This is from the Highland Heights citizens’ group, Love Our Green Space (LOGS), who would like to share some health/safety information with you, to help you make an informed decision before signing a lease to let an energy company put a gas well in your backyard.
Some background facts: Gas wells drilled today use “drilling mud” (which is a combination of water, sand, and toxic chemicals) to break up underground rock formations (in Highland Heights it is called the “Clinton Shale Formation”) to release natural gas trapped in the rock. This is called “frac” drilling.
Not all of the toxic chemicals and released gas returns to the surface. They can travel long distances and pollute the soil and ground water. That is apparently what caused the house in Bainbridge to explode.
The drilling companies have probably told you that what they do is perfectly safe and that you don’t have to worry because they are regulated by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR). But what haven’t they told you?
1. Did they tell you that Cady Road in North Royalton has been designated by the federal government as a Hazardous Waste Site because of “frac” drilling?
In making the designation, the U.S. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry noted that no regulatory action has been taken by ODNR or any other agency to address the urgent public health hazard that it identified in 2003, when it wrote:
The combustible gas levels measured through screening and analytical methods at homes along Cady Road are a physical hazard. Levels of gases were detected within the explosive range or above at two wellheads, and near explosive levels in two basements. A risk of fire and explosion exists for any enclosed area in which private well water is used. Residents could also experience potential non-life threatening effects from the levels of methane and other combustible gases detected in their water wells, including dizziness, headaches, nausea, and fatigue. Methane and other combustible gases pose an urgent public health hazard to Cady Road area residents that have private well water.
http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/grtlakes/pdfs/2008/final/Chapter3_GreatLakesAOCFinal.pd fhttp://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/HAC/pha/cadyroad/cad_p1.html#appc
For a dramatic illustration of what can happen with “frac” drilling, watch this Colorado homeowner set the water coming out of his kitchen sink tap on fire. Go online and use this link: http://www.kdvr.com/news/kdvr-firewater-032309,0,5726629.story
2. Did they tell you that there are only 3 ODNR inspectors for all of Cuyahoga County, which has over 3,000 active gas wells?
At a recent meeting with the city, two ODNR inspectors admitted that they spend most of their time issuing new drilling permits and don’t have time to do even annual safety inspections of existing wells.
http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/mineral/inspectnorth/tabid/10354/default.aspx
3. Did they tell you that ODNR does not require that residential area drilling access roads meet state Fire Code Standards—standards that ensure that local fire trucks can quickly and safely reach residential drilling sites?
In fact, one ODNR inspector told Highland Heights Fire Chief Turner that if a gas well or tank battery catches fire, he shouldn’t try to put it out. He should park his fire trucks and wait for ODNR to arrive. How will you feel waiting for ODNR as your neighborhood burns?
Is ODNR really looking out for you?
# # #
