Gabby Brown, gabby.brown@sierraclub.org
Columbus, OH -- As the Ohio House of Representatives prepares to vote tomorrow morning on a bill that would allow oil and gas waste, including fracking fluids, to be sold as a “commodity,” a newly released report reveals that this waste contains toxic levels of radioactive materials.
According to a leaked memo from June 2017 that was provided to the Ohio House Energy & Natural Resources Committee last month but was never made available to the public, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) found dangerous levels of radium in this waste, including one sample that was over 300 times the safe drinking water limit.
The committee voted to advance HB 393 last week without making this critical information available to the public, after voting down an amendment that would have required ODNR to test for radioactive materials in the waste. The bill would allow fracking waste to be sold in local stores without meeting any safety standards or requirements to protect public health, and would expand the use of this hazardous waste as a road deicer by the Ohio Department of Transportation.
"The Ohio Department of Health's nationally certified lab has run off the shelf samples for radium levels in this material and at least for radium, the contaminant is not being removed," said Dr. Julie Weatherington-Rice, PhD, CPSS, CPG. "As it dries and gets tracked off your sidewalks and concrete steps into your house, the level of radium will be far higher than the clean-up level for EPA Brownfields. Your pets and your children will be walking over radioactive contamination in your front hall that would require a Brownfields clean-up. And what makes it worse is that you won't even know you are exposing your family and, as currently envisioned, the company will not be liable. Really? This information has been sitting on a computer for a year while our state House has continued to consider this as a safe product."
"Should the Ohio House pass HB 393, our representatives will be voting to allow radioactive waste to be sold at local hardware stores all across Ohio," said Adam Rissien of the Ohio Chapter of the Sierra Club. "Local residents who buy this dangerous product thinking it is safe will unwittingly be spreading high levels of radium on their driveways and sidewalks, exposing children and pets. It’s pretty unconscionable lawmakers are even considering this bill.”
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 3 million members and supporters. In addition to helping people from all backgrounds explore nature and our outdoor heritage, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.