Members of Appalachia Resist! along with other Southeast Ohio and West Virginia citizens are learning to take our own air quality samples Saturday 5/11/13 through a Bucket Brigade training provided by Global Community Monitor http://gcmonitor.org/ and organized by Athens County Fracking Network www.ACFN.org According to ACFAN’s Heather Cantino “In response to the presence of documented toxics in local injection well open pits and to the headaches and throat irritation experienced by residents who have ventured near the well sites, Athens Fracking Action Network has invited GCM to offer their “Bucket Brigade” program to our region. The Bucket Brigade originated in 1995 with Edward Masry, the attorney who worked with environmental activist Erin Brockovich. Upset about a release of toxic fumes from a local oil refinery, Masry tried to find a way for ordinary people to document air pollution. The result is a user-friendly device, housed inside a 5-gallon bucket that can “grab” and store air samples for analysis. Communities that have established a Bucket Brigade are able to challenge polluters and increase enforcement of environmental laws.” Monitoring air quality around injections wells will be added to water testing Appalachia Resist! members are already doing near well sites. The hazardous waste that is produced by fracking is not treated as toxic because Halliburton, one of the corporations controlling congress, got it exempted from the Safe Drinking Water Act in 2005. Let’s see if any of “our” representatives have had a change of heart and are ready to protect people from Halliburton – give them a call and ask they support the FRAC & BREATHE Acts.
Failure of government to protect residents from toxins at injection wells prompts citizens to start inspections.
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