No Barging of Radioactive Oil & Gas Waste on the Ohio River

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No Barging of Radioactive Oil & Gas Waste on the Ohio River

United States Coast Guard

During a global pandemic, after the public was asked to stay at home, companies proposed barge loading/unloading facilities along the Ohio River for radioactive oil & gas waste. If permitted, these facilities would put the drinking water for millions of people at risk. The waste, which contains radioactive materials, heavy metals and toxic chemicals, would be transported along the river from unknown locations for disposal or reused for more oil & gas operations.

Millions get their water straight from the river and many towns and cities along the Ohio River also get their drinking water from shallow aquifers that are highly susceptible to Ohio River contamination.

Tell the Coast Guard we do not want ANY oil & gas waste being shipped along the Ohio River.

Sponsored by

Concerned Ohio River Residents

, OH

To: United States Coast Guard
From: [Your Name]

We, the citizens of the Ohio River Valley watershed, supporters, and friends DEMAND that the U.S. Coast Guard does not allow ANY barging of oil and gas waste on the Ohio River because it would put the public's drinking water at risk of contamination.

During a global pandemic, after the public was asked to stay at home, three companies have proposed barge loading/unloading facilities along the Ohio River for radioactive oil & gas waste. Permitting these facilities will put the drinking water of millions of people at risk of contamination by toxic chemicals, heavy metals and radioactive substances. The waste would be transported along the river from unknown locations and disposed of or reused in the oil & gas industry.

Oil & gas wastewater or "brine" contains heavy metals, toxic levels of salt, and radium [1]. Radium flows with water [2], can travel with dust [3], and can be breathed or ingested into the human body [4]. Because radium has a chemical make-up similar to calcium, once inside the body it accumulates in bones [5].

Many towns and cities along the Ohio River also get their drinking water from aquifers that are highly susceptible to Ohio River contamination [6]. We do not want ANY oil & gas waste being shipped along the Ohio River, including legacy/traditional/vertical well waste.

Deny these permits so we can thank you for protecting the health and safety of the Ohio River and those who depend upon it.

[1] "Quantity of ﬂowback and produced waters from unconventional oil and gas exploration" - 'Science of the Total Environment' 2017

[2] Radium-226 and Radium-228 in Shallow Ground Water,Southern New Jersey" - June 1998 report by the U.S. Geological Survey, US Dept of the Interior. https://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/1998/0062/report.pdf
Also referenced in: RADIONUCLIDES IN PRODUCED WATER A Literature Review , Prepared for the API Guidelines Steering Committee by Earl S. Snavely, Jr. Arlington, Texas August l6, 1989 . Submitted to the American Petroleum Institute

[3] Radium Removal From Uranium Ores and Mill Tailings" by S. Ralph Borrowman and Parkman T. Brooks [A report of the Bureau of Mines, within the Energy and Minerals Division of the US Department of the Interior

[4] Managing Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material (NORM) in the oil and gas industry" - March 2016 Report of the International Association of Oil & Gas Producers. Co-authored by former Shell radiation expert Gert Jonkers

[5] TOXICOLOGICAL PROFILE FOR RADIUM, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry U.S. Public Health Service In collaboration with: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. December 1990. [https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxprofiles/tp144.pdf]

[6] Bridgeport, OH Water Consumer Confidence Report, 2018, https://www.ohioruralwater.org/bridgeport.html (Many communities up and down the Ohio River have similar aquifer structures to Bridgeport.)