Fracking contamination

Radiation Found in Penn. Watershed 300 Times Over Normal Levels

Radium 226RA was found in a local Penn. watershed, raising concerns amongst Americans across the country

Intellihub,

2 October, 2013

WESTMORELAND COUNTY, PENN. — The disposal of toxic chemical byproducts used in U.S. oil and gas production (i.e. fracking) has led to the poisoning of our watersheds and water supplies in some areas of the country. In fact, in some instances the gaseous chemical byproducts have been so heavy  they have made their way into homes. It has even been documented that peoples sink faucets have ignited into flames right at the kitchen tap. However, flames aren’t enough anymore, the corporations doing the fracking keep pushing for profits and now our water supply is at stake.

Runoff from chemical plants threaten all animal, plant and human life more than ever now as radiation has been discovered in the local Westmoreland County watershed.

The official website for the Blacklick Creek Watershed Association  describes what the area is supposed to be, “The Blacklick Creek watershed is 420 square miles in Indiana and Cambria counties. The largest streams are Blacklick, Twolick and Yellow Creeks.  These and other streams are degraded by severe acid mine discharges.  Many streams within the watershed are polluted with high levels of metals and acidity.  There are many discharges from abandoned underground mines, poorly reclaimed surface mines and coal refuse piles”_[1]

The journal for Environmental Science and Technology published a peer-reviewed study which yielded findings showing very high levels of Radium (226RA) exist in the Westmoreland County Watersheds, Blacklick Creek, which flows into the Allegheny River. “This study examined the water quality and isotopic compositions of discharged effluents, surface waters, and stream sediments associated with a treatment facility site in western Pennsylvania.”, reads an excerpt from the study entitled, Impacts of Shale Gas Wastewater Disposal on Water Quality in Western Pennsylvania._[2]

The study concluded that chemicals used in the fracking process have ended up in the watershed, posing a great risk. The study documents how Radium “226Ra levels in stream sediments (544–8759 Bq/kg) at the point of discharge were 200 times greater than upstream and background sediments (22–44 Bq/kg) and above radioactive waste disposal threshold regulations, posing potential environmental risks of radium bioaccumulation in localized areas of shale gas wastewater disposal.”_[2]

Wikipedia describes Radium as “a chemical element with symbol Ra and atomic number 88. Radium is an almost pure-white alkaline earth metal, but it readily oxidizes on exposure to air, becoming black in color. All isotopes of radium are highly radioactive, with the most stable isotope being radium-226, which has a half-life of 1601 years and decays into radon gas. Because of such instability, radium isluminescent, glowing a faint blue.”_[3]

The problem with all of this is, radiation is accumulative, which means over time the levels will concentrate posing even more danger. As of now likely a good portion of the nearby plant life fish, and wildlife in the area are severely contaminated with radiation poisoning to some degree. This also goes for anything downstream and anyone coming in contact with anything downstream.

BusinessWeek.com reported, “While earlier studies have identified radiation in drilling wastewater, today’s report is the first to examine the long-term environmental impacts of dumping it in rivers. Proper treatment can remove a substantial portion of the radioactivity in wastewater, though it does not remove many of the other salts, including bromide, Vengosh said.

“Our findings indicate that disposal of wastewater from both conventional and unconventional oil and gas operations has degraded the surface water and sediments,” Nathaniel Warner, a postdoctoral researcher at Dartmouth College and co-author of the study, said in a statement. “This could be a long-term legacy of radioactivity.”

Blacklick Creek is a tributary of the Conemaugh River, which flows into the Allegheny. In 2011, regulators found high levels of bromides in western Pennsylvania rivers, prompting some plants that supply Pittsburgh and other cities to change the way they treat drinking water.”_[4]

Although some like myself wonder why we don’t stop fracking all together as environmentally speaking, nothing good comes from it. It appears the only ones to gain are simply the investors of the shale oil and gas industry, risking your health for profits.

Sources:

[1] Blacklick Creek Watershed Association – BlacklickCreekWatershed.org

[2] Impacts of Shale Gas Wastewater Disposal on Water Quality in Western Pennsylvania - ACS Publications

[3] Radium - Wikipedia.org

[4] Radiation in Pennsylvania Creek Seen as Legacy of Fracking Waste – BusinessWeek.com