa Mills, longtime environmental justice advocate, alerted
Frackfree Mahoning Valley to the public records.
The second document, dated December 1, 2014 to Chief Richard J.
Simmers, is the response of Rex Energy (“parent company of R.E. Disposal LLC”)
to ODNR’s injection permit denial. The company’s letter
mentions a possible appeal of the ODNR Chief’s order denying the company
permission to inject waste.
The Rex Energy letter also includes a request for Chief Simmers to
allow “us to make limited injections into the well during your work group’s
deliberations, so that we can together gather information on seismicity
associated with the injections.”
Copies of both documents can be found at the Frackfree Mahoning Valley
website at:
Frackfree Mahoning Valley’s response follows:
Induced seismicity (man-made earthquakes) is a serious issue undergoing
scientific scrutiny, not only locally, but worldwide. We
cannot forget that the highest magnitude earthquake, so far, that scientists
link to injection was a magnitude 5.7 in Prague, Oklahoma in
2011.
Frackfree Mahoning Valley calls for ODNR to stand by their September 24
decision to deny the injection permit based upon their finding that “the
Khalil #3 saltwater injection well is located in close proximity to an area of
known seismic activity.” That was the correct
decision and the right thing to do to protect the public health, safety, and
public interest, including local property values and private property rights.
It is astonishing that the company in question would request permission
for “limited injections” despite ODNR’s original denial of the permit finding
that this is an “area of known seismic activity.” To us, it
appears as though allowing “limited injections” would amount to experimenting
and thereby gambling with the public health and safety of residents in order
to provide data for a work group. This is immoral and highly misguided, to say
the least. Our local communities did not give official
informed consent to be used in this way. If they have not
done so already, ODNR must deny any “limited injections” in order to protect
the public interest.
Furthermore, a February 17, 2015 Youngstown Vindicator article reports
that a deep injection well in Weathersfield that apparently is linked to
earthquakes and an earthquake “swarm” is being considered for reopening. That
reopening the deep well would even be considered is astounding, reckless, and
certainly not in the public interest. The well must remain closed.
Additionally, because it is in an area of known seismic activity, the
shallower well never should have been permitted to reopen and should be
immediately closed, as well, in order to protect public health and safety.
The continued injection of millions of gallons of fracking waste is
putting the public health and safety of our communities at greater risk of
man-made earthquakes. This is too high a price to pay.
This situation is getting worse – not better. For
example, despite Ohio state regulations after the magnitude 4.0 Northstar 1
injection well earthquake on December 31, 2011, there are now three man-made
earthquake sites, documented by scientists, in the local area rather than just
the one Northstar 1 site of 2011. There is an additional
site in Harrison County, Ohio. These facts support our belief that earthquakes
cannot be regulated to make them safe or to keep them small.
Earthquakes cannot be regulated.
We do not think that citizens should be forced to adapt to man-made
earthquakes. We want the earthquakes and the injection of
millions of gallons of fracking waste to stop. Did anyone ask the people
whether they want to endure the high risks and costs of man-made earthquakes
while companies try to control their magnitudes, essentially gambling with the
public health and safety? The informed consent, or lack of consent, of the
people was not sought beforehand. It should have been.
It is absurd to think that human beings can control earthquakes with
100 percent certainty. The risks and costs are too
high.
We believe that fracking cannot be done safely, or even fairly, with
the technology as it stands today. Where is all of the fracking waste that is
constantly being created going? There is no good, safe, or fair solution to
this problem. The generation of millions of gallons and tons of fracking waste
must stop. Ohio is not a waste dump.
Frackfree Mahoning Valley is planning a townhall-style open public
meeting in Youngstown, Ohio on Friday, March 13, 2015, where the general
public and local officials can discuss the possible implications of these
newly obtained documents and what communities can do to protect their
families’ safe drinking water, air, land and public health, safety, and
property values in relation to fracking waste injection wells and man-made
earthquakes.
Frackfree Mahoning Valley is finalizing plans to have a nationally
renowned leader as the keynote speaker at this very important meeting. FFM
will announce details of the upcoming townhall meeting in a separate news
release. All media and the general public are invited to
attend.
Interested citizens can call Frackfree Mahoning Valley at 234-201-0402 or
e-mail at
frackfreemahoning@gmail.com for
more information.
To see copies of the ODNR “Order By the Chief” dated
September 24, 2014 and the company letter to ODNR please see:
The December 1, 2014, letter cited above can also be found at the
following website:
For more
injection well and earthquake related information please see the following
links:
“Study
says Weathersfield earthquake and injection well are linked
Expert: Seismic events dwindled after
ODNR ordered shutdown,” by Ed Runyan, Vindicator, February 17,
2015:
To see a February 3, 2015 WFAA news report (news video included) that
aired in the Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas area featuring the Youngstown area
earthquakes please see:
“The
Fault Line: Ohio quakes offer lessons for Texas,” by Byron Harris, WFAA, “News
8 Investigates:”
For a November 14, 2014 article that addresses man-made earthquakes please see:
“Scientists
link over 1000 earthquakes to fracking or fracking waste injection wells in
Ohio, yet the state of Ohio only lists 18 quakes on their website. Why? How
can Illinois and other states benefit from Ohio’s experience with fracking
induced seismicity?” November 14, 2014, article by Dr. Ray Beiersdorfer,
Professor of Geology, Dept. of Geological & Environmental Sciences,
Youngstown State University, Youngstown, Ohio:
http://www.frackfreemahoning.blogspot.com/2014/11/scientists-link-over-1000-earthquakes.html
http://www.frackfreemahoning.blogspot.com/2014/11/scientists-link-over-1000-earthquakes.html
Information about injection wells in Weathersfield and Vienna, Ohio is
included in the following article:
“Tremors
trigger concerns about wells,” by Virginia Shank, February 22, 2015, Tribune
Chronicle
(The following GAO report includes information about “seismic
activity.”)
“DRINKING
WATER: EPA Program to Protect Underground Sources from Injection of Fluids
Associated With Oil and Gas Production Needs Improvement,” U.S. Government
Accountability Office (GAO), GAO-14-555, published June 27, 2014:
For media inquiries or more information, e-mail:
frackfreemahoning@gmail.com or
call:
Also
see:
Frackfree America National Coalition based in Youngstown
Frackfree America National Coalition based in Youngstown
# # #
SPECIAL NOTE TO READERS: a lecture on injection wells and their waste products will be given Wednesday, March 4, 2015 at 7pm in Cushwa Hall, Room B112, 210 Lincoln Ave, Youngstown State University, Youngstown, OH 44503
*MAP https://goo.gl/maps/Rq0UG * FREE and open to the public. There is FREE on-street parking after 5 p.m. at the metered parking spaces along Lincoln Avenue and nearby streets.
Lecture title: A Citizen Audit of Ohio Oil and Gas Waste Disposal Wells - LIVE Skype by Mr. Nathan Rutz, Communities United for Responsible Energy(CURE), Ohio Organizing Collaborative
EVENT on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/367358213468006/
*MAP https://goo.gl/maps/Rq0UG * FREE and open to the public. There is FREE on-street parking after 5 p.m. at the metered parking spaces along Lincoln Avenue and nearby streets.
Lecture title: A Citizen Audit of Ohio Oil and Gas Waste Disposal Wells - LIVE Skype by Mr. Nathan Rutz, Communities United for Responsible Energy(CURE), Ohio Organizing Collaborative
EVENT on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/367358213468006/
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