Local Angle:

Frackfree America National Coalition                             News Release

www.frackfreeamerica.org

and

NEOGAP (Network for Oil & Gas Accountability & Protection)

www.NEOGAP.org

_______________________________________________________

For Immediate Release:  September 10, 2012

Contact: Susie Beiersdorfer:  Phone: 234- 201-8007  or E-mail: frackfreeamerica@gmail.com

 ______________________________________________________


TOXIC FRACKING WASTE AND ITS LINKS TO EARTHQUAKES, SPILLS, AND LEAKS: CONCERNED CITIZENS RALLY NATIONWIDE TO PROTECT PUBLIC HEALTH AND DRINKING WATER, SEPT 12, 2012

Youngstown, Ohio – 9/10/12 - In an event titled “Freedom from Toxic Fracking Waste: National Rally Day,” to be held on September 12, 2012, a national coalition of local coordinators and groups in communities across America will hold simultaneous rallies throughout the day to shine light on the numerous problems associated with toxic fracking waste and its disposal and transport, including its links to earthquakes, spills, leaks, and contamination.

The rally is being organized by Frackfree America National Coalition (www.frackfreeamerica.org )  and NEOGAP  (Network for Oil & Gas Accountability & Protection, www.NEOGAP.org ) to help raise national awareness of serious risks to  public health and safety and drinking water sources posed by the oil and gas industry’s continual creation of billions of gallons of toxic fracking waste that must be “disposed of” somewhere.

A local "Freedom from Toxic Fracking Waste: National Rally Day" event is being planned for Youngstown, Ohio, where the Frackfree America National Coalition is based.

National Rally Day activities, which will include a march, in Youngstown, Ohio, will be held on Wednesday, September 12, 2012, beginning at The First Unitarian Universalist Church of Youngstown, Channing Hall, at 1105 Elm St. (Elm & Illinois), at 3:00 PM, Eastern time. ( event here )

(Media are invited to arrive at 2:45 PM, if desired, for interviews with rally speakers, including Staughton Lynd and Doug Shields.) 

At the church, there will be a showing of the 18-minute film by Gasland filmmaker, Josh Fox, titled “The Sky is Pink,” which features Doug Shields, former Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania City Council President, who in 2010 sponsored and secured the first ban of shale gas extraction drilling in the city of Pittsburgh. Doug Shields will be in attendance at this showing and will speak and answer questions after the film.  Legendary civil rights activist, historian, author, and attorney, Staughton Lynd, will also attend the rally and speak from the steps of Stambaugh Auditorium, where he and rally marchers will go after the gathering at the Unitarian church.

From Stambaugh Auditorium, rally participants will head down the hill to a site where noted abolitionists Frederick Douglass and William Lloyd Garrison arrived, by canal boat, in Youngstown in 1847. After a brief speech commemorating that occasion, marchers will continue their procession and gather outside of the Youngstown City Hall for the final leg of the “Freedom from Toxic Fracking Waste: National Rally Day” march.

Media, the general public, elected officials, and health workers are invited and encouraged to attend.

“The disposal, handling, and transport of enormous amounts of toxic fracking waste is a concern for all states. Where will the waste go?  No one is sufficiently safeguarding our air quality and drinking water sources and the public health and safety.  Governor Cuomo is now considering whether to lift New York’s hydrofracking moratorium despite having no good plan for disposing of fracking waste that would be created if fracking is allowed.  Fracking and related processes cannot be safely done with the technology as it stands today. No amount of regulation can make it safe,” said Susie Beiersdorfer of Frackfree America National Coalition, based in Youngstown, Ohio.

“We can’t let government and industry permit injection wells in our communities in the face of such large local opposition to the wells.  Reports of serious adverse health effects are being ignored. To me this shows an unacceptable disregard of public health and safety issues,” said Vanessa Pesec of NEOGAP.

So far, rallies or events are being planned in Alabama, California, Colorado, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, and West Virginia.

Rally organizers say there is still time for other concerned citizens nationwide to sign-up to create or join a rally in their own locality at this link:

http://www.frackfreeamerica.org/groups-participating-in-rally-day.html

See a previous release here:

 http://www.frackfreeamerica.org/1/post/2012/08/freedom-from-toxic-fracking-waste-national-rally-day-sept-12-2012.html

For media inquiries or more information:

 Facebook:

www.facebook.com/Frackfree and

www.facebook.com/Neogap.org

 NEOGAP:
e-mail: neogap.org@gmail.com  call: 440-940-OGAP (6427)

Frackfree America National Coalition
e-mail: frackfreeamerica@gmail.com  call: 234-201-8007


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FREEDOM FROM TOXIC FRACKING WASTE: CONCERNED CITIZENS - NATIONAL RALLY DAY is Sept. 12th.

NEOGAP (Network for Oil & Gas Accountability & Protection, www.NEOGAP.org) and Frackfree America National Coalition (www.frackfreeamerica.org) are coordinating a national grassroots rally day on September 12, 2012 to help raise public awareness of what the groups believe are serious risks to public health, safety, and well-being posed by the millions of gallons of toxic fracking waste continually produced by the shale gas and oil drilling industry.

There will be rallies and actions across the state of Ohio and in other states. 
FaCT-OV sent the following letter to the Belmont County Commissioners, the Jefferson County Commissioners, the St. Clairsville Mayor and City Council,  and to local newspapers.

September 12, 2012
Letter to the Editor,

We believe there are serious risks to public health, safety, and well-being posed by the millions
of gallons of toxic fracking waste continually produced by the shale gas and oil drilling industry
being dumped in Ohio. Much of it goes into injection wells.

According to records we researched, one of these deep injections wells used for wastes is located
in Belmont County on Kirkwood Heights. A second one, operated by CNX Gas Company is
located in the Fairview quadrant. Jefferson County has one operated by Samurai Operations in
the Richmond quadrant. It was a deep injection well in the Youngstown area which caused
eleven earthquakes before it was shut down earlier this year.

We are concerned that Ohio regulations are too lax, putting citizens at risk.
According to an NBC 4 news video and report titled “NBC4 Investigates: What’s In The Drilling
Waste Water Traveling Into Ohio?” (5/23/2012), Ohio does not test the drilling wastes accepted
from other states that is being brought in and injected into the deep wells. Ninety percent of
Pennsylvania’s drilling wastes and large amounts from West Virginia are being trucked into
Ohio. Samples of this waste reported to the WV DEP showed an acidity higher than
hydrochloric acid, and large amounts of toxic chemicals such as arsenic and heavy metals.

The NBC 4 report is on-line at: http://www2.nbc4i.com/news/2012/may/23/nbc4-investigateswhats-
drilling-waste-water-trave-ar-1047008/

The September 3, 2012 Columbus Dispatch article “‘Fracking’brine/ Gas-well waste full of
radium” by Spencer Hunt, states: “Study suggests water trucked to Ohio from Pa. might be
radioactive.”

The Columbus Dispatch report is on-line at:
http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2012/09/03/gas-well-waste-full-of-radium.html

Not knowing the components of fracking waste puts communities and first responders at
unnecessary risk. How can communities and townships effectively prepare for and deal with an
emergency when they don’t know the substances they are dealing with? Those who live along
the routes of fracking trucks are also at risk from accidents and accidental spills of toxic wastes.
We request that county commissioners and other elected officials work with the public, the
ODNR and Legislature to take action to protect citizens from these dangers.

Sincerely,
Patricia Jacobson Sherry Becker-Gorby
FaCT-OV (affiliated with FaCT: Faith Communities Together)

Press Release:
Freedom from Toxic Fracking Waste: National Rally Day, Sept. 12, 2012
On September 12, 2012 a national coalition of local coordinators and groups in communities across America will hold local, simultaneous rallies throughout the day to help raise public awareness about serious risks to public health, safety, and well-being posed by the millions of gallons of toxic fracking waste continually produced by the shale gas and oil drilling industry.
Frackfree America National Coalition  News Release:

NEOGAP (Network for Oil & Gas Accountability & Protection) www.NEOGAP.org
and
Frackfree America National Coalition  www.frackfreeamerica.org
_______________________________________________________

For Immediate Release:  August 9, 2012
Contact: Vanessa Pesec:  Phone:  440-781-6440 or E-mail:   neogap.org@gmail.com
Contact: Susie Beiersdorfer:  Phone: 234- 201-8007  or E-mail: frackfreeamerica@gmail.com ______________________________________________________

FREEDOM FROM TOXIC FRACKING WASTE:
CONCERNED CITIZENS ANNOUNCE A NATIONAL RALLY DAY

Youngstown,  Ohio, August 9, 2012 – NEOGAP (Network for Oil & Gas Accountability & Protection,  www.NEOGAP.org )  and Frackfree America National Coalition (www.frackfreeamerica.org ) are coordinating a national grassroots rally day on September 12, 2012 to help raise  public awareness of what the groups believe are serious risks to public health, safety, and well-being posed by the millions of gallons of toxic fracking waste continually produced by the shale gas and oil drilling industry.

The title of the September 12th nationwide event is: “Freedom from Toxic Fracking Waste: National Rally Day.”

On September 12, 2012 a national coalition of local coordinators and groups in communities across America will hold simultaneous rallies throughout the day to shine light on the numerous problems associated with toxic fracking waste and its disposal, including its links to earthquakes, spills, and leaks.

According to geologist Susie Beiersdorfer of Frackfree America National Coalition and Frackfree Mahoning Valley, “The public is not being fully or adequately informed of the risks of fracking and related processes to public health and safety and well-being. We are calling for increased transparency and public awareness about the truth of toxic fracking waste, which can contain naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM) and numerous toxic chemicals or known carcinogens, like benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene (BTEX), that could find their way into drinking water sources or into soil and air via leaks, surface spills near waterways, or well casing failures.”

The groups believe that the rosy picture of drilling for oil and gas painted by slick, expensive radio and television advertisements by the gas and oil industry does not represent the real experiences of many everyday concerned citizens who live near injection wells or along the routes where fracking waste is, or will be, transported and possibly spilled. The groups say that there are too many unanswered questions about fracking waste, partially because gas and oil companies are exempt from the Safe Drinking Water Act.

According to the coalition, every newly permitted fracking well will result in millions of gallons of toxic fracking wastewater being created, transported, and disposed of somewhere.  Although the fracking waste is frequently referred to by the industry or others as “brine,” “saltwater,” or “produced water,” the groups believe that these euphemistic terms are highly misleading and give the public a false sense of reassurance about the alleged safety of the fracking waste.

“The truth is that the risks imposed by the production, transport, and disposal of toxic fracking waste are creating a serious public health problem. Toxic fracking waste can expose the public to a number of chemical and radioactive carcinogens, neurotoxins, and pulmonary and cardiovascular toxins.  Children, whose immune systems are still developing, workers on drill sites, and those handling toxic fracking wastes are especially vulnerable to risks as are persons living or working near drilling sites, along toxic fracking disposal routes or at or near toxic fracking waste injection wells, ” said Vanessa Pesec of NEOGAP.

FANC and NEOGAP cite a Columbus, Ohio news story that illustrates how not knowing the components of fracking waste can put communities and first responders at unnecessary risk. They ask:  How can cities and townships effectively prepare for an emergency when they don’t know what the substance is that they are dealing with?

The groups say that even though the following news story is from Columbus, Ohio, the news report is relevant for all of the many states who face the possibility or present reality of fracking, which will result in the need to transport and dispose of waste, thereby increasing the chance for spills and leaks.

See the following highly informative NBC 4 news video and report titled “NBC4 Investigates: What’s In The Drilling Waste Water Traveling Into Ohio?” (5/23/2012).

http://www2.nbc4i.com/news/2012/may/23/nbc4-investigates-whats-drilling-waste-water-trave-ar-1047008/

For media inquiries or for more information on fracking and related processes, toxic fracking waste, or how to coordinate or participate in a local rally, please sign up for free e-mail updates on the NEOGAP and Frackfree America National Coalition websites and/ or contact us by phone, website, Facebook, twitter, or e-mail:

On Facebook:
www.facebook.com/Frackfree   and

www.facebook.com/Neogap.org

Facebook EVENT page: http://www.facebook.com/events/514330835247580/

For NEOGAP:
e-mail:  neogap.org@gmail.com  or call:  440-940-OGAP (6427)

http://www.neogap.org/neogap/events/nationwiderallyday-freedomfromtoxicfrackwaste/

For Frackfree America National Coalition
e-mail:  frackfreeamerica@gmail.com or call:  234-201-8007

http://www.frackfreeamerica.org/national-day-of-action.html

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