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Frackfree Mahoning Valley to Join National Rally Day
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – The group Frackfree Mahoning Valley will join activists elsewhere tomorrow with a rally and march to city hall as part of “national rally day” organized by the Network for Oil & Gas Accountabiity & Protection (Neogap) and the Frackfree America National Coalition.
The local protest begins at 3 p.m. at the First Unitarian Universalist Church, 1105 Elm St. Following the presentation of a film and remarks by Doug Shields, a member of Pittsburgh City Council, activists will march to Stambaugh Auditorium, where attorney Staughton Lynd will speak, and then to the Spring Street Bridge, at Fifth Avenue and Federal Street. Demonstrators will end their march at city hall. They seek “a permanent irrevocable ban on {brine disposal] injection wells in the Youngstown area earthquake zone.”
“The public is not being fully or adequately informed of the risks of fracking and related processes to public health and safety and well-being,” says Susie Beiersdorfer, a member of the Frackfree America National Coalition and Frackfree Mahoning Valley. “We are calling for increased transparency and public awareness about the truth of toxic fracking waste, which can contain naturally occurring radioactive material and numerous toxic chemicals or known carcinogens, like benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene that could find their way into drinking water sources or into soil and air via leaks, surface spills near waterways, or well casing failures.”
Simultaneous rallies will be held by anti-fracking activists “in communities across America,” national organizers say.
According to the Frackfree America National Coalition, every newly fracked well will result in millions of gallons of toxic fracking wastewater being created, transported and disposed of somewhere.
“The truth is that the risks imposed by the production, transport and disposal of toxic fracking waste are creating a serious public health problem,” says Vanessa Pesec of Neogap. “Toxic fracking waste can expose the public to a number of chemical and radioactive carcinogens, neurotoxins, and pulmonary and cardiovascular toxins. Children, whose immune systems are still developing, workers on drill sites, and those handling toxic fracking wastes are especially vulnerable to risks as are persons living or working near drilling sites, along toxic fracking disposal routes or at or near toxic fracking waste injection wells.”
Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.