Frackfree to Demonstrate Against Injection Wells
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio –- Frackfree Mahoning Valley will call on the state to permanently shut down injection well operations here during a series of protests today by groups who oppose hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.
Specifically, the anti-fracking activists say they intend to focus on the “urgent need” for Rick Simmers, chief of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources’ oil and gas division, to stop the injection well near the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport. In addition, the organization is calling on Simmers to keep another injection well operation closed in Weathersfield Township.
In sum, groups and “concerned citizens” in 16 states are expected to participate in “Freedom from Toxic Fracking Waste and Earthquakes: National Day of Action,” according to Frackfree Mahoning Valley.
The rallies and protests here are scheduled to begin at 11:30 a.m. in Central Square downtown. After that, the activists say they’ll visit public lands at 1 p.m. near the Weathersfield injection well near 1745 N. Main St. The site has been linked to man-induced earthquakes.
From 2 to 4 p.m., Frackfree Mahoning Valley representatives will attend what they bill as the “Toxic Tea Party” next to an injection well at 1085 Youngstown-Kingsville road (state Route 193), Vienna Township.
Activists will also go to the fracking site near the epicenter of a set of small earthquakes last April at 3250 Howard Drive, New Castle, Pa., in North Beaver Township.
Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
