{"id":652353,"date":"2022-05-13T10:15:00","date_gmt":"2022-05-13T10:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/grist.org\/?p=570003"},"modified":"2022-05-13T10:15:00","modified_gmt":"2022-05-13T10:15:00","slug":"ohio-residents-fight-to-get-radioactive-oil-and-gas-waste-off-their-roads","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2022\/05\/13\/ohio-residents-fight-to-get-radioactive-oil-and-gas-waste-off-their-roads\/","title":{"rendered":"Ohio residents fight to get radioactive oil and gas waste off their roads"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Joe Mosyjowski has watched a decade-long boom in oil and gas drilling<\/a> unfold in the region surrounding his 50-acre farm in northeast Ohio. Mosyjowski, a 71-year-old retired engineer who once spent his days designing stormwater infrastructure, was surprised to learn that a byproduct of all that drilling was being spread on roads and streets near his property, which contains a football field-sized pond that he swims in every summer. Mosyjowski grew increasingly alarmed as he read that the product, a salty brine used to keep roads ice-free, can be radioactive<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don’t want this stuff spread anywhere near the roadways,\u201d Mosyjowski told Grist in a phone call from his home in Portage County, a rural area about an hour south of Cleveland. \u201cI don’t want it near my water, because the water runs into my pond. I just want to keep things clean.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At least 13 states \u2014 including Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Michigan \u2014 allow oil and gas wastewater<\/a> to be put to \u201cbeneficial use,\u201d a category that includes road de-icing, dust suppression, and maintenance. This is an advantageous arrangement for oil and gas companies, because it\u2019s cheaper to give brine to local governments for free rather than paying to dispose of waste in a landfill. Cash-strapped towns and counties, meanwhile, are reluctant to look a gift horse in the mouth \u2014 to the detriment of their residents\u2019 health, according to Cheryl Johncox, an organizer with the Sierra Club and member of the Ohio Brine Task Force, a coalition of activists, scientists, and concerned residents. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is a way for the industry to push off their problems onto regular people and not be held accountable,\u201d Johncox told Grist. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As awareness of the widespread practice of brine spreading grows, organizers like Johncox and concerned residents like Mosyjowski have joined forces to try to limit or ban the practice. Community activists have pushed for local laws to prevent oil and gas waste from being spread on roads as part of a larger movement against drilling in the state. When initiatives that would have allowed more local control of oil and gas extraction were not even allowed onto the ballot<\/a> in several counties, a coalition of local groups sued the state<\/a>. A bill that would prohibit the application of radioactive brine to public roadways was introduced in the legislature<\/a> in March, though it faces an uphill battle with a Republican majority that\u2019s friendly toward fossil fuels<\/a>, Johncox said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
Community groups are trying to ban the spreading of oil and gas waste on roads in Ohio as part of an ongoing movement against drilling in the state, including this protest against fracking in 2011. \n Mark Stahl\/Associated Press<\/cite><\/figcaption><\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The process of drilling oil and gas wells requires lots of water, which is pumped in to assist heavy machinery cutting through rock. But when that water comes back up, it brings with it naturally-occurring radioactive elements \u2014 including radium and uranium \u2014 found in the earth\u2019s crust, along with salt and toxic substances like lead and arsenic. The result is called \u201cTechnologically Enhanced Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material,\u201d or TENORM<\/a>, and it\u2019s typically contained in a salty mixture that the industry calls brine. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A 2020 investigation by Rolling Stone found<\/a> that oil and gas companies use multiple methods to get rid of this waste without having to pay to send it to a landfill, despite concerns about its radioactivity. Aside from spreading it on roads, wastewater can be mixed with soil and applied directly to the ground in a process known as \u201cland farming.\u201d In Pennsylvania, drill cuttings containing radioactive particles can be \u201cdusted<\/a>\u201d \u2014 forcefully blown onto the ground \u2014 and in California, oil and gas wastewater is used for irrigating crops<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the risks of radioactivity, there are legitimate health and environmental benefits to the use of brine on many roads. Spraying the substance onto unpaved roads in the summer helps tamp down dust, a major source of airborne particulate matter that poses a risk to cardiovascular and respiratory health. Its high salinity helps prevent snow and ice from sticking in the winter, making it an alternative to highly-polluting road salt<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But once these substances enter the environment, they don\u2019t go away. When the roads dry, dust containing lead and radium blows into the air people breathe, while excess brine leaches into the soil and runs off into nearby waterways. Radium is of particular concern because it is \u201cbone-seeking,\u201d meaning it collects in bone cells; long-term radium exposure<\/a> can increase the risk of developing bone or lung cancer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For this reason, according to Johncox, the brine \u201chas no place being spread in our environment, on our roadways, near homes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Testing conducted<\/a> by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources found that average levels of two radioactive isotopes, radium-226 and radium-228, in one brand of commercially available brine, called AquaSalina, were more than 300 times higher than federal standards for drinking water. The levels were also 14 times higher than the state\u2019s limit for how much radium can be released into the environment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The company that makes AquaSalina, Nature’s Own Source, uses wastewater from oil and gas drilling conducted by Duck Creek Energy, which operates more than 150 wells in northeastern Ohio. The owner of both companies, David Mansbery, has dismissed claims about the brine\u2019s toxicity in testimony before the Ohio legislature and interviews with local news outlets<\/a>. He\u2019s pointed to a 2019 report from the Ohio Department of Health that found the environmental health risks from AquaSalina were \u201cnegligible.” Nature\u2019s Own Source markets AquaSalina as \u201cancient seawater\u201d and proclaims on its label that it\u2019s \u201cSafe for Environment & Pets.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mansbery and company representatives from Nature\u2019s Own Source did not respond to Grist\u2019s requests for comment in time for publication.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
Brine’s high salinity helps keep snow and ice from sticking to roads in the winter. Ted S. Warren\/Associated Press<\/cite><\/figcaption><\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

No federal regulations exist to manage TENORM disposal. In the 1980s, the Environmental Protection Agency excluded oil and gas waste from being classified as \u201chazardous\u201d under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, which would have required companies to dispose of wastewater in special landfills equipped to handle radioactive material. Oil and gas waste is also exempt from federal \u201csolid waste\u201d regulations, leaving disposal requirements up to individual states. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A lack of regulation means data on brine spreading is scarce, according to a 2021 report from the Natural Resources Defense Council, or NRDC. One study found that between 2008 and 2016, just two states, Ohio and Pennsylvania, spread a combined total of 95 million gallons of oil and gas wastewater onto roads. \u201cUnfortunately, without adequate regulations, there is scant industry monitoring data or information about violations, so the full scope of health impacts facing nearby residents or workers from TENORM exposure remains unclear,\u201d the NRDC report concluded.*<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to data collected by the nonprofit Buckeye Environmental Network through public records requests, local governments have spread nearly 42 million gallons of brine on roads in Ohio since 2005. Teresa Mills, the organization\u2019s executive director, said that\u2019s likely an underestimate, as there is no centralized database to track brine spreading, and many towns and counties didn\u2019t provide any information at all. The group\u2019s count also does not include individuals who spread brine on private roads or driveways. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Research on the effects of radioactivity from oil and gas waste has also been limited. In 2018, researchers from Pennsylvania State University and the University of Alberta found that 45 percent of the radium contained in brine<\/a> leaches into the soil after it\u2019s applied to roads. Although their study noted<\/a> that rainwater could dilute radium concentrations in nearby bodies of water to levels considered safe by environmental regulators, \u201cfurther work is needed to investigate if the radium will migrate to groundwater\u201d or accumulate in sediments over time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brine spreading is just one of the byproducts of oil and gas drilling that concern activists. Trucks containing brine have crashed and spilled<\/a> thousands of gallons of radioactive material into waterways, while processing oil and gas waste through conventional wastewater treatment plants caused spikes in radioactivity<\/a> in Pennsylvania rivers. In April, scientists found high levels of radioactivity<\/a> outside one facility used to store and process oilfield waste in southeastern Ohio \u2014 a facility located close to a high school and municipal drinking water wells. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"An
Ohio has experienced a boom in oil and gas drilling over the last decade, with rigs like this one popping up all over the eastern part of the state.\n Diana Kruzman\/Grist<\/cite><\/figcaption><\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Efforts to limit the practice have achieved mixed results. Pennsylvania banned oil and gas brine spreading<\/a> following a lawsuit in 2018, but New York\u2019s governor vetoed legislation<\/a> that would have done the same late last year. The Ohio Department of Transportation agreed to stop purchasing new stocks of AquaSalina last year, while the Ohio Brine Task Force successfully pressured the superstore Lowe\u2019s into pulling the product from its shelves, though it\u2019s still available at other hardware stores. At the same time, bills that would deregulate brine spreading<\/a> \u2014 exempting products such as AquaSalina from tracking requirements and limits on where they can be applied \u2014 have been introduced in Ohio\u2019s legislature. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Ohio Brine Task Force plans to continue pressuring lawmakers to reject those bills throughout the summer and into the fall legislative session, Johncox said. But even if those fail, Mosyjowski said more work will have to be done to end the practice entirely. He has been pressuring his town to ban brine spreading, and he thinks similar local laws will be needed around the state. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is just one one battle in a very long skirmish to leave something for future generations,\u201d Mosyjowski said. \u201cI wish we had a value system that respected water and the land far more than we do now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*<\/em>Editor\u2019s note:<\/em><\/strong> The Natural Resources Defense Council is an advertiser with Grist. Advertisers have no role in Grist\u2019s editorial decisions.<\/em><\/p>\n

This story was originally published by Grist<\/a> with the headline Ohio residents fight to get radioactive oil and gas waste off their roads<\/a> on May 13, 2022.<\/p>\n

This post was originally published on Grist<\/a>. <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At least 13 states allow drilling waste to be used for road de-icing, dust suppression, and maintenance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5641,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[267,1244,1156,4224],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/652353"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5641"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=652353"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/652353\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":656545,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/652353\/revisions\/656545"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=652353"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=652353"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=652353"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}