State investigates fracking waste spill

State officials are investigating an "intentional" dumping of thousands of gallons of "fracking" wastes and oil into a Youngstown area stream.

Details on what happened the evening of Jan 31 at D&L Energy at 2761 Salt Springs Road are hard to come by. A National Spill Response Center report, which you can see here, includes this description.

"An unknown amount of crude oil and brine were intentionally dumped into a storm drain at 2761 Salt Springs Rd. Ohio EPA investigators have noted oil in a Mahoning river (tributary) and the Mahoning River. Estimated amount released could be greater than 20,000 gallons."

Brine is the term used to describe a mixture of ancient salt water tainted with naturally-occuring toxic metals and radium and other industrial fluids that bubble up out of shale wells after they've been fracked. The fracking process pumps millions of gallons of water, sand and chemicals underground to shatter the shale and free trapped oil and gas.
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COLUMBUS – A week after the dumping of at least 20,000 gallons of toxic and potentially radioactive fracking waste into the Mahoning River by Hard Rock Excavating, state regulators have yet to disclose information about the quantity of waste and the chemicals involved. Environmental advocates are urging the state to act quickly to prosecute the perpetrator and look beyond the one incident to take more aggressive steps to protect the state’s public health and environment from future threats.

“The degree of chutzpah exhibited by Hard Rock in this instance is astounding – but it’s almost what you would expect in a state where we have one enforcement staffer for every 2,000 oil & gas wells.” said Julian Boggs, Environment Ohio State Policy Advocate, noting that it was a company whistleblower, not state regulators, who uncovered the flagrant violation. “We have a legislature that seems more interested in greasing the wheels for fracking companies than protecting public health and the environment – that only enables reckless behavior.” ...