Published on Oct 15, 2012 by JokerTreePictures
The ODNR has permitted a horizontal fracking well inside the environmentally-protected zone of the Meander Reservoir in Ohio’s Mahoning Valley without consulting the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) or the overseeing Mahoning Valley Sanitary District. On Sunday, October 14, activists with Frackfree Mahoning Valley protested this well site and formed a blockade at the entrance of the site, refusing to move. They arrived at 10:30 a.m. and after more than four hours of blockading the entrance, activists decided to peacefully resolve the blockade with no arrests or confrontations. Fracking contaminates ground and surface water. An internal industry report found that six percent of wells have leaks immediately upon completion. Fracking uses a secret blend of toxic chemicals to shatter rocks deep within the Earth. Those chemicals can contaminate the water through negligence and through mechanical failure. No matter the safety record of a company—in this case Console Energy—wells fail, and overtime all wells break, becoming sources for water contamination. The Cadle fracking well site sits less than 100′ from a stream—a direct tributary of the Meander Reservoir. The Ohio EPA is responsible for the environmentally protected zone. The ODNR should have consulted with the Ohio EPA before granting the permit for this well. This action comes just days before Youngstown City Council will decide whether or not to lease city lands for fracking.
close to home gets closer to home. i just left youngstown last week. its a shame that we feel a need to frack so close to our clean water sources. we as a country are gonna be at a very large loss and it’ll be april 12, 1861 all over again. sb
