Athens County Fracking Action Network Joins Hundreds to Label “Fracking Peace Deal” a Bogus Scam 

Athens OH- A growing movement of grassroots community groups in Ohio released a statement today that accompanied a letter sent to the Center for Sustainable Shale Development [sic] (CSSD). The letter called the deal supposedly reached by the Oil and Gas industry and “environmental groups” a complete fabrication.

The letter states, “We are in fact quite insulted that you presume to speak for Ohio citizens and Ohio environmental organizations. To date we have not found even one organization in our state that had any knowledge of this agreement, even though you have been working on it for the past two years.  If indeed you have been working or communicating with environmental organizations in Ohio, please provide us with the name(s) of these organizations.” 

Christine Hughes, owner of the Village Bakery, Della Zona, and Catalyst Café in Athens, spoke on behalf of Athens County Fracking Action Network, one of many community groups sending the letter. Hughes stated, “This so-called deal announced by the oxymoronically named Center for Sustainable Shale Development was clearly created as a stalling tactic, to allow industry to continue to pollute and profit while spinning public perception in their favor.  Americans are sick of propaganda like this. We don’t have time for such theatrical distractions and greenwashing of harm being done right now by dangerous shale drilling.  Time is running out to make peace with the planet.” Hughes continued, “We say to the American public and to our media,  ‘Stop coddling these fracking freeloaders.’ Fracking has not been done safely, will not be done safely, and cannot be done safely. I’m shocked that any organization claiming to protect our welfare would go along with this ploy.”

The letter ended by stating, “It appears to us that your strictly voluntary standards are in reality business as usual for the industrialization and destruction of our communities by some of the same people who developed these so-called standards.  We are putting you (CSSD), on notice that we, the citizens of Ohio, will not change our position on fracking based on this feeble attempt to pacify us with these worthless standards that have no standing in law.  We vow to continue our fight against this destructive extraction industry and those that pretend to represent our environmental concerns.”  

Thanks to a trade agreement being negotiated in great secrecy, the gas and oil industry could get the green light to export “natural” gas to other countries, paving the way for more fracking.

The agreement will also elevate corporations to the status of nations, putting corporate interests before the health and safety of communities and workers. As negotiations for the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) continue, please write or call President Obama and demand transparency. Tell him too that fracking has no place in our trade agreements.

Exporting liquefied natural gas will have far reaching impacts on communities across the country. In addition to increased fracking, pipelines carrying liquefied natural gas would cross the country to export facilities on our coasts. This means greater climate disruption from increased methane and CO2 emissions, more toxic air and water pollution, pipeline-related spills, and destruction of coastal and forest eco-systems.

Tell President Obama that no trade agreement should pave the way for increased fracking.

Use Citizens’ Trade Campaign letter to personalize your message. Read Truth-Out’s March 27, 2013 analysis (with links), and see Sierra Club TPP toolkit.

From Citizens Trade Campaign: “Troubled by continued secrecy in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Free Trade Agreement , over 400 civil society organizations representing more than 15 million Americans have written to Congress urging that Fast Track be replaced by a more democratic trade negotiating and approval process.  Led by Citizens Trade Campaign, more than 100 national organizations, including those representing labor, environmental, family farm, consumer, faith, public health, Native American and human rights constituencies, in addition to to nearly 300 regional, state and local organizations, sent a letter to Congress on March 4th outlining shared expectations for 21st Century trade agreements and urging an end to Fast Track and support for an alternative.”

“Recent and projected growth in the oil and gas production sector has underscored the need for EPA to gain a better understanding of emissions and potential risks from this industry sector. Harmful pollutants emitted from this industry include air toxics such as benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene; criteria pollutants and ozone precursors such as NOx and VOCs; and greenhouse gases such as methane. These pollutants can result in serious health impacts such as cancer, respiratory disease, aggravation of respiratory illnesses, and premature death. However, EPA has limited directly-measured air emissions data on criteria and toxic air pollutants for several important oil and gas production processes. This limited data, coupled with poor quality and insufficient emission factors and incomplete NEI data, hamper EPA’s ability to assess air quality impacts from selected oil and gas production activities.

EPA is currently engaging in efforts to collect additional emissions data, but these studies have been limited in scope and future funding is uncertain. The Agency does not have a comprehensive, cross-office strategy for prioritizing air emissions data needs and developing action plans to address those needs. In our view, a comprehensive strategy would help EPA better manage the collection of needed data on air emissions from the oil and gas production sector.” Recommendations follow this conclusion.

Ecowatch: New Fracking Standards Not Supported by Environmental Organizations

Update 4-15-13: Denver Post: Plume has reached drinking water supplies.

Original post (3-22) from The Denver Post: An underground plume of toxic hydrocarbons from an oil spill north of the Colorado River near Parachute has been spreading for 10 days, threatening to contaminate spring runoff.

Vacuum trucks have sucked up more than 60,000 gallons, but an unknown amount remains in the ground by Parachute Creek.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Monday was in the process of formally ordering the Williams energy company — which runs a gas-processing plant on the creek — to do all in its power to protect surface water. State regulators who on Friday ordered the same now are preparing to issue Williams a “Notice of Alleged Violation” and demand a long-term cleanup plan.

A cattleman who runs a herd along the creek said such spills are common and often remain secret. State records show the oil-and-gas industry causes hundreds of toxic spills each year and that water often is contaminated. More…

Read more:Parachute Creek spill continues uncontained; cause, source unknown – The Denver Post

Check out Ecowatch today for featured coverage of our Athens rally.

And coverage of statewide petition to EPA in Bloomberg Businessweek.  Note re Bloomberg discussion of legislative proposals:  natural radioactivity is not being addressed, thus exempting most frack waste. Also note that “diluting” water-soluble radioactivity (considered an option in the governor’s proposal) is NOT a solution — it will not prevent water and soil contamination.

Read the petition to US EPA filed on our behalf by Teresa Mills here. Written on behalf of all Ohio citizens by Teresa Mills, of Center for Health, Environment and Justice and Buckeye Forest Council, the petition calls on USEPA to do a full audit of Ohio’s underground injection control program and to suspend Ohio’s primacy, or right to control the progam and injection well permitting. The letter is signed by over two hundred organizations and individuals who are saying, ‘Enough is enough. Ohio Department of Natural Resources is not doing its job!’

NOTE: The Rand report described and linked to here found as much as $32 million costs in associated health and environmental damages from shale fuel extraction in PA in 2011 without even considering emissions from venting and flaring, which would greatly increase actual costs if they had been considered. See footnote 7 below.

The following is from a Clean Air Council summary found at Licking County Fracking.org.

The Rand Report (“Report”) is intended to provide an “estimate of conventional air pollutant emissions, and the monetary value of the associated environmental and health damages, from the extraction of unconventional shale gas in Pennsylvania.”

[1] The Report estimated that the damages amounted to $7.2 to $32 million dollars for 2011.

Writing on behalf of all Ohio citizens, Teresa Mills, of Center for Health, Environment and Justice and Buckeye Forest Council, is filing a petition to US EPA. The letter calls on USEPA to do a full audit of Ohio’s underground injection control program and to suspend Ohio’s primacy, or right to control the progam and injection well permitting. The letter is signed by over two hundred organizations and individuals who are saying, ‘Enough is enough. Ohio Department of Natural Resources is not doing its job!’

A rally scheduled for noon, Monday, March 18 at the Athens County Courthouse, will call attention to the petition and to the shameful, criminal behavior of ODNR over decades. Speakers will detail the long violation history of Athens County’s Ginsburg injection well, at which Appalachia Resist! organized actions last June and November. Speakers will also highlight the recent intentional dumping of as much as 250,000 gallons of toxic, radioactive frack waste over a period of month into a tributary of the Mahoning River by Ben Lupo and his companies. ODNR allowed Lupo’s multiple operations to continue for decades in spite of at least 120 violations, many of them serious. Lupo will be tried for federal violations of the Clean Water Act for the Mahoning dumping and faces penalties much steeper than Ohio would inflict, according to Ohio Attorney Mike Dewine.

ACFAN member Grace Hall stated, “ODNR should be protecting Ohioans from carcinogenic, radioactive frack waste. Instead, it allows waste injection wells to operate for years after they have failed serious safety inspections.”

ODNR does not test or monitor for water or soil contamination.

The rally call states, “Ohio is not the nation’s toxic toilet. Join us to call on USEPA to take away Ohio’s authority over injection wells.” It is being held in conjunction with filing of a citizens’ petition to USEPA, initiated by Teresa Mills, Buckeye Forest Council Fracking Coordinator, and signed onto by groups and individuals around the state. The petition calls on USEPA to do a full audit and investigation of ODNR’s Underground Injection Control (UIC) program and for a suspension of Ohio’s authority to administer the program. The letter states that Ben Lupo and the Ginsburg well violation history are just the tip of the Iceberg. The rally is being held in conjunction with events around the state, including Youngstown and Portage County.

Crissa Cummings, another organizer of the Athens event, stated, “Last year over 500 million gallons of toxic, radioactive frack waste was dumped in Ohio communities. Over half of this came from Pennsylvania and West Virginia. We desperately need public servants who can protect us from the money-hungry fracking industry. ODNR obviously can’t.  We need USEPA to take back permitting and regulation of Class II injection wells. In Pennsylvania where USEPA is in charge, there are five operating injection wells. Ohio has 179, with more on the way, despite landowner resistance.”  One example of landowner resistance is the Atha injection well permit being opposed by Athens County Commissioners and hundreds of Athens County citizens and contested by the landowner of the land where the well is proposed, Ms. Melvina Mae Frost  (see Ecowatch coverage and acfan.org for pertinent documents).

update: Letter to editor from NE Ohio resident, Elyse Hirsch, on need for USEPA action. 5-5-13

WASHINGTON, D.C., MARCH 14, 2013  — Members of the U.S. House of Representatives introduced legislation today to close two of the loopholes that exempt the oil and gas industry from environmental laws. The BREATHE Act, introduced by Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO) would close a Clean Air Act loophole and the FRESHER Act, introduced by Rep. Matthew Cartwright (D-PA) would close a Clean Water Act loophole.

Join us this Monday, March 18 at noon for a rally on the courthouse steps in Athens