For Immediate Release: June 5, 2016
Contact: Jane Spies: Phone: 330-619-0730 (cell) or 234-201-0402 or e-mail frackfreemahoning@gmail.com
Susie Beiersdorfer:
Phone: 330-881-1050 or
234-201-0402 or e-mail frackfreemahoning@gmail.com
Contact: Teresa Mills: Phone: 614-539-1471 or e-mail tmills@chej.org
_______________________________________________________
Groups
Call for a Halt to Toxic Fracking Waste and Man-made Earthquakes in a National
Day of Action to be held on Tuesday, June 7, 2016: Frackfree Mahoning Valley Will Mark the Day
by Calling for the State to Permanently Shut Down Local Injection Well
Operations
June
5, 2016 – Even though unconventional fracking currently appears to be experiencing
a shale bust, the toxic fracking waste problem is still here and getting worse
as millions of gallons and tons of fracking waste is constantly being created,
according to groups organizing a National Day of Action to be held on June 7,
2016.
On June 7th, groups and concerned
citizens in about sixteen states will call for a halt to toxic fracking waste
and related man-made earthquakes in an event titled “Freedom From Toxic
Fracking Waste and Earthquakes: National Day of Action.”
One of the major concerns the groups
want to address is:
Where
is all of the fracking waste going when there is no good or safe way to handle
it that effectively protects public health, safety, and well-being?
On Tuesday, June 7,
2016, a national coalition of local coordinators and groups will hold rallies
or actions throughout the day to shine light on the numerous problems
associated with toxic, radioactive fracking waste and its “disposal,” including
its links to earthquakes, spills, and leaks.
They say the pollution risks to water, air, and land due to toxic
fracking waste are unacceptable. Events being planned include a tour of waste
sites, “toxic tea parties,” rallies, and presentations.
To mark the National Day of Action
locally, Frackfree Mahoning Valley (FMV) will call for the Ohio Department of
Natural Resources (ODNR) to permanently
shut down local injection well operations that FMV says are located in an area
of known seismic activity and are a serious
risk to public health, safety, and well-being.
On Tuesday, June 7, 2016, beginning at 11:30
AM, members of Frackfree Mahoning Valley and concerned citizens will visit sites
including downtown Youngstown, Ohio, and waste or fracking – related sites in
Ohio and just across the border in Pennsylvania. Rallies or events will take place on public
land at:
11:30 AM to 12:30 PM – Federal Square,
Downtown Youngstown, Ohio.
1:00 PM to 1:30 PM – Niles/Weathersfield
injection well near 1745 North Main Street, Niles, Ohio, 44446.
2 PM to 4 PM – Vienna, Ohio – FMV
will attend the “Toxic Tea Party” next to a fracking waste injection well at 1085
Youngstown-Kingsville Road (SR 193) Vienna, OH, 44473. Everyone is welcome. See the Facebook Event page for interesting
details: https://www.facebook.com/events/1038779286214015/
5 PM to 7 PM – Pennsylvania fracking
site near earthquake epicenters in North Beaver Township, PA, 3250 Howard
Drive, New Castle, PA, 16102.
All media and the public are invited to
attend.
More details about the local “Mahoning
and Trumbull Traveling Rally: Freedom from Toxic Fracking Waste and
Earthquakes” can be found at the following Facebook Event page:
Frackfree Mahoning Valley (FMV) says
that on June 7th they will especially focus upon the urgent need for
Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Chief Simmers to immediately stop
the Vienna, Ohio injection well near the airport. The group says Chief Simmers
has the authority to do this by denying an injection permit for the Oklahoma company
that owns the injection well. In
addition, FMV is calling for ODNR Chief Simmers to keep the Weathersfield/Niles
injection well operation closed. The Weathersfield/ Niles site has already been
linked to man-made earthquakes. FMV
says both of these permanent shutdowns must be done to protect drinking water
and the public health, safety, and well-being. The group says all injection
must stop especially in light of the fact that they believe we are located in
an area of known seismic activity. Ohio cannot be a toxic fracking waste dump –
no state should be. The risks are too high a price to pay, says FMV.
“We know there are
injection and disposal wells being permitted in rural and residential areas way
too close to homes and communities. This is not progress. Such toxic waste operations,
located anywhere, pose unacceptable levels of risks including spills, decreased
property values, man-made earthquakes, lightning-related explosions, and
pollution of drinking water, air, and soil.
It’s time for industry and government to own up to the fact that
unacceptable impacts are occurring related to fracking waste. You cannot
regulate earthquakes, for example. The only real answer to this huge fracking
waste problem is to stop this madness and really protect public health, safety,
and well-being, “said Teresa Mills of the Center for Health, Environment and
Justice (CHEJ), founded by Lois Gibbs of Love Canal renown.
The
groups say, contrary to some reports that may seek to minimize the induced
seismicity problem, man-made earthquakes are not necessarily small. Scientists
have linked a magnitude 5.6 quake in Prague, Oklahoma in 2011 to waste
injection. A Canadian earthquake of
magnitude 4.4 was reported as being “triggered by fluid injection during
hydraulic fracturing,” according to a CBC News report by Betsy Trumpener
(8/27/2015, “Fracking triggered 2014 earthquake in northeastern B.C.”).
The June 7th
National Day of Action is being coordinated by Buckeye Forest Council (BFC), The
Center for Health, Environment and Justice (CHEJ), Faith Communities Together
for a Sustainable Future (FaCT), Frackfree America National Coalition (FANC),
Network for Oil & Gas Accountability & Protection (NEOGAP), and the
Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association (OEFFA).
Coordinators say there is still time for more individuals or groups to
get involved in the events planned for June 7, 2016, by contacting Frackfree
America National Coalition at:
234-201-8007 or by e-mail at frackfreeamerica@gmail.com
More information about the June 7, 2016
National Day of Action can be found at the following website address and
Facebook Event page:
For media inquiries
or for more information on fracking and related processes, toxic fracking
waste, or how to coordinate or participate in a local rally or action, contact
Frackfree America National Coalition by phone at 234-201-8007 or by e-mail at frackfreeamerica@gmail.com .
For questions regarding the local events of “Freedom From Toxic Fracking
Waste and Earthquakes: National Day of Action” please contact Frackfree
Mahoning Valley at frackfreemahoning@gmail.com
or by phone at 234-201-0402.
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