On Friday, June 18 and Monday, June 21, members of the Ohio Community Rights Network (OHCRN) delivered letters, along with packets of information, to nine county prosecuting attorneys and the Ohio Attorney General’s Office demanding investigations be opened involving public safety related to water supplies throughout the state.

The packets of information (attached and on this page) support the need for criminal investigations into oil and gas brine processing companies and the State of Ohio, for the spreading and legalization of radioactive brine. OHCRN members have worked for years through citizen initiatives to advance and secure local laws to protect freshwater ecosystems across the State of Ohio, and in many cases the state has put obstacles in their way.  And thanks to groups like Buckeye Environmental Network, FracTracker and so many local community groups, much evidence has been documented about this issue.

“State and private actors are violating several sections of the Ohio Revised Code for distributing and depositing radioactive oil and gas waste into Ohio water supplies,” said Terry Lodge, CELDF attorney. “State agencies are also guilty of permitting private actors to participate in this practice.”

According to tests run by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) in 2017, all tested samples of brine used for these purposes exceed both federal and state standards of radioactivity limits into the environment. Despite these results, the radioactive brine is being spread on roads and parking lots in drinking water basins and watershed ecosystems as a deicer and dust suppressant. This “product” has been sold for years under the brand name of AquaSalina, as if it were an environmentally safe “commodity”, with no labeling identifying it as a waste product of oil/gas drilling or that it contains high levels of toxins and radioactivity. Other tests run by independent researchers at Penn State, the National Resources Defense Council and Duquesne University have shown similar results according to the Rolling Stone article. 

The Ohio Legislature is currently considering bills (HB 282 and SB 171) that would further encourage the spreading of radioactive brine by reclassifying it as a commodity. However, even without passage of these bills, the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) and ODNR have both permitted the use of and utilized this brine for several years throughout the state as a road deicer and dust suppressant.  

Letters and packets of information were delivered to the prosecuting attorneys in Athens, Cuyahoga, Franklin, Lucas, Medina, Portage, Mahoning, Williams, and Wood counties as well as Attorney General Dave Yost in Columbus demanding that a criminal investigation be opened. 

This is not the same as pleading with the regulatory agencies to not issue permits, this is we the people demanding our top law enforcement officers open an investigation into a very serious felony crime.  The residents of this state have attempted for years to get public records from the state regarding where this brine is spread, on which roads and how much, but the state gives vague and incomplete information. Private landscaping companies and associations do not have to turn over public records.

However, what the people do know is that we now have tests proving that this brine is radioactive and that by putting this brine on roadways, it goes down drains that lead to water sources and also into soils where the radium can migrate into food and water sources. It will only take a few misplaced atoms in bone tissue to set up blastomas and other serious health issues.

We invite you to join in this effort to demand an investigation into state sanctioned practices which endanger Ohio water supplies, ecosystems, people and future generations. If an investigation is opened, the AG and other prosecutors can subpoena the records the people can’t seem to view. 

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

First of all, from much experience, we know that the only way to get the government to act on issues brought by the people is if they receive a LOT of inquiries from the people and media. So, you can help build up the pressure by doing the following:

1. Contact the Attorney General stating that you and your community are also in support of an investigation being opened. 

David.yost@ohioattorneygeneral.gov

Assistant Attorneys-General 

Zachery P. Keller: zachery.keller@ohioattorneygeneral.gov,

Benjamin Michael Flowers: benjamin.flowers@ohioattorneygeneral.gov,

Joshua Richardson: joshua.richardson@ohioattorneygeneral.gov

And follow up in a week or so at 800-282-0515 to ask if they have begun an investigation and what is the status.

2. Contact your County Prosecutor and County Commissioners - educate them about the issue and then ask them to contact the Attorney General to open the investigation. Ask them to also open one in your county.

3. Contact your local government electeds, service departments and law directors and find out what they are using on your community roads. Ask them to contact the Attorney General Office and show support of opening the investigation.

4. Educate your community members and neighbors about this toxic substance---awareness is key to building a local coalition and the more people calling and emailing the Attorney General’s Office, the better the chance we can make this happen.

5. NOTIFY LOCAL MEDIA CONTACTS - The more media attention this draws, the more requests the AG Office will be getting to comment on the request!

Let’s not forget that we pay the salaries of the Attorney General and all government officials. They claim to be in support of “law and order”, so then they should be interested to investigate if a law is being broken.

Please use any resources found on the OHCRN website including on the Toxic Trespass page and feel free to use and modify our letter, if you wish, for your group’s purpose. Also, please let us know if you are joining us in calling for criminal investigations regarding oil and gas brine so we can compile a list of all the communities standing in solidarity to stop this criminal poisoning of us, the natural environment and the future. We can also keep you updated on any progress or updates.

Look for upcoming announcements about the next phase of this action. We will be providing template language for you to take to your community members and electeds to push for laws banning the use of this radioactive brine in your communities. If the state won’t protect us and the environment, then it is up to us to do it. That is at the crux of the work that the OHCRN promotes.  

The mission of the OHCRN is to establish a network of just communities working to advance, secure and protect the inalienable rights of all Ohioans to democratic local self-governance, to sustainable food, energy and economic systems, and the rights of nature to exist and flourish throughout Ohio.  www.ohiocrn.org

Please contact us at ohiocrn@gmail.com with any questions, we are here to help.