Frackfree America National Coalition,
based in Youngstown, Ohio
News Release
News Release
______________________________
Contact: Jane Spies, M.S.Ed.:
Phone: 330-619-0730 or 234-201-8007 or e-mail:
_____________________________
“Remembering
the Earthquakes”: Supporters of Frackfree
America National Coalition, based in Youngstown, Ohio, will attend a prayer
service conducted by Reverend Monica
Beasley-Martin to commemorate the upcoming fifth anniversary of
the now-famous December 31, 2011 Youngstown, Ohio, 4.0 magnitude earthquake
linked to a fracking waste injection well.
Concerned
citizens will gather for the prayer on public property on Thursday, December
29, 2016, at 1:00 PM outside of the Coitsville Township Building at 3737
McCartney Road, Lowellville, Ohio.
Youngstown, Ohio, December 28, 2016 – Supporters
of Frackfree America National Coalition, (FANC) based in Youngstown,
Ohio, will attend a prayer service conducted by Reverend Monica Beasley-Martin,
of Defenders of the Earth Outreach Mission, to commemorate the upcoming fifth anniversary of the now-famous
December 31, 2011 Youngstown, Ohio, 4.0 magnitude earthquake linked to a
fracking waste injection well.
Concerned citizens will gather for the prayer on public property on
Thursday, December 29, 2016, at 1:00 PM outside of the Coitsville Township
Building at 3737 McCartney Road, Lowellville, Ohio.
A focus
of the event will be raising public awareness of the need to legally stop a
proposed Coitsville, Ohio injection well, another Vienna injection well that is
now operating, and an injection well in Weathersfield/Niles that may reopen if
the state does not stand their ground in their excellent decision to protect
the public interest by suspending the injection well. Halting these wells, and others, must be
done in the interest of protecting public health, safety, and the environment.
The earthquake anniversary prayer comes
at an especially appropriate moment in that, as mentioned above, Coitsville is
facing the possible opening of an injection well. Furthermore, in an order dated December 23,
2016, a Franklin County Judge opened up the possibility of the restarting of a
Weathersfield / Niles injection well that ODNR has already linked to man-made earthquakes. The state had wisely suspended operations at
the injection well for over two years to protect the public health and safety of
the community.
According
to a December 24, 2016 Vindicator article reporting the possible restarting of
the Weathersfield injection well,
“‘I’m a little shocked,’ said Gil Blair, an attorney and
Weathersfield Township trustee, when informed of the decision by The
Vindicator. ‘We just don’t need another earthquake. I’m troubled by the location
in relation to the Meander Dam, downtown Niles, downtown Warren. I don’t think
that’s the location to experiment with.’ “ [1]
Frackfree America National Coalition (FANC)
calls for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) to deny the
Coitsville injection well permit and for the state of Ohio to stand its ground
in the Weathersfield/ Niles injection well court case to keep the injection well
closed. This must be done in order to protect Weathersfield/ Niles, especially
since a federally listed high hazard dam
is located about 2.73 miles from the injection well – much too close.
FANC says our local community and surrounding areas have already experienced numerous fracking-related and injection well-related, man-made earthquakes. The risk of causing a large or damaging earthquake, or even smaller tremors, by allowing injection into an “area of known seismic activity" is far too great and is unacceptable. Therefore, to protect the public health and safety, the Weathersfield injection well must not reopen and the Coitsville proposed well must be stopped.
FANC says our local community and surrounding areas have already experienced numerous fracking-related and injection well-related, man-made earthquakes. The risk of causing a large or damaging earthquake, or even smaller tremors, by allowing injection into an “area of known seismic activity" is far too great and is unacceptable. Therefore, to protect the public health and safety, the Weathersfield injection well must not reopen and the Coitsville proposed well must be stopped.
FANC believes
it is not a legitimate business activity when such operations endanger and put
the community and public health and safety at such high, unacceptable risk of
potentially large and damaging earthquakes. This is especially true considering
that in the 1980s, geologist Ann Harris referred to northeastern Ohio as the “Eastern
Disturbed Zone” due to all of the faults.[2]
It must be stressed that another major concern
is that there is also a federally listed “high hazard dam” only 2.73 miles away
from the Weathersfield injection well. FANC believes it would be immoral,
negligent, and reckless to allow this injection well to operate in light of the
state’s science-based, legal argument to suspend operations there in the
interest of protecting public health and safety.
To read
a FMV press release from August 11, 2016 that addresses issues with the
Weathersfield / Niles, Ohio injection well in relation to the Meander Dam
please see:
To read
a FMV press release from July 11, 2016 addressing the proposed injection well
in Coitsville, Ohio see:
Also
please see:
“ODNR: No comment on injection well ruling; company
filed other legal action,” Vindicator, by Ed Runyan, December 28, 2016 https://vindyarchives.com/news/2016/dec/28/odnr-wont-comment-on-reopening-of-well/
All
media are invited.
For
media inquiries or more information, please contact Frackfree America National
Coalition at:
234-201- 8007
or e-mail: frackfreeamerica@gmail.com
--------------
[1]
“Franklin County judge rules in favor of reopening Weathersfield
injection well,” Vindicator, by Ed Runyan,
December 24, 2016 https://vindyarchives.com/news/2016/dec/24/weathersfield-twp-injection-well-gets-ju/
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| Weathersfield fracking waste wells 2.8 miles from Meander Creek Reservoir dam - click to enlarge image |
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| Click to enlarge |
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