Concerned Ohio River Residents (CORR) recently completed soil sampling near the Austin Master Services oil and gas waste handling facility in Martins Ferry, OH and had the soil sent to Oak Ridge Laboratory in TN, a certified governmental testing facility for radiological analysis. We shared those results at a press event on April 4th. The samples were taken along the public roadway in front of the main gate of the facility, and compared to the background samples taken at a park and cemetery about a mile away, the results were over 10 X's background level radiation. Compounding the problem is the fact that before the radioactive waste facility came to town, the site was an old steel processing facility that released millions of tons of pollutants into the environment for decades. This facility is within 1,000 feet of the nearest pumping wells for drinking water for Martins Ferry, Bridgeport, and other communities.

We created a scientific report and sent our results to the various agencies that govern such facilities, including EPA, Ohio Dept of Health, and ODNR. This facility has been a concern to citizens for the past few years, not only due to the proximity to the water source, but also due to sloppy handling conditions within. The particles in the soil outside could become airborne and travel to nearby areas. With the football field, hospital, other business and the town not far away, and since ODNR told us that they've never tested the ground outside, we decided to take it upon ourselves to do the work of the agencies to ensure protection of our community. Now it is up to them to step up and take action. Contact all of your elected officials today and demand that they do everything in their power to protect the community!

Call Mayor John Davies of Martins Ferry at (304) 215-0042 and let him know you are concerned and tell the city of Martins Ferry to do it's job at protecting the citizens. The city is not doing enough and they need to hear from citizens. Call the ODNR at 614-561-7834 and tell them to issue a "Stop Work Order" and do environmental monitoring immediately. Please share our report with elected officials and the community. See the full recorded press event at this link. Also, check out this article written by Justin Nobel, an environmental investigative journalist who has written about oilfield waste in the Rolling Stone magazine before: ‘This Needs to Be Fixed’: Nuclear Expert Calls Radioactivity Levels Found Outside Ohio Oilfield Waste Facility ‘Excessive’ >>The article is a thorough, deep dive into the issue and no other media outlet has covered it like Justin Nobel has, so please check it out and share widely.

Please consider donating to this cause. LINK HERE. We will use any funds you donate for things like additional testing in the area, materials for handouts, and event planning. Please stay tuned as this story will continue to unfold. Please join us in our advocacy - the time is ripe for more citizens to get involved. Reach out to us via email or phone. See bottom of newsletter for our contact info.