RADIOACTIVE WASTE ALERT
ABOUT US
WHO ARE WE
Radioactive Waste Alert is an all volunteer, grass roots organization of Columbus area residents. We oppose the dumping of toxic radioactive fracking waste in our municipal landfills. The state of Ohio has declared open season on the dumping of frack waste in Ohio's waste disposal facilities. Radium and radium-226 is a routine by-product of hydraulic fracturing, or Fracking - the drilling method used to extract natural gas from shale rock.
OUR MISSION
Our Mission is to protect the Water Supply for Columbus, our homes and our Region from Radioactive Frack Waste. Our objective is to Raise Awareness, Provide Information and opportunities for citizens to Take Action regarding this present and growing danger in our communities and water supplies. We Stand to Ban all Radioactive Frack Waste, dumped in our Landfills or injected into our land, in the Columbus Watershed Area, and all of Ohio.
COLUMBUS CONCERN
The Ohio EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) recently approved a controversial permit to allow the processing and "reuse" of Radioactive Solid Frack Waste (drill/cuttings and sludge) at the Ohio Soil Recycling Co., located on the banks of Alum Creek, a Columbus Area watershed, next to the Alum Creek Greenway Bike Trail, 2.2 miles from Bexley, 5 miles from the Ohio State House, and upstream from the Alum Creek merge into the Scioto River.
ALL LANDFILLS LEAK
Toxic chemicals and radioactive elements leak from landfills into our rivers and streams through our ground water and can contaminate our water supply. All landfills leak, some while the landfill is actively operating, but 100% of them will leak after a few decades. In particular, Radium 226 is highly water soluble, and even if it is "diluted" with dirt, sawdust, or other elements to meet certain EPA requirments, it will make its way into our water supply.
By classifying this waste as "Naturally Occuring" the state can allow this disposal without testing for radioactivity at the dump sites. The most prolific gas and oil production areas in underground shale are also the very "hottest" from the standpoint of radioactivity, because of the way in which gas and oil are formed. Nearly all solid and liquid waste from Fracking contains levels of radiation, some of which can cause Public Health concerns.
HEALTH RISKS
There is abundant documentation of the correlation between the leaking of landfill toxins and radiation into air and water, and health problems. Health risks include: low birth weight, birth defects, enlargement and liver abnormalities, and higher rates of cancer including panceatic cancer. Radium 226 is particularly linked with leukemia.
BEYOND COLUMBUS
Ohio has become the Radioactive Toxic Frack Waste Dump for all regional Frack Waste. In addition to Ohio's waste, we are importing contaminated drill cuttings and liquid frack waste from Pennsylvania and West Virginia. It is faster and cheaper to truck their waste into Ohio and dump it into our landfills, abandoned vertical oil wells and newly permitted injection wells, where this Radioactive Toxic Frack Waste can leak, migrate and contaminate Ohio's water supply.
