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.
COLUMBUS – A new report by researchers at Kent State and Duke Universities shows that fracking waste generated in the region has increase 570 percent since 2004, and warns of an explosion of waste in years to come. In 2011, the most recent year for which complete records are available, 12.8 million barrels of wastewater were dumped into Ohio’s underground wells. Over half of that came from fracking in Pennsylvania and West Virginia, where drilling in the Marcellus Shale has been more extensive.
Cincinnati –The solar panels on top of the College Hill Rec Center are not the first to grace Cincinnati’s rooftops and a new report suggests that there may be many more to come. Standing outside the Rec Center today, Environment Ohio released a new Environment Ohio Research and Policy Center report that outlines a vision for how Cincinnati can become the region’s solar energy hub. The report – Building a Solar Cincinnati: How the Queen City can harness the sun to power its future – provides a roadmap to help put Cincinnati on track to get 10 percent of its energy from the sun.
Cleveland – As the summer’s unprecedented heat and drought prompt Ohioans to call for action tackling global warming and the rise in extreme weather, Environment Ohio released a new Environment Ohio Research and Policy Center report today that shows Ohio’s current power generation from wind energy displaces as much global warming pollution as taking 19,000 cars off the road per year. The Environment Ohio report also shows that wind power saves enough water to meet the needs of 1,500 Ohioans.
Environment Ohio Research and Policy Center is part of The Public Interest Network, which operates and supports organizations committed to a shared vision of a better world and a strategic approach to social change.
