Ohio EPA, health officials dismiss radioactive threat from fracking. Other states studying health risks in waste. dispatch/content/stories/local/2014/01/27/radioactive-threat.html By Spencer Hunt The Columbus Dispatch • Monday January 27, 2014 8:35 AM When Pennsylvania environmental officials tested creek mud near a fracking wastewater-treatment plant last year, they found radiation at levels 45 times higher than federal drinking-water standards. As the plant owner prepares to dredge radium from Blacklick Creek, Pennsylvania officials are examining other radiation problems related to Marcellus shale fracking. They’re testing tons of castoff rock and drilling sludge sent to Pennsylvania landfills and liquid waste routinely trucked to Ohio disposal wells. “We’re going all throughout the state,” said Lisa Kasianowitz, a Department of Environmental Protection spokeswoman. In West Virginia, radiation concerns have regulators asking landfills to separate shale drilling waste from garbage over worries about the health dangers associated with fracking. Ohio is experiencing a similar drilling boom in which drillers are pulling up radioactive waste from wells. Although it’s unknown how much radiation there is, there are some standards already in place. That’s why state officials say they have no plans for similar surveys or precautions.
Posted on: Fri, 21 Mar 2014 09:36:44 +0000
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