'Don't Waste Ohio' Coalition Says No to Fracking Wastewater Injection Wells

A coalition of local, statewide and national groups concerned about toxic waste from fracking, gathered yesterday at the Ohio statehouse for “Don’t Waste Ohio” Legislator Accountability Day. The coalition called for an end to Ohio being used as a regional dumping ground for oil and gas waste. Participants attending the accountability day met with their legislators in the morning and attended a rally in the afternoon advocating for the passage of legislation in both the House and Senate that would ban fracking wastewater injection wells.
In 2012, the City of Cincinnati banned facking wastewater injection wells within city limits. Following the unanimous vote on the ordinance, residents called on State Rep. Denise Driehaus (D-Cincinnati) to take action on the state level. Along with fellow co-sponsor Rep. Robert Hagan (D-Youngstown), Rep. Driehaus introduced House Bill 148, which would enact a statewide ban on the underground injection of fracking waste. Sen. Michael Skindell (D-Lakewood) followed suit by introducing the same legislation in the Senate.
“It’s like we have a sign on our backs here in Ohio for the industry saying ‘Dump your waste here,’" said Alison Auciello, an organizer with Food & Water Watch. "We don’t know what is in the waste or how radioactive it really is, and the leaders in the state legislature haven’t even allowed the legislation to be open for testimony from the public. We need to protect Ohio communities, not risk them for cheap, easy disposal of the oil and gas industry’s dirty leftovers.”
In 2013, the fracking industry disposed of nearly 700 million gallons of fracking waste in Ohio by injecting it underground into Class II wells, an increase of 100 million gallons from the previous year. More than half of the wastewater injected each year in Ohio comes from out-of-state fracking operations. Ohio is home to more than 200 active injection well sites. Pennsylvania has five active injection wells.
“What is shocking is how quickly the administration and ODNR [Ohio Department of Natural Resources] move forward to allow more and more waste injection without knowing the effects underground," said Susie Beiersdorfer, geologist and member of Frackfree Mahoning Valley. “We’ve seen problematic injection wells, sporadic inspections and earthquakes. But, the agency charged with protecting us sounds just like the oil and gas industry when they minimize or dismiss the problems.”
Under Ohio regulation, local municipalities and residents cannot appeal issued permits or decide where and whether fracking activity happens in their community. There is a short public comment period for injection well permit applications, but despite overwhelming opposition the ODNR continues to issue new permits.
“The ODNR has failed to hold public hearings concerning the proposed injection well, ignored and denied lawful information requests, and continues to act in a capricious and arbitrary manner concerning the citizen's stated objections," Kip Rondy, farmer and owner of Green Edge Gardens, told a judge after he was arrested with eight others blockading a fracking waterwater injection well site in Athens County, OH.
"It is then, when we the citizenry of Athens County, facing the real and permanent threat to our aquifer, our air, our Earth—when the will of lawfully elected officials is ignored—that the acts of civil disobedience before the court today are not merely justified, but become obligatory.”
Watch this video of legislator accountability day produced by Bill Baker:
——–
YOU ALSO MIGHT LIKE
Ohio Executive Pleads Guilty, Faces Three Years in Prison For Dumping Fracking Wastewater
Fracking Waste Injection Wells Put Millions of Californians at Risk of Increased Earthquakes
Shalefield Stories: Personal Accounts From the Frontlines of Fracking
——–
At first glance, you wouldn't think avocados and almonds could harm bees; but a closer look at how these popular crops are produced reveals their potentially detrimental effect on pollinators.
Migratory beekeeping involves trucking millions of bees across the U.S. to pollinate different crops, including avocados and almonds. Timothy Paule II / Pexels / CC0
<p>According to <a href="https://www.fromthegrapevine.com/israeli-kitchen/beekeeping-how-to-keep-bees" target="_blank">From the Grapevine</a>, American avocados also fully depend on bees' pollination to produce fruit, so farmers have turned to migratory beekeeping as well to fill the void left by wild populations.</p><p>U.S. farmers have become reliant upon the practice, but migratory beekeeping has been called exploitative and harmful to bees. <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/10/health/avocado-almond-vegan-partner/index.html" target="_blank">CNN</a> reported that commercial beekeeping may injure or kill bees and that transporting them to pollinate crops appears to negatively affect their health and lifespan. Because the honeybees are forced to gather pollen and nectar from a single, monoculture crop — the one they've been brought in to pollinate — they are deprived of their normal diet, which is more diverse and nourishing as it's comprised of a variety of pollens and nectars, Scientific American reported.</p><p>Scientific American added how getting shuttled from crop to crop and field to field across the country boomerangs the bees between feast and famine, especially once the blooms they were brought in to fertilize end.</p><p>Plus, the artificial mass influx of bees guarantees spreading viruses, mites and fungi between the insects as they collide in midair and crawl over each other in their hives, Scientific American reported. According to CNN, some researchers argue that this explains why so many bees die each winter, and even why entire hives suddenly die off in a phenomenon called colony collapse disorder.</p>Avocado and almond crops depend on bees for proper pollination. FRANK MERIÑO / Pexels / CC0
<p>Salazar and other Columbian beekeepers described "scooping up piles of dead bees" year after year since the avocado and citrus booms began, according to Phys.org. Many have opted to salvage what partial colonies survive and move away from agricultural areas.</p><p>The future of pollinators and the crops they help create is uncertain. According to the United Nations, nearly half of insect pollinators, particularly bees and butterflies, risk global extinction, Phys.org reported. Their decline already has cascading consequences for the economy and beyond. Roughly 1.4 billion jobs and three-quarters of all crops around the world depend on bees and other pollinators for free fertilization services worth billions of dollars, Phys.org noted. Losing wild and native bees could <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/wild-bees-crop-shortage-2646849232.html" target="_self">trigger food security issues</a>.</p><p>Salazar, the beekeeper, warned Phys.org, "The bee is a bioindicator. If bees are dying, what other insects beneficial to the environment... are dying?"</p>EcoWatch Daily Newsletter
Australia is one of the most biodiverse countries in the world. It is home to more than 7% of all the world's plant and animal species, many of which are endemic. One such species, the Pharohylaeus lactiferus bee, was recently rediscovered after spending nearly 100 years out of sight from humans.
Trending
Scientists have newly photographed three species of shark that can glow in the dark, according to a study published in Frontiers in Marine Science last month.
- 10 Little-Known Shark Facts - EcoWatch ›
- 4 New Walking Shark Species Discovered - EcoWatch ›
- 5 Incredible Species That Glow in the Dark - EcoWatch ›
FedEx's entire parcel pickup and delivery fleet will become 100 percent electric by 2040, according to a statement released Wednesday. The ambitious plan includes checkpoints, such as aiming for 50 percent electric vehicles by 2025.
Lockdown measures to stop the spread of the coronavirus pandemic had the added benefit of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by around seven percent, or 2.6 billion metric tons, in 2020.
- Which Is Worse for the Planet: Beef or Cars? - EcoWatch ›
- Greenhouse Gas Levels Hit Record High Despite Lockdowns, UN ... ›
- 1.8 Billion Tons More Greenhouse Gases Will Be Released, Thanks ... ›