Frackfree Mahoning Valley: Second Statement (9/26/12)
RE: Youngstown City Council fracking vote:

HOW QUICKLY SOME FORGOT THE SERIOUSNESS OF THE YOUNGSTOWN, OHIO, FRACKING- RELATED 4.0 MAGNITUDE EARTHQUAKE:  LET’S REMEMBER, AND URGE DELAYING OF THE VOTE AND ARRANGING TELEVISED PUBLIC HEARINGS BEFORE YOUNGSTOWN CITY COUNCIL MAKES AN ERRONEOUS, MISGUIDED, RASH DECISION TO LEASE YOUNGSTOWN MINERAL RIGHTS TO GREENLIGHT FRACKING AND RELATED PROCESSES ON OCTOBER 3, 2012, THEREBY JEOPARDIZING THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND SAFETY:

First of all, thank you and kudos to the Youngstown, Ohio, City Council members who listened to their constituents, heard their concerns and did the right thing.

On September 19, 2012, some members of the Youngstown City Council wisely postponed the vote to greenlight fracking in the city of Youngstown, perhaps, out of their legitimate concern for the need for more due diligence, transparency, and public education before leaping blindly into a serious decision that would affect Youngstown and the surrounding area – including other states and Canada.

Delaying the vote was the responsible thing to do. Thank you.

This issue is not over even though the vote was postponed. Now the vote could be set for October 3, 2012. We must again urge the Youngstown City Council to vote to delay the vote and to hold a series of public hearings, preferably televised, on the topic in question.

For the record, Frackfree Mahoning Valley, a group of concerned citizens from Youngstown and the surrounding area, opposes fracking and related processes since fracking cannot be done safely with the technology as it stands today.

On September 19, 2012, the mayor of Youngstown, Ohio, Mayor Sammarone, made an impassioned, some might say desperate, plea for money that was broadcast in the following WKBN – TV 27 news report:

According to the WKBN-TV report, quoting Mayor Sammarone:

“‘Mr. Hagan, if you want to help us, get us money,’ Sammarone said. ‘That’s what we need in the city of Youngstown, money.’ “

(See:  “Council Meeting Heats Up Over Drilling in Youngstown”, WKBN – TV 27 first News, September 19, 2012, updated September 20, 2012:
http://www.wkbn.com/mostpopular/story/Council-Meeting-Heats-Up-Over-Drilling-in/wa4gvZaTN0OhBjQ7mXGr9w.cspx  ) 

As the old saying goes, desperate people do desperate things, and we believe that putting the public interest, health and safety in jeopardy in order to recklessly rush into an agreement for fracking, because it is said that the city needs money, is a desperate thing to do, even if the intentions of the Mayor are good.  Other, more creative ways to solve this problem should be explored.

Furthermore, Youngstown, Ohio is the current epicenter of induced seismicity, otherwise known as man-made earthquakes. To even consider allowing fracking within the city limits is astounding in light of recent history.

Allowing fracking in the city will increase the production of millions of gallons of toxic fracking “brine” waste which may be disposed of in toxic “brine” fracking waste deep injection wells in the Youngstown area, which is now an earthquake zone due to previous injection that disturbed the equilibrium of an ancient fault.  

The mayor spoke with CNN correspondent Poppy Harlow soon after the now famous 4.0 magnitude, December 31, 2011, earthquake.  According to the CNN news report of January 12, 2012, Youngstown Mayor Sammarone told CNN Money reporter Poppy Harlow:

“I’ve lived there about 42 years. We never had an earthquake like that.” … ”When you feel unsafe in your own house, then it’s a serious situation.”

(You can hear Mayor Sammarone’s remarks, cited above, and the CNN Money news report by reporter Poppy Harlow, titled, “Ohio’s mysterious man-made earthquakes”, (1/12/12) here:
http://money.cnn.com/video/news/2012/01/12/n_ohio_earthquakes.cnnmoney/   )

People were shocked after the 11 earthquakes leading up to the 4.0 magnitude earthquake, and rightly so. Mayor Sammarone was “worried,” according to the CNN report. 

We should not forget how we, as a community, felt at that time. We should question the wisdom of allowing fracking and more injection well disposal of “brine” toxic fracking waste in this area.

As the protest sign shown in the CNN report says, “We are Not Expendable.” 

Frackfree Mahoning Valley understands that Youngstown, like many cities nationwide, is in a budget crunch, but a better solution than greenlighting fracking should be found.

For the sake of the Youngstown community, families, children, grandchildren and future generations, we must get this decision right. There must be proper due diligence, public awareness and transparency.

We are concerned that this still has not yet taken place. Not all designated experts on hydraulic fracturing (fracking) are objective or impartial providers of vital information that the general public needs.

The Youngstown City Council’s decision must be scrutinized, publicized, intensely deliberated, and voted upon by a fully informed public, because not only does this decision profoundly affect Youngstown families and community, it is also a regional issue, and an international issue, since any resulting earthquakes from toxic fracking waste deep injection wells have the potential to be felt in surrounding states and even Canada, as shown by the reports from the December 31, 2011, Youngstown 4.0 magnitude earthquake, one of about 12 earthquakes in an area with no previously recorded quakes prior to operation of the Northstar # 1 injection well.

Frackfree Mahoning Valley offers our educational support for putting together a public, and it is hoped, televised forum where the community and surrounding states can hear what is being considered and where they can hear truly independent authorities on the risks and alleged benefits of fracking.

Important questions that have not yet been adequately addressed publicly include:

• Where will the millions of gallons of toxic “brine” fracking waste that will necessarily be created by allowing increased fracking within the city limits, be disposed of in the Youngstown area? 
• What are the planned locations for injection well disposal of toxic fracking waste?
• Where will the fracking industrial operations and drilling rigs actually be placed in Youngstown?  How close to homes, parks, schools, cemeteries, forests, or sources of drinking water will they be located? 
• Already, drilling is set to commence near Meander Reservoir, a source of drinking water for 300,000 people in the Youngstown area. This is an extremely unwise and irresponsible decision. Can we expect more decisions like this if drilling is greenlighted in Youngstown?
• Earthquakes linked to the Northstar #1 fracking waste injection well have already taken place. What is the effect of even small, frequent earthquakes, like the ones already experienced in Youngstown, on the ability of the injection wells to maintain well integrity and protect drinking water sources? 
• Who is testing the integrity of the injection wells and how often?
• What about inspections of injection wells? See the following Scientific American excerpt that describes problems with injection well safety:

“"The program is basically a paper tiger," said Mario Salazar, a former senior technical advisor to the Environmental Protection Agency who worked with its injection regulation program for 25 years. While wells that handle hazardous waste from other industries have been held to increasingly tough standards, Salazar said, Class 2 wells remain a gaping hole in the system. "There are not enough people to look at how these wells are drilled … to witness whether what they tell you they will do is in fact what they are doing." “

See: “Safety Rules for Fracking Disposal Wells Often Ignored The growing number of wells used to dispose of wastewater from fracking are subject to lax oversight” “By Abrahm Lustgarten and ProPublica | Thursday, September 20, 2012”, Scientific American :
  http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=safety-rules-for-fracking-disposal-wells-often-ignored

• Will there be an increased probability of fracking-related earthquakes?  (The answer is, most likely, yes.)
• What is the likelihood that drinking water sources will be affected or contaminated?
  
• Where is the plan for Youngstown to protect water sources from fracking operations?
• What will the increased truck traffic do to our quality of life in Youngstown?  
  
• Where is the plan for preventing expensive road damage in Youngstown which could run up an enormous bill for Youngstown taxpayers?  See the following video from Pennsylvania that shows increased truck traffic in one city.
  

• Do Youngstown citizens really want our way of life permanently changed from residential to industrial? This is not a decision to take lightly.   See: “"Heavy Fraffic" from the documentary GROUNDSWELL: Protecting Our Children's Water” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZZQxe6FiGA&feature=player_embedded

• Also, please see the cost of Texas road damage from trucks in the following Star-Telegram.com news report.  If Youngstown needs money, this is not the way to get it.  We need to pay attention to what is happening in other states.: “Posted Tuesday, Jul. 03, 2012 Updated Tuesday, Jul. 03, 2012, … By Barry Shlachter Fort Worth Star-Telegram

“Drilling trucks have caused an estimated $2 billion in damage to Texas roads" By Barry Shlachter, Star-Telegram.com.
http://www.star-telegram.com/2012/07/02/4075195/drilling-trucks-have-caused-an.html
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This list of relevant and necessary questions could go on and on. Public input is needed. What do the constituents want to know about what may take place in their neighborhood? What are the risks associated with fracking and related processes? They deserve to know before it happens, and to have a say in what might happen in their local community, although Frackfree Mahoning Valley believes fracking should not take place for reasons cited above.

Frackfree Mahoning Valley sent an e-mail (a copy of the e-mail message is included below) to Youngstown City Council after the Public Utilities Committee meeting on September 18, 2012 where a representative from the Ohio Oil & Gas Energy Education Program (OOGEEP) spoke to them about hydraulic fracturing (fracking).

There were some presenter omissions and, we believe, inaccuracies, that need to be addressed as a part of adequate due diligence before Youngstown City Council makes such a serious decision about leasing Youngstown’s mineral rights for fracking.

In addition, when asked by a City Council member about earthquake issues, the OOGEEP presenter urged Council to ask the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) about earthquakes because she could not answer those questions.

As far as we know, a public meeting with an ODNR official about the unanswered questions has not yet occurred.  There must be time allowed to invite ODNR, as recommended by the OOGEEP presenter, and to do the requisite due diligence to protect the public interest.

Again, the e-mail sent to Youngstown City Council by Frackfree Mahoning Valley is shown below at the end of this statement.
In Summary:
To open up Youngstown for fracking is a serious decision that should not be rushed into lightly or recklessly, as now seems to be the case.

What kind of mess are we leaving for our children, grandchildren, and future generations to clean up if we allow fracking to continue?  We as a community must stop this reckless pursuit of money, at any cost, before it causes irreparable and irreversible harm to the public health, safety and well-being.   Negative health effects may not manifest right away – sometimes taking years, but that doesn’t mean that adverse health effects are not taking place. 

There is a great need now to hear from physicians, nurses, and other public health and medical professionals about their assessment of the risk of adverse health effects of fracking and related processes. To date, we know of no medical professionals that have addressed Youngstown City Council.  Why?  This needs to happen.

We owe it, not only to ourselves, but also to our children to make the right decision regarding leasing mineral rights.  Youngstown City Council members are entrusted to represent and to uphold the fundamental, inalienable rights of their constituents to clean air, clean water, and land. Council must take the required time to protect the well-being, public health, and safety of our community and its families and future generations.  It is their duty.

Therefore, as a partial solution, we must:

Delay the vote. Increase transparency and increase valid due diligence.  Truly educate the public by holding televised true public, honest  dialogue and a series of public hearings  with independent, objective  experts, physicians, public health professionals, citizens, and authorities. 

We cannot jeopardize the public health for some quick cash. This decision could forever change our local area from residential or rural to heavy industrial.  Does the community really want that?  We think not.

How can voters make an informed decision about whether or not to allow fracking in their neighborhoods if polls reportedly show that many people (62 percent in one poll) don’t even know what fracking is?  They can’t, which is why there needs to be a valid public awareness campaign in the public interest, and fast. 

We believe that when the public genuinely understands the consequences and detriments of fracking, and not only the alleged benefits touted by those with vested interests in perpetuating fracking and related processes, they will join the anti-fracking side of the argument in large numbers.

After making objective fracking information available to the public, a vote should be put on the ballot for the public to decide for themselves the nature of their local community.  After the public is truly informed about the damage fracking and related processes have caused in other states that are further along than Ohio in the process, they will be in a better position to make a real, informed decision regarding the risks and “benefits” of fracking. 

The truth about fracking risks is not the rosy picture that is painted by slick, expensive gas and oil drilling advertisements that are broadcast continually on national and local TV and radio. These overly optimistic and, we believe, disingenuous portrayals, which neglect to tell the public about the high level of adverse risks of fracking and related processes, are simply too good to be true. 

It is also irresponsible and a disservice to the community to only present the alleged “benefits” of fracking while failing to present known detriments and risks of fracking and related processes.  Why is the industry, apparently, avoiding or evading discussion of the risks?  The general public, and members of Youngstown City Council, deserve to know the risks in order to make a truly informed consent or rejection of fracking and related processes in their neighborhoods.  It is the responsible thing to do.

SEE our previous press release here:

http://www.frackfreemahoning.blogspot.com/2012/09/frackfree-mahoning-valley-calls-upon.html

SEE our previous statement /open letter here:

http://www.frackfreeamerica.org/1/post/2012/09/statement-open-letter-by-frackfree-mahoning-valley-to-mayor-charles-sammarone-and-youngstown-city-council-september-18-2012.html

An e-mail sent to Youngstown City Council on September 19, 2012,  follows:

To: Youngstown City Council, Mayor Sammarone
From: Frackfree Mahoning Valley    http://www.frackfreemahoning.blogspot.com/
                                                             234-201-0402 or frackfreemahoning@gmail.com
RE: Objective sources included below to correct inaccuracies and omissions in the Ohio Oil & Gas Energy Education Program (OOGEEP) presentation to the Public Utilities Committee: September 18, 2012

There is also a link to our open letter of September 18, 2012, to Youngstown City Council at the website URL cited above.

Thank you for the opportunity to ask questions of the speaker last evening. This is a good step forward to the kind of dialogue that we would like to see among experts, scientists, physicians and public health professionals, council, and the general public.

There were a number of inaccuracies and omissions in the presentation by Ohio Oil & Gas Energy Education Program (OOGEEP) to City Council last evening.

The presenter also was unable to answer several questions regarding the Youngstown injection well-related earthquake. She referred Council to ODNR. We hope that you will please follow-up on the earthquake, fracking waste, and injection well questions that were left unanswered by the presenter last evening. This is a very important topic for Youngstown, as you know.

We are including a few objective and reliable sources of information below to correct the record.

We hope that you will please take some time to review these materials. Particularly, the presentation by Dr. Anthony Ingraffea will make clear the difference between conventional and unconventional drilling and how unconventional hydraulic fracturing is a new technology.

If you want more information, we would be happy to offer educational support to Youngstown City Council and/or the Public Utilities Committee. It would be good to have an open forum where these kinds of presenter misrepresentations, whether intentional or unintentional, could be corrected during the meeting, rather than the day afterward.

And, again, thank you for the opportunity to voice our questions and concerns.

Thank you in advance for reviewing this material.

Concerned Citizens of Frackfree Mahoning Valley

Please see:

Dr. Anthony Ingraffea (bio below) discusses the differences between conventional vs. unconventional drilling. He also discusses issues with designating the year 1947 as the beginning of hydraulic fracturing. This is a very important video that speaks directly to issues raised last evening:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjdhiZJCyzU

RE: The presenter mentioned Frac Focus as a resource for Council. Here is a recent Bloomberg article about Frac Focus.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-08-14/fracking-hazards-obscured-in-failure-to-disclose-wells.html
Fracking Hazards Obscured in Failure to Disclose Wells By Benjamin Haas, Jim Polson, Phil Kuntz and Ben Elgin - 2012-08-14T22:26:29Z
[excerpt from full article:]
“Seeking to quell environmental concerns about the chemicals it shoots underground to extract oil and natural gas, Apache Corp. (APA) told shareholders in April that it disclosed information about “all the company’s U.S. hydraulic fracturing jobs” on a website last year.
Actually, Apache’s transparency was shot through with cracks. In Texas and Oklahoma, the company reported chemicals it used on only about half its fracked wells via FracFocus.org, a voluntary website that oil and gas companies helped design amid calls for mandatory disclosure."
…

RE: Bainbridge, Ohio, incident mentioned by the presenter:
[Excerpt from full article at the following url]
http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2007/12/bainbridge_officials_to_meet_t.html “Bainbridge officials to meet tonight on home explosion Published: Monday, December 17, 2007, 4:15 PM Updated: Monday, December 17, 2007, 4:56 PM By Kaye Spector, The Plain Dealer
Bainbridge Township -- A natural gas explosion that rocked an English Drive home early Saturday will be the topic of a meeting at town hall tonight.
The freak explosion - which officials say was caused by natural gas bubbling into Richard and Thelma Payne's well water - literally lifted the English Drive house off its foundation before dropping it down, Fire Chief Brian Phan said. "
...
Additional reports and articles:

[GAO Report:] “Drinking Water Safeguards Are Not Preventing Contamination From Injected Oil and Gas Wastes RCED-89-97, Jul 5, 1989” http://www.gao.gov/products/RCED-89-97

“Cracks in the Façade …” Dusty Horwitt, Senior Counsel, Environmental Working Group, August 3, 2011: http://static.ewg.org/reports/2011/fracking/cracks_in_the_facade.pdf

Please also see videos, articles, and reports at the end of Update 1 at:
http://www.frackfreeamerica.org/1/post/2012/08/update-1-for-freedom-from-toxic-fracking-waste-national-rally-day.html

Bio for Dr. Anthony R Ingraffea follows:
http://www.cee.cornell.edu/people/profile.cfm?netid=ari1

• Dept: Civil and Environmental Engineering

• Title: Dwight C. Baum Professorship in Engineering
• Address: 322 Hollister Hall
• Phone: 607 255-3336
• email: ARI1@cornell.edu

Biography
Dr. Ingraffea spent two years as a structural engineer with the Grumman Aerospace Corporation and two years as a county engineer with the Peace Corps in Venezuela before he began doctoral studies. He has taught structural mechanics, finite element methods,and fracture mechanics at Cornell since 1977.

Dr. Ingraffea's research concentrates on computer simulation and physical testing of complex fracturing processes. He and his students performed pioneering research in the use of interactive computer graphics in computational mechanics. He has authored with his students over 200 papers in these areas. He has been a principal investigator on over $35M in R&D projects from the NSF, NASA Langley, Nichols Research, NASA Glenn, AFOSR, FAA, Kodak, U. S. Army Engineer Waterways Experiment Station, U.S. Dept. of Transportation, IBM, Schlumberger, Digital Equipment Corporation, the Gas Research Institute, Sandia National Laboratories, the Association of Iron and Steel Engineers, General Dynamics, Boeing, Caterpillar Tractor, and Northrop Grumman Aerospace.

Professor Ingraffea was a member of the first group of Presidential Young Investigators named by the National Science Foundation in 1984. For his research achievements he has won the International Association for Computer Methods and Advances in Geomechanics "1994 Significant Paper Award" for one of five most significant papers in the category of Computational/Analytical Applications in the past 20 years, and he has twice won the National Research Council/U.S. National Committee for Rock Mechanics Award for Research in Rock Mechanics (1978, 1991). His group won a NASA Group Achievement Award in 1996, and a NASA Aviation Safety Turning Goals into Reality Award in 1999 for its work on the aging aircraft problem. He became a Fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers in 1991.

Professor Ingraffea has received numerous awards for his outstanding teaching at Cornell. He received the first Society of Women Engineer's Professor of the Year Award in 1997, the 2001 Daniel Luzar '29 Excellence in Teaching Award from the College of Engineering, and, in 2005, was named Weiss Presidential Teaching Fellow at Cornell University. He has been a leader in the use of workstations and information technology in engineering education, with grants from the NSF, U.S. Department of Education, Digital Equipment Corporation, Sun Microsystems, and Hewlett-Packard in these areas. He organized and was the first Director of the NSF-supported, $15M Synthesis National Engineering Education Coalition, a team of eight diverse engineering colleges. Synthesis developed, implemented, and assessed innovative programs and technologies to improve the quality of undergraduate engineering education and to attract and graduate larger numbers of women and under-represented minority engineers. He was Cornell Co-PI on a NASA/NYS/AT&T sponsored project to develop an Advanced Interactive Discovery Environment for collaborative distance design in engineering education, teaming with faculty from aerospace, mechanics, and civil engineering from Cornell and Syracuse universities.

He was named Co-Editor-in-Chief of Engineering Fracture Mechanics in 2005, received the ASTM Irwin Award for meritorious contributions to the practice of fracture mechanics in 2006, and was named a Fellow of the International Congress on Fracture in 2009. In 2011, TIME Magazine named him one of its "People Who Mattered".

Research Interests
The Cornell Fracture Group members include Prof. Tony Ingraffea, research associates, and graduate students. The mission of the Cornell Fracture Group is to create, to verify, and to validate computational simulation systems for fracture control in engineered systems. An equally important focus of the group is education at all levels. Our current and past research has focused on both experimental testing and numerical simulation of fatigue and fracture in a variety of materials.

www.cfg.cornell.edu

Teaching Interests
I believe that pedagogy, the "how" that one teaches, is as important as "what", or the content, one teaches. Further, pedagogy must be consistent with content and the "why", or the values sought in content. I know from my teaching experience, and from the literature of educational psychology, that clarity of presentation, responsiveness to student needs, and, most importantly, remembering what it was like to be a student, are the most important aspects to effective pedagogy. I continue to explore the use of informational technology tools to improve clarity and responsiveness. I hope I will never forget how I thought, how I learned, and how I felt about my professors when I was a student.

Service Interests
1. Outreach via informal education of the public, policy makers, and regulators on technical issues related to unconventional development of natural gas.
2. K-12 STEM education.

Selected Publications

• Howarth, R., R. Santaro, Anthony R Ingraffea. 2012. "Venting and Leaking of Methane from Shale Gas Development: Response to Cathles et al." Climatic Change .
• Hochhalter, JD, DJ Littlewood, MD Veilleux, JE Bozek, AM Maniatty, AD Rollett, Anthony R Ingraffea. 2011. "A geometric approach to modeling microstructurally small fatigue crack formation: III. Development of a semi-empirical model for nucleation." Modelling and Simulation in Materials Science and Engineering 19 (3): 035008.
• Spear, A., A. Priest, J. Hochhalter, M. Veilleux, Anthony R Ingraffea. 2011. "Surrogate modeling of high-fidelity fracture simulations for real-time residual strength predictions." AIAA Journal 49 (12): 2770-2782.
• Santoro, R., Robert Warren Howarth, Anthony R Ingraffea. 2011. "Indirect emissions of carbon dioxides from Marcellus shale gas development". A technical report of the Agriculture, Energy, and Environment Program at Cornell University.
• Cerrone, A., G. Heber, P. Wawrzynek, P. Paulino, Anthony R Ingraffea. 2011. "Modeling Microstructurally Small Fatigue Cracking Processes in an Aluminum Alloy with the PPR Cohesive Zone Model." Paper presented at EMI 2011 Proceedings, Boston, MA

see more publications
Selected Awards and Honors

• Two 2011 Citations in the category of Sustainable Community Development (Sustainable Tompkins) 2011
• Fellow, International Congress on Fracture 2009
• Richard J. Almeida Award, Project High Jump 2008
• George R. Irwin Medal (American Society for Testing and Materials) 2006
• Weiss Presidential Teaching Fellow (Cornell University) 2005

Websites

• http://www.cfg.cornell.edu

Education

• BS (Aerospace & Aeronautical Engineering), University of Notre Dame, 1969
• MS (Civil Engineering), Polytechnic University, 1971
• Ph D (Civil Engineering), University of Colorado, 1977
  

______________________________________

For media inquiries or more information, e-mail:
frackfreemahoning@gmail.com or call:
234-201-0402
www.frackfreemahoning.blogspot.com

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

Facebook:
www.facebook.com/Frackfree

                                                       # # #

“Statement:  Open Letter” by Frackfree Mahoning Valley to Mayor Charles Sammarone and Youngstown City Council: September 18, 2012

WHY YOUNGSTOWN, OHIO, MAYOR CHARLES P. SAMMARONE AND YOUNGSTOWN CITY COUNCIL MUST DELAY THE VOTE ON WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2012 THAT COULD GREENLIGHT THE SELLING OR LEASING OF YOUNGSTOWN MINERAL RIGHTS, THEREBY OPENING THE DOOR TO FRACKING AND RELATED PROCESSES IN YOUNGSTOWN, OHIO

Youngstown, Ohio, 9/18/12 - According to the Youngstown, Ohio Vindicator (9/14/12), in an article titled, “Youngstown council to weigh fracking resolution,” by David Skolnick:

“The mayor is asking city council to support a resolution urging the state to have ‘stringent regulations’ on fracking while also seeking council’s approval to sell the city’s mineral rights.

Mayor Charles Sammarone’s resolution calls for the city to support oil and gas drilling, as permitted by the state, as long as Ohio officials ‘respect local concerns by protecting the citizens of Youngstown through stringent and effective regulation …’ ”
http://www.vindy.com/news/2012/sep/14/youngstown-council-to-weigh-fracking-res/

Frackfree Mahoning Valley (FFM), a group of concerned citizens from Youngstown, Ohio and the surrounding area, says that fracking and related processes cannot be made safe by implementing “stringent regulation.”

Frackfree Mahoning Valley says that the process is inherently unsafe, as indicated by a mounting number of scientific reports, news articles, and documents.   (Please see some of these reports, news videos, and articles at the following URL:
http://www.frackfreeamerica.org/1/post/2012/08/update-1-for-freedom-from-toxic-fracking-waste-national-rally-day.html   )

This is not solely an issue for Mayor Sammarone and the Youngstown City Council to decide without adequate due diligence that consists of open, public, preferably televised,  dialogue, among independent scientists, physicians and other health professionals, public health officials, the general public, lawyers, mortgage and insurance experts, and industry and business representatives.

Immediate increased transparency and public dialogue is necessary to safeguard the public interest.

Frackfree Mahoning Valley urges all Youngstown and surrounding area citizens to please attend the public meeting at Youngstown City Council on Wednesday, September, 19, 2012.

The adverse risks of fracking and related processes to the public health, safety, and well-being are too great to force them upon the public.

Wherever there is fracking there must be millions of gallons of toxic fracking wastewater produced. What are Youngstown’s plans to identify, test and dispose of this waste and other solid fracking waste?  It must go somewhere, and Ohio seems to be the state most preferred for dumping or disposal of Ohio’s or other states’ hydraulic fracturing – related waste. If the greenlight is given for fracking in the city, this will by definition mean that more waste in the Youngstown area will be created.  Where will it go?  What are the plans for disposal?

It has been established that the December 31, 2011, 4.0 magnitude earthquake that shook Youngstown, Ohio and was felt in numerous surrounding states and as far away as Canada, was linked to a fracking waste disposal deep injection well.

The Youngstown earthquake of December 31, 2011, was one of about 12 earthquakes in an area that never had reported earthquakes before the drilling.

The fact that surrounding states as well as areas in Canada reported feeling that 4.0 mag. earthquake, makes the decision that Mayor Sammarone and Youngstown City Council regarding whether or not to allow fracking and related processes in the city, an issue for all of the citizens in those states or province, as well as Ohio.  Have they been officially consulted? Not as far as we know.

It is irresponsible to allow fracking and/or disposal of fracking waste in the city for the latter fact alone.  There are too many unknowns about where geological faults lie and how to actually prevent fracking-related earthquakes.  Injection wells in the earthquake – related moratorium areas must not be started again.  Fracking waste disposal in those areas, at least, must be permanently banned. In addition, the so-called “brine” “saltwater” fracking waste must be independently, publicly, completely, and scientifically tested for all components of this substance.

“Stringent regulations” did not prevent the earthquakes, or other accidents that have taken place recently in Youngstown or the surrounding area.  One cannot make an inherently unsafe process safe by making more regulations. For example, asbestos was once thought to be safe for use by the public. Science later showed that asbestos is inherently unsafe. No amount of “strict regulation” will make asbestos safe.   This is the same with fracking and related processes. They are inherently unsafe and no amount of regulations will make them safe.

The following fracking – related accidents are not theoretical. This is happening now and must be adequately addressed. These incidents still remain unresolved.  If these kinds of spills or accidents are already happening before fracking and related processes are even taking place on a large scale in Ohio, what kinds of health risks and threats to drinking water will the general public face if the industry ramps up full speed ahead?  It must be delayed now.

Incidents of concern include but are not limited to:

-Fracking and injection well – related earthquakes:

CNNMoney: “Is drilling causing Ohio earthquakes?" By Poppy Harlow and Erica Fink @CNNMoney January 17, 2012: 11:13 AM ET”  [Especially see second video titled, “Ohio's mysterious man-made earthquakes”]
http://money.cnn.com/2012/01/17/news/ohio_earthquakes/?source=cnn_bin

-A 5-mile long spill of “brine” waste near an injection well that was leaked from a truck on the road in Fowler. It is still not clear what that substance was composed of or how the incident occurred.   Reports show that “brine” waste can contain carcinogenic chemicals and naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM).  We should know what the community was exposed to as a result of this “brine water” truck spill. 
See:
“Weekend Brine Water Spill Reported in Fowler,” WKBN TV News (27),” Published: 7/11 5:46 pm Updated: 7/18 5:56 pm”
http://www.wkbn.com/content/news/local/story/Weekend-Brine-Water-Spill-Reported-in-Fowler/nIQe3_JvvEqdlJ8FSYrrXg.cspx

-Fish die in a Brookfield, Ohio pond. What exactly caused countless fish to die?  Consol Energy was cited by the EPA in relation to the runoff, according to the WKBN TV News report.
See:
“Slag Runoff May Have Caused Brookfield Fish Kill,” WKBN TV News (27) “Published: 7/31 10:14 pm Updated: 8/01 8:11 pm”
http://www.wkbn.com/content/news/local/story/Slag-Runoff-May-Have-Caused-Brookfield-Fish-Kill/CuanEIQ0pE-bZSFEpq-Aiw.cspx

-The Purple Cat spill – Coitsville, Ohio.   According to the Vindicator cited below: “The spillage drained into an open field near the well site and in the direction of a body of water behind The Purple Cat, the nonprofit, private agency that offers day programs and work opportunities for people with disabilities.”
See:
“D&L faced violations in its past” Published: Mon, January 2, 2012 @ 12:03 a.m., by Karl Henkel, The Vindicator.
http://www.vindy.com/news/2012/jan/02/by-karl-henkel/

-The Ginsburg well. An Ohio well reported as having numerous serious violations is reportedly still operating.
See:
"Teresa Mills and Heather Cantino - Injection Wells":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyUQ4aP_1UU&feature=related

--Seismic testing allegedly caused damage to the courthouse building in Marietta, Ohio. Could this happen elsewhere and what are the exact risks of seismic testing on old pipes and structures?   Youngstown and other state and city officials should be looking at what happened in Marietta for “lessons learned,” as the title cited below says.  Seismic testing is going on currently in various parts of Ohio.  According to the Marietta Times article cited below, “…Slight damage occured [sic] in at least one local residence near Ohio 60 where the trucks were conducting their tests. And the seismic waves may be the cause behind a sewer pipe breaking in the new Marietta Municipal Court. The broken line caused sewage and water to leak into a storage area, damaging some records. City engineers say they are also concerned culverts along the way may have been damaged.”
See:
“Seismic testing, lessons learned?”, July 14, 2012, The Marietta Times:
http://www.mariettatimes.com/page/content.detail/id/545397/Seismic-testing--lessons-learned-.html?nav=5004

These kinds of incidents do not inspire public confidence in the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) or other Ohio officials’ ability to safely regulate the gas and oil industry. These serious accidents make assurances given by officials regarding “stringent regulations” sound like false reassurances. Even small human errors can cause highly damaging consequences. Drinking water sources and public health should not be put in jeopardy.

The following news articles include information about why these kinds of decisions cannot be rushed through council without adequate due diligence and public notification of what is going on in their communities.  The public must have a real opportunity to voice their feedback and concerns.

An astounding example of the lack of thinking things through adequately when it comes to permitting fracking and related processes in Ohio is the drilling in the watershed of the Meander Reservoir.  This reservoir is a drinking water source for 300,000 citizens in our Mahoning Valley. Preparation for drilling has already begun.

This turn of events and the site chosen near Meander is astonishing, especially in light of a news report from Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, in August of 2012, where, according to Timothy Puko of  the Tribune – Review, cited below,  “A gas-drilling site leaked sediment above a drinking – water reservoir in Westmoreland County, leading state environmental regulators to issue a violation notice.”  (8/1/12)  The driller was reported to be Consol Energy, according to the news article.
See:
“Drilling leak leads to violation notice”, by Timothy Puko, August 1, 2012, Tribune-Review:
http://triblive.com/news/2322637-74/officials-substance-authority-consol-state-bentonite-drinking-supply-according-ashton#axzz26fpG6s9Y

Details about the drilling near Meander Reservoir and the location of the well “in the Meander Reservoir’s watershed”, according to the Tribune – Chronicle, are included in the following Tribune Chronicle article (9/14/12).  According to the Tribune – Chronicle article, CNX Gas Co. LLC is the driller of the horizontal well.
See:
“Drilling commences at Mahoning County well: Opponents decry location”, September 14, 2012, By BRENDA J. LINERT
https://www.tribtoday.com/page/content.detail/id/576558/Drilling-commences-at-Mahoning-County-well.html?nav=5003

The Marcellus Drilling News reports that the watershed well “…is being drilled by CNX Gas (subsidiary of CONSOL Energy)”, which reportedly was issued a violation notice in the above-mentioned article describing the Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, drilling leak incident.
Is this the same company that will soon be drilling in the Meander watershed? This needs to be made clear. The public needs to know.
See:
“CNX Gas Starts Utica Well in Meander Reservoir Watershed”, Marcellus Drilling News:
http://marcellusdrilling.com/2012/09/cnx-gas-starts-utica-well-in-meander-reservoir-watershed/

There is an urgent and great need to slow this entire process down while people educate themselves and learn the truth about what is going on in their residential neighborhoods when it comes to the gas and oil industry drilling. Drilling has even commenced or is being considered as an option near cemeteries, schools, homes, forests, and parks in various parts of the country.

Frackfree Mahoning Valley believes that promises of quick money for leasing mineral rights by the oil and gas drilling industry are clouding some peoples’ judgment regarding the dangers of fracking and related processes. Issues such as gas drilling- related eminent domain and mandatory or forced pooling need to be fully understood by the general public.

There is too much rushing to drill without the public’s full knowledge.  On too many occasions, the public is caught off guard by how swiftly drilling activities are moving into their neighborhoods near homes and schools. This is not right and must stop.

What’s the rush?

See:   “Fracking in Suburbia”,  [features Broadview Heights, Ohio]:
“Tuesday, 18 September 2012 10:09 By Andrew Spear and Mike Ludwig, Truthout | Video Report”:
http://truth-out.org/news/item/11604-fracking-in-suburbia

Articles that address other states’ experiences with fracking and related processes show that even strict regulations are not always enforced.  Ohio is not adequately prepared to police spills, leaks, mechanical failures, and accidents that are already beginning to occur.  First responders, health professionals, and the general public need to know what exactly is in the fracking “brine” waste.

We in Ohio should be learning from residents’ experiences in other states with fracking and related processes rather than some people or officials ignoring or remaining unaware of other states’ problems and damages related to gas drilling and plunging blindly and recklessly, full speed ahead. This is foolish and irresponsible. It is a disservice to the community and a threat to public health and safety.
See:  “North Dakota’s Oil Boom Brings Damage Along With Prosperity” “by Nicholas Kusnetz, Special to ProPublica June 7, 2012, 11:47 a.m.”
http://www.propublica.org/article/the-other-fracking-north-dakotas-oil-boom-brings-damage-along-with-prosperi

Also see:  Update 1 – Many informative links to videos, articles, and reports can be found at the end of Update 1 at:
http://www.frackfreeamerica.org/1/post/2012/08/update-1-for-freedom-from-toxic-fracking-waste-national-rally-day.html

Also see:
[GAO Report:] “Drinking Water Safeguards Are Not Preventing Contamination From Injected Oil and Gas Wastes RCED-89-97, Jul 5, 1989” http://www.gao.gov/products/RCED-89-97

“Cracks in the Façade …” Dusty Horwitt, Senior Counsel, Environmental Working Group, August 3, 2011:
http://static.ewg.org/reports/2011/fracking/cracks_in_the_facade.pdf

These are just a few of the reasons why Mayor Sammarone and Youngstown City Council must delay the vote on fracking in Youngstown, Ohio, on Wednesday, September 19, 2012.

If this vote is not delayed in order for the Youngstown City Council to continue to do additional proper study and due diligence and to properly  inform the general public of the serious risks of fracking and related processes to the public health, safety, and well-being, Frackfree Mahoning Valley believes that such apparent willingness to rush into an agreement for oil and gas industry drilling or fracking in Youngstown, without adequate due diligence, will show that Mayor Sammarone and Youngstown City Council are not adequately protecting the public’s health, safety, and well-being.

 The health of our communities, citizens, families, and future generations must take priority in any decision-making regarding fracking and related processes. Too much is at stake for irresponsible, rash decisions to be made.

Delay the vote. It is the right thing to do.

For media inquiries or more information, e-mail:

frackfreemahoning@gmail.com or call:

234-201-0402

www.frackfreemahoning.blogspot.com

Also see:

Frackfree America National Coalition

www.frackfreeamerica.org

e-mail: frackfreeamerica@gmail.com call: 234-201-8007

Facebook:

www.facebook.com/Frackfree

                                                # # #

September 13, 2012:  
"Update 8: Freedom from Toxic Fracking Waste: National Rally Day was a Huge Success!!”

We are extremely pleased to announce that the September 12, 2012,  “Freedom from Toxic Fracking Waste: National Rally Day” was a huge success!!

Congratulations and our deepest thanks to all of the local Rally Coordinators and all of the Rally Participants who worked so hard for all of us, together, to achieve this successful raising of national awareness of the risks and dangers of fracking and related processes and toxic fracking waste. 

Local rallies were planned nationwide in 14 states!

Reports from local Rally Coordinators are continuing to come in. 

We invite you to please e-mail (  send e-mail to: frackfreeamerica@gmail.com  ) us your reports, photos, or videos about your rally for posting on the website by sending your report with permission for us to post it on the www.frackfreeamerica.org  and www.NEOGAP.org websites or Facebook pages.
 
We collectively reached many, many new people with our message which helps our movement to rapidly grow in order to help protect our families and citizens from fracking and related processes.

But...this is only part of the beginning.. Let’s all keep the forward momentum going!...

 The next “National Rally Day” is already being planned for Winter, 2013 (date to be determined.)  We hope that you will again join with us.  
It’s not too soon to begin signing up to participate on the sign-up page that will be developed for the Winter, 2013 “National Rally Day” event.  (please e-mail us at frackfreeamerica@gmail.com to be listed on the www.frackfreeamerica.org  website as a local rally coordinator. )

Below is the url for the current list of September 12, 2012, rallies. We hope that all September 12, 2012,  National Rally Day coordinators will sign up again for the next National Rally Day to be held in Winter, 2013!:
http://www.frackfreeamerica.org/groups-participating-in-rally-day.html

Links of some of the amazing coverage that local rallies received follow below. 

We hope that if you have not already done so, please e-mail us your reports, photos, or videos about your rally so we can all enjoy your success.

Congratulations to All for a job extremely well done!   Let’s keep moving forward!  Thank you!

Please check Facebook at the following URL for more information, local reports, photos, and videos as they come in. Feel free to post your event results on Facebook at:

www.facebook.com/Frackfree
________________________________________

“Hydrofracking rally planned for City Hall”, “Nathan Baker Skaneateles Journal”, September 11, 2012:
http://www.skaneatelesjournal.com/news/updates/hydrofracking-rally-planned-for-city-hall/article_02d6367f-aed8-5c9b-a67e-ee319f428d91.html

“Fracking rally held in Auburn 9-12-12
WSYR ABC 9 Syracuse
Sept. 12, 2012. 11:04 PM EST”, Clip Syndicate:
http://www.clipsyndicate.com/video/playlist/1805/3753093?title=broadcast_local_2

"Anti-Fracking Rally in Ravenna, Ohio ", 9/12/12:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xxj0Sevv2gk

“Rally held in Auburn to protest fracking”, YNN, 9/13/12:
http://binghamton.ynn.com/content/top_stories/599835/rally-held-in-auburn-to-protest-fracking/

“Group gathers to protest 'fracking'”, CantonRep.com, “By Edd Pritchard CantonRep.com staff writer”, 9/12/12:
http://www.cantonrep.com/news/x1107519323/Group-gathers-to-protest-fracking
 
“Local Group Joins in on National Anti-Fracking Rally”, WKBN-27- FirstNews, 9/12/12:
http://www.wkbn.com/content/news/local/story/Local-Group-Joins-in-on-National-Anti-Fracking/4Ja-PEUeIE62MbUc502ipQ.cspx

“Geauga County residents rally against fracking”, By Brandon Blackwell, The Plain Dealer, 9/12/12:
http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2012/09/geauga_county_residents_rally.html

“Anti-fracking groups organize nationwide rallies
Portage County group say job claims are exaggerated”, “by WKSU's SIMON HUSTED”, WKSU, 9/12/12:
http://www.wksu.org/news/story/33072

“Group protests local fracking in Youngstown,” By BURTON SPEAKMAN, The Vindicator, 9/12/12:
http://www.vindy.com/news/2012/sep/13/group-protests-local-fracking-youngstown/

“US rally to raise awareness of fracking risks
Posted on 07 September 2012 by Priyanka Shrestha”, Energy Live News,
http://www.energylivenews.com/2012/09/07/us-rally-to-raise-awareness-of-fracking-risks/


Find more information and rally reports at: www.facebook.com/Frackfree

Update 6 :  “Posters and other tips”
Freedom from Toxic Fracking Waste: National Rally Day

To all Rally Coordinators:

Hopefully, you have received Update 2. If not, would you please let us know via e-mail to frackfreeamerica@gmail.com   and we will e-mail it to you?  

It is very important that everyone has their permits or letters as described in the "getting permits" section of Update 2.

There are some posters at the following URL that you can use for your rally, if you so choose.
http://www.frackfreeamerica.org/posters.html

Or, you might want to create your own - either by hand or by using your computer. These examples on the site can serve as guidelines.

Some coordinators may want some suggestions about how to make signs. There are a number of ways to do this.

You can print the poster from the Frackfree America National Coalition "poster page" and take the printed copy to Kinko's (Fedex Kinko’s) or another copy center to have it enlarged to a 20" by 30" poster size. (It may cost about $4.50 to enlarge it in black and white.) Then you can staple the enlarged copy to a poster board that you can get at almost any place where they have office supplies.

You can make your sign using markers and making large bold letters. You can punch holes and use a rope or twine to wear it around your neck --  (Please see Update 2 for more information on signs and posters) After you punch holes in the poster board, you thread the rope or twine through and make knots to hold the rope in place. Or, of course, you could just hold your sign.

PLEASE MAKE SURE THAT YOUR SIGNS CAN BE SEEN FROM A DISTANCE,  THAT IS, BIG BOLD LETTERS AND NOT TOO MANY WORDS. AND MAKE SURE YOUR MESSAGE IS BRIEF AND CAN BE GRASPED BY ANYONE QUICKLY. IF YOU GET YOUR SIGN ON TV, YOU WANT PEOPLE TO UNDERSTAND YOUR MESSAGE IN THE BRIEF TIME IT MIGHT BE SHOWN ON THE AIR.

Banners - Please see Update 2 for more info on making banners. Of course, if you want to invest the money, you can have them professionally made. To make them yourself, you can get long paper from a doctor's office (the paper they use for examining tables) if they will donate it to you. Or, you can buy long paper from an office supply store like Staples, Office Max, Home Depot, etc. Banners are great if you don't have very many protestors. The banner can be about 9 to 10 feet long. Have one person hold it on each end, and one person in the middle. You don't need to affix sticks to hold it. Each person can just hold the paper. Use markers and make your words huge so everyone can read the sign in a few seconds.

We recently provided Update 3, the "recruiting flyer." You can print the flyer and add your contact information, time of your local event (remember to designate AM or PM), place of local event, etc.

**Important: Please remember to always get permission before posting the recruiting flyer in libraries, groceries stores, etc.

** Some coordinators may have created their own flyers to use. Here are a few tips from what other coordinators in the past have done in regard to flyers. One woman went door to door with her flyer. She had a really positive response from almost everyone!   Some coordinators may want to take out inexpensive ads. This might be an idea for the next national rally since we are so close now to September 12. (Some community weekly newspapers or "pennysavers" might be appropriate for this if you want to go this route.) The flyer could serve as a sort of guideline if you want to do this. You'll want to get permission from stores or libraries (or wherever you're posting) before you post your flyer. Places to post them include grocery stores, anywhere people wait and get bored, by elevators, men's rooms, women's rooms, public library bulletin boards, universities, etc. How you want to use the flyer is up to you, but here are some suggestions for your consideration:

Get permission to post the flier in grocery stores, public libraries, by elevators, in places of worship, community centers, sports areas, truck stops, senior citizen centers, sporting stores, universities, waiting areas in doctors' offices, bowling alleys, book stores, etc.

E-mail or fax the 1 page flyer (please call them for their permission to fax or e-mail the flyer to them) to people or groups who you think might want to get involved in your community. Look in the blue pages of your phone book for ideas, addresses, or phone numbers for religious groups, humanitarian organizations, civil rights groups, parents groups, environmental groups, Grandparents groups, etc.  Optional: You might want to take out an inexpensive ad in a community newspaper or penny saver.

Please keep letters on your signs and banners very large and bold, and message brief, so they can be seen in a TV report or by passersby. Sometimes a simple bold, black lettering on a white background can be very visible.  

If you have any tips or suggestions for other coordinators - maybe something you have done that is working well - please e-mail them to us. We will share some of the ideas in future national rallies currently being planned.

Let's keep the positive momentum going. Please spread the word and help protect our families. We can do this if we all work together.  It is very heartwarming and inspiring to hear what you are doing to make this National Rally Day a success. As always.......a heartfelt thank you for your noble efforts!

Update 5 :  "Contacting Media: Guidelines"

Freedom from Toxic Fracking Waste: National Rally Day
 
To: Rally Coordinators
 
IMPORTANT: Hopefully by now you have your permits for your rally or your letters stating that you do not need a permit. (Please see Update 2 for more on this topic. If you don’t have Update 2, please e-mail frackfreeamerica@gmail.com and we will forward it to you). Please remember to keep these permits and letters with you at your actual rally. If you haven't gotten your permit yet, you might want to take care of this as soon as possible as our target date is approaching.

One suggestion for your event is that you might want to consider having someone with a mini DV cam (miniature digital video camera) record your local event so you have a record of your rally that you can share with others in the future.  Of course, this is optional.

We also urge you to please continue to keep the names of all people who contact you to participate in or to help with your event, so they can be called upon for future vigils, events, or rallies. Keep their names, e-mail addresses, and phone numbers in your 3-ring binder or notebook that you may be using to keep your event organized. (Please see Update 2 for more on this.)

We posted a press release (Update 4, which is on the home page at www.frackfreeamerica.org ) that you can use to send to media: print, radio, and television in your local area to inform them of your local rally or event, and to perhaps inspire media stories before or after your rally and/or attendance by reporters at your event.

You might also want to send the news release to legislators in your community. (Remember, if media or legislators want more information, you can also send Update 1 (located on the homepage at www.frackfreeamerica.org ), or Update 3, the recruiting flyer (also located on the home page), which are available to you.)

Some of you are experienced with dealing with the media and may have already begun media contacts. If you need assistance with contacting media would you please let us know? If you want a speaker to speak with media whom you contact, would you please call us at 234-201-8007 or e-mail us at frackfreeamerica@gmail.com.  If you want help with this, please feel free to call or e-mail us.

Since we are so close to the rally date, obviously it will be best to e-mail the news release at this point.  Suggestions for sending the release are below.  Some media will ask for the news release to be sent to them in an e-mail message rather than a fax.  This seems to vary, so just go with what the media person suggests is the best way to do this or what they prefer.

Prepare the news release in Update 4 with your local rally info and contact info in it.  (The press release is on the homepage and can either be copied and pasted into an e-mail message, or a Word document can be downloaded so you can make your additions to it.)

It’s best to send the press release in the body of an e-mail message rather than as an attachment.  It is best not to send the press release as an attachment. Attachments may not be read.  Just copy and paste your press release into a regular e-mail message.


IMPORTANT: Please make sure you include a local contact person's name in the Contact section of the news release so the media know who to call regarding the news release. You may also put your name and phone number at the top of your e-mail message, so a reporter can contact you.  Include your name and a telephone number (and perhaps your e-mail address) where someone is likely to get the message or phone call as promptly as possible. When media call, it is helpful if you can attend to their call as soon as possible. You may be more likely to get into print if they are able to reach you promptly.

Don't worry if your news release is not perfectly formatted. Just do your best. It is much more important that we get the information out.

When should you start sending out the release?

You can start as soon as you have the press release. Some of you may have already begun sending out your own releases. You might want to follow up with phone calls closer to the date of the rally to remind editors of your event, and to invite reporters to attend. At that point they might ask you to fax or send (perhaps via e-mail) the news release again.
After emailing the release, follow up with a brief phone call to the newsrooms, just to let the media know that you e-mailed it and to confirm that they have the information.
On the day of your rally, call the media newsrooms in the morning and let them know that your rally will be taking place – time and place, or they may already know, since you will have e-mailed your press release to them previously.  

Where and how to send the news release:

You will want to e-mail your press release to the following places. It might look complicated, but really it is only about 10 places --the local Associated Press, your daily newspaper, your weekly community newspaper, 2 local radio stations, your 4 local television stations, ABC, NBC, CBS, and Fox, and your public TV station.  You might want to check www.patch.com to see if they have a local editor who might be interested in writing something about your event.
You can usually find contact information on the Internet for the above.

Important: It is extremely helpful if you can get coverage by your regional Associated Press. Call The Associated Press (AP) in your area. Many large cities have an AP bureau. Call the one closest to you to get the correct fax number or address and who to send the news release to. They may tell you to address it to the news desk, the city desk, or perhaps a specific person. Look in your telephone directory under "news service" for the AP phone number. If it isn't listed in the phone book, call directory assistance and ask for the local Associated Press. Or, go to www.ap.org and look under "contact" to find your local AP Bureau contact info.

E-mail your press release to the Managing Editor of your newspaper. Don't send it to more than one department at the same newspaper; let the Managing Editor decide what department might want to use it.

E-mail your press release to the Editor of your local community newspaper. These newspapers are often free and are read by many people in your community. I would get a copy of one from the library or grocery store, or wherever they are distributed, and call the Editor, who should be listed in the newspaper. Let the editor know about your event, and ask permission to fax it or send it to him/her.  If the deadline has already passed for your press release for your weekly paper, you might want to consider doing a release that describes your rally after you have it. Contact us for more information after your rally if you want to go this route.

E-mail your release to your large radio station in your area. 50,000 watt stations have a larger coverage area, but some 5,000 watt stations have great coverage too and will help you to reach people in your community. Look in your phone book under "television and broadcast stations" or "radio and broadcast stations" for phone numbers to request e-mail addresses, fax numbers, and who to send your release to.  Or google your radio station and search for contact information to use.

For radio stations, you might want to send it to the Assignment Editor. Just put: Attention: Assignment Editor. You don't have to use a specific name, unless the person you talk to at the station tells you to do so. If you are trying to get on a specific radio talk show, call and ask who is the producer of the show and e-mail it to that person rather than the host of the show. (Sometimes the host is the producer).

E-mail the news release to your 4 local television affiliates. Address it to the Assignment Editor. Perhaps they will want to interview someone for a report and/or to attend your event.

General information:

Of course, always be courteous and considerate when dealing with the media. People in the media are frequently on a deadline and may not have much time to talk. Therefore, when you pitch your idea to an editor or reporter, try to be concise and to the point. You may not have a lot of time to talk. Be brief.

Again, if you need help, please let us know. If you get media coverage or requests of any kind, would you please let us know so we can keep track of our collective progress? We also might have background information or newspaper reports that would be relevant for your local area that we could share with you or the reporter.

If a reporter wants to talk to someone from Frackfree America National Coalition or NEOGAP, would you please get their name and number and we will call them, or they can call us at 234-201-8007 or e-mail us at frackfreeamerica@gmail.com  

If you have any questions about these guidelines, please e-mail us at frackfreeamerica@gmail.com  or give us a call at 234-201-8007.

As always, a heartfelt Thanks to all for your help!  We are all succeeding in getting the word out!

TOGETHER WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!  Please spread the word and encourage others to join our National Rally Day... Let's keep going!