Fracking waste water tested

An Athens County activist who was arrested last week after she blocked the entrance to a fracking waste water disposal well traveled to Columbus today to discuss the hazardous compounds she claims the well injects underground.

Madeline ffitch, 31, said a laboratory test of fracking wastes that an anonymous source took from the Ginsburg disposal well off Ladd Ridge Road in Athens County revealed high levels of arsenic, barium, toluene and radioactivity. She wouldn't discuss how the waste water was obtained.

The test, she said, underscores the need for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources to do its own testing of the waste water, which also is called brine. Athens County Sheriff deputies arrested ffitch on Thursday, after she chained herself to two concrete-filled barrels and blocked the entrance to the Ginsburg well.

In an emailed statement, Ohio Department of Natural Resources officials responded that federal regulations require that oil and gas field wastes go to the Ginsburg well and 175 similar "class two" injection wells in Ohio, and that the wells are built to safely dispose of those wastes.

http://www.dispatch.com/content/blogs/science-environment/2012/07/brine-test.html

Gas Under Graveyards Raises Moral, Money Questions

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP via USA Today) -- Cemeteries are joining parks, playgrounds, churches and backyards as targets of the U.S. shale drilling boom, and that's an uncomfortable idea for some.

Opponents say cemeteries shouldn't be disturbed by drilling they worry will be noisy, smelly and unsightly. Defenders say the drilling is too deep to cause such problems and can generate revenue to enhance the grounds.

In rural Ohio, trustees in Poland Township received a proposal this year to lease cemetery mineral rights for $140,000, plus 16 percent of any royalties, for any oil and gas. Similar offers followed at two other area cemeteries.

"Most people don't like it," said 70-year-old Marilee Pilkington, who lives down the road from the 122-year-old Lowellville Cemetery and whose father and brother are buried there.

"I think it's a dumb idea because I wouldn't want anyone up there disturbing the dead, number one, and, number two, I don't like the aspect of drilling," she said.

Read the full story here.

Ohio braces for influx of ‘man camps’ to house drilling-industry workers

With oil and natural gas exploration growing in Ohio, state and local officials are preparing for the possibility that “man camps” to house industry workers soon could dot the landscape.

Ohio agencies have not received any applications to date, but what has happened in other states experiencing an oil boom foreshadows a surge in new, temporary housing.

Man camps, as they have been dubbed, are typically a collection of recreational vehicles, mobile homes or dormitory-style modular housing. The camps are home to hundreds of employees for months at a time while wells are being drilled in areas with limited hotels or rental-housing availability.

The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and the Ohio Department of Health have released a 12-page document outlining rules on drinking water and wastewater — from toilets, showers, sinks and laundry facilities — in dealing with such temporary housing. Camps must provide clean, potable drinking water and appropriate wastewater management under state and county health rules.

Read the full article here.