EcoWatch
The Kasich administration has put a temporary halt to the disposal of toxic wastewater from hydraulic fracturing (better known as fracking—a procedure used to extract oil and gas out of rock formations such as the Marcellus and Utica shale) from oil and natural-gas drilling wells within a 5-mile radius of the D&L Energy site in Youngstown, Ohio—a well believed to be the cause of 11 earthquakes since March, including a 4.0 quake on New Years Eve that hit the region at 3:05 p.m.
Rick Simmers, chief of oil and gas management for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR), said a daily average of 5,000, 42-gallon barrels of brine water or fracking wastewater were pumped into the well 9,200 feet below the ground. He said a majority of the wastewater—a byproduct of fracking—comes from Pennsylvania wells.
Officials from the ODNR believe the fracking waterwater pumped into the Youngstown-area well has been seeping into a previously unknown fault line in eastern Ohio, causing the seismic activity. The moratorium, issued on Dec. 31 by ODNR Director Jim Zehringer affects four other injection wells.
Michael Hansen, of the Ohio Seismic Network, was reported saying, that even though Northstar No. 1, the D&L site, was shut down on Dec. 30, there is still potential for more quakes, although the magnitude of yesterday’s quake may have relieved some of the pressure near the fault line.
There are 177 injection wells throughout Ohio. For months, Youngstown residents have been speaking out asking for a moratorium on fracking wastewater injection wells, and oil and gas drilling until further research is done on the impact these wells could have on groundwater contamination, human health and the environment. Ohio Fraction, a network of individuals interested in supporting community battles against fracking in Ohio, has been leading the fight.
According to Ben Shapiro, a grassroots organizer working on the Ohio fracking issue, “This is a tremendous victory for Ohio’s advocates for clean water and public health. We’ve proven beyond a doubt that citizens want safe drinking water more than they want hydrofracking and that we don’t have to repeat the mistakes of Pennsylvania and New York and allow drilling and waste disposal to wreck our communities.
“Myself and others blockaded that well and went to jail because we know that Ohio shouldn’t have sacrifice zones to make profits for the oil and gas industry, and we won’t be satisfied until the entire practice of injection wells and drilling is banned. Why risk our future and children’s future on false solutions when we have real energy solutions that can bring Ohio’s workers life-time jobs producing sustainable green technology like wind and solar. Let’s make 2012 the year we ban hydrofracking.”
For more information, read yesterday’s EcoWatch.org post New Years Eve Earthquake Hits Youngstown While Public Pressure Halts Fracking Wastewater Injection Well Site.
Putting our drinking water at risk so the oil and gas people can make more money is the epitome of insanity. The federal government needs to intervene and halt all fracking. The EPA determined it destroyed drinking water in Wyoming. Are we stupid enough to let them take the drinking water for millions of Americans???
a step towards privatizing water? ruin the wells and the aquifer and the value of water escalates fast~
either that, or plain short-sightedness….either way, it’s pretty scary
It’s not a new step, the privatization (outsourcing) of water and waste-water treatment is already a fact. City governments and municipalities have already contracted out the utilities to private (and sometimes unscrupulous) “free market” providers, in order to reduce costs. However the reduced costs have hidden and sometimes expensive repercussions.
It starts by providers bidding low for the contracts, generally getting several communities at once. Now in order to make it profitable, contracted plants eliminate certified/licensed operators, keeping only one or two (just the minimum to satisfy the state requirements). Operators are now stretched between several locations, perhaps only hours per week at any location. Unqualified (or non-certified/licensed) staff are allowed to monitor systems, take lab samples, perform complex quality tests, and fill out EPA reports (only to be signed off by the licensed operator).
Secondly costs are controlled by reducing or the elimination of maintenance and upkeep. The safety and operational efficiency eventually declines, which lead to higher energy usage, costly equipment breakdown and repair costs, increased potential of effluent discharge violations and accidental raw sewage spills.
Now the final kicker… When contract renewal comes around, municipalities and communities are caught. Contract providers must bid higher to maintain the operations of inefficient and outdated facilities.
You can’t fix stupid.
Sure are & sell it back to us as privatized water surpluses. Stupid monies…
It’s true you can’t fix stupid, but it’s still encouraging that a Gov. who less than a year ago called fracking a “Godsend” is willing to connect the dots and use his brain instead of blindly clinging to a point of view.
I agree, but what the people did in Ohio,sent him a message and I give him credit that he is listening finally. But he was pretty much forced to by the good people of Ohio. I wish our Gov.in Wi. would have used his brain, or what there is of it!
I think the next step is to get these operations under the oversight/regulation of the EPA and the Clean Water Act. I don’t think anyone can argue that we need to reduce our reliance on foreign oil and we can’t wave a magic wand for green(er) energy and conservation to be implemented overnight, but the speculation in energy commodities combined with the lack of proper enforcement has thrown everything out of whack (or in this case frack)!
I hope this story gets picked up by the major media and it helps further propel us toward serious discussion of a safe, effective and profitable national energy policy.
I am a resident of clarion pa and also past resident of youngstown ohio and we have been fighting the fracking in nw pa for over a year we were the ones who with the university and pitt discovered they were disposing of frack water in our small sewer treatment plants and it was 40 mile upstream from our river which is our main water source it made the front page of the ny times. and they dont follow the clean water clean air act because of a loop hole thanks to dick cheney who was also a for haliburton who make s the frack reciepe in the first place what a tangled web of corruption greed and politics and big business And epa does nothing trust me!
I hope you enjoy your delusional rant while typing on your Iphone that your mom gave you to help look for a job.
Was nothing delusional about that rant, that’s exactly what Dick Cheney’s secret energy meetings did. Perhaps you should educate yourself before calling others delusional.
Being from New Jersey, I always did say that I can’t stand fracking earthquakes! But seriously, this is the game-changer for fracking. Beginning in the 1980s, earthquakes in Kyrgyzstan were attributed to nearby Chinese nuclear testing, which helped rally the country for independence (from the Soviet Union). In that case, there was no causal connection, but in Ohio there is.
They assured public safety and resources protection agencies that they were so sure the fracking extraction procedures are safe and that there is no connection between ruined aquifers in other places adjacent to fracking operations. But, they somehow overlooked the possibility of unseen geological features, such as undiscovered faults in the earth’s crust, where the waste water could inadvertently seep and that could be connected to local subterranian water.
Remember when they used to advertise how clean water filtered through rocks was supposed to be? Yeah, I know, right?
It’s time to admit that petroleum, worldwide, has functionally run dry, and put all those R&D, exploration, development, SuperPAC, lobbying and PR resources into renewable energy. Just think how cheap electric cars and photovoltaic cells would be if Reagan hadn’t dismantled all of Jimmy Carter’s green energy programs first thing on his very first limo ride to the White House after his initial inauguration. We lost 25 years of innovation and American Exceptionalism through the stroke of *that* Big Oil bought pen.
I hope that a seismologist is looking into the Youngstown quakes and other US and elsewhere earthquakes related to fracking.
I am so excited to see that action is being taken to stop this terribly detrimental activity. I put together a powerpoint presentation for my Ecology and Environmental Biology Class last semester at Lakeland Community College. I was amazed to find out how many people were unaware of “Fracking” and what it entailed. I was dually amazed by the number of people that I encountered who held no accountability or concern for our future and more importantly, the future of our children, and our children’s children. This is a great step in the right direction. We can continue to work together to strive for a cleaner and more sustainable future for all!!
Those would-be frackers at Shell Oil; have a look at this and tell us you won’t be wrecking our beloved Karoo with your dastardly plans!
GASLAND
A vast ocean of natural gas lies beneath America’s surface. But is the threat to the nation’s water supply worth the risk of harvesting this fuel? This documentary follows filmmaker Josh Fox on an intrepid cross-country journey to show how corporate America’s zeal to produce homegrown gas–touted in numerous ad campaigns as ‘clean energy’–may be poisoning the water we drink.
http://www.novamov.com/video/t2equ7r68i7b9
I was in a local bookstore over the past week and who should I see but Jim Renacci, Congressman for the 16th district. I said to him, “No Keystone PIpeline”. Then I pointed to myself, my family, and others in the store and I said, “You answer to all of us. This is a democracy and you answer to the people. You cannot contaminate our drinking water.” Without a moment’s hesitation he abruptly turned his back to me and while he was walking away over his shoulder he said, “Yeah, right.” He did not pause but continued to walk away as quickly as possible. Here is a Congressman who is supposedly a PUBLIC SERVANT and he doesn’t even have the decency to look me in the face and supply me with an articulate response. We need to keep this in mind when it is time for re-election. Certainly Mr. Renacci could not care less. And furthermore, please check out the Wikipedia entry for him. It is quite interesting.
Proud of you to speak up at that opportune moment! Its people like you, having found your courage AND still maintain dignity and respectful language that will help us win this fight.
Another red flag in a long list of them. Mad men causing earthquakes by jamming chemicals into the earth’s crust. The damages will last forever. I hope they change this from a temporary ban to PERMANENT.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acBDTpZ2aLE
I live in PA and have been in the front lines of the fracking fight for the past 2 years. This is going to be the issue of our time. People are not taking this seriously enough and if we don’t stop them fast it will be too late. We need jobs and the economy to improve but at what cost. Here in PA there are hundreds of people who can’t even bath in their water. The industry takes no responsibility, and we are stuck with paying for water buffaloes and water to be delivered. The injection wells in Ohio, they are accepting all the fracking waste from PA. Your governor has put a stop to 4 of them. In Arkansas the same thing happened. Now with the PA governor who has been bought and paid for by the natural gas industry we don’t have a chance. It’s getting worse and now they are trying to take away the rights of towns and municipalities to regulate zoning. It’s a closed democracy here and the best thing we can all do is to put people in office who are intelligent to at least look at the long term effects from the extraction of natural gas. If we can put men on the moon there has to be a better way of doing this. It’s insane what’s happening here. Please do your homework and don’t let what has happened to PA happen to Ohio.