From the Ashtabula-Geauga-Lake Counties Farmers Union:
Teresa Mills, of the Center of Health and Environmental Justice, will be speaking on Health and Safety Issues around Frack Waste Injection Wells on May 15, 2013, at 6pm, at the Windsor Community Center, Ashtabula County. (5430 Mayfield Rd, Windsor, Ohio, 44099).
There are at least 15 active frack waste class II injection wells in Ashtabula County. There are five class II wells on one single site in Windsor. Class II injection wells accept liquid waste from unconventional, horizontally drilled, natural gas wells using the process called hydraulic fracturing. Wastewater from the fracturing process contains toxic contaminants, including unknown quantities of undisclosed chemical additives used in hydraulic fracturing fluid, as well as contaminants from sources underground. Benzene, naphthalene, formaldehyde, cadmium, mercury, arsenic, biocides, and radioactive compounds like radium, are only a few of the toxic materials found in the waste fluid.
Ashtabula County already has a negative history with injection wells. In the summer of 1986, a class I injection well began receiving liquid industrial waste on the east side of the city of Ashtabula. In July, 1987, an earthquake of 3.8 magnitude was epicentered within one mile of this injection well. After investigations showed the injection well to be the cause of the earthquakes, it was closed in the summer of 1994. However, the earthquakes continued until 2001, with a total of 36 more earthquakes with magnitudes above 2.0. Many county residents remain worried that other injection wells could cause seismic activity, in addition to air and water contamination.
Teresa Mills has been working for more than twenty years as a grassroots leader to assist communities to find their voice, analyze data, and develop a strategic plan. She began by working to shut down the Columbus incinerator that was polluting her neighborhood. This incinerator was found to be the largest emitter of dioxin in the country. Teresa went on to found the Buckeye Environmental Network; a statewide network of grassroots environmental groups. Today she works as the Ohio Childrens Health Organizer with the Center for Health and Environmental Justice to stop schools from being built near toxic lands or facilities, and on other environmental threats to children.
This event is presented by Ashtabula County Water Watch, and co-sponsored by Ashtabula, Geauga, Lake Counties Farmers Union; Concerned Citizens Ohio (Portage County); Frack Free Geauga; Frack free Lake County; Lake Effect chapter of the Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association; and NEOGAP. Event is free and open to the public. For more information call 440-272-5174 or 440-344-2467.
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