Let’s Request a Public Hearing on the Proposed Frack Waste Terminal on the Ohio River

To Those Wishing to Protect our Environment, April 18, 2020

Concerned Ohio River Residents recently found out that while we are dealing with a pandemic health crisis, a company named 4K Industrial Park LLC wants to build a docking facility for barges transporting Oil & Gas waste in Martins Ferry, OH. This means that radioactive fracking waste could be shipped along the Ohio River- a drinking water source for 5 million people.

The proposed barge dock would be a conduit for tons of radioactive oil and gas wastewater to travel on the Ohio River and into a facility already has environmental problems. This would also mean that Belmont County could become even more of a dumping ground for the fracking industry’s waste.

There are currently 6 additional injection wells planned for the county, and now the industry wants to ship this radioactive, chemical-laden waste in from unknown locations to be reused in the drilling process or disposed of in our landfills. CLICK HERE to see the Public Notice and CLICK HERE to see the facility’s application CLICK HERE to see the map of the proposed facility.

We need a public hearing on this facility at the very least! It only takes a few minutes. Please read on to find out how.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is in charge of approving the permit. We must submit a public hearing request no later than April 30th, 2020 for USACE to consider holding a hearing. The most important thing to do right now is get your public hearing request in.

Please make sure you request a 90-day extension on the public comment period as well. Right now, USACE is conducting its Public Interest Review of this application, and it will issue a permit unless it finds that this facility is not within the public interest. If this project is found to not be within the public interest, it might not be permitted to operate. This is our chance to give them evidence and information for why this is not within the public’s interest. HERE are the specific items the agency must look at when completing a Public Interest Review.

The Public Notice does not acknowledge these impacts. This is why a hearing is necessary. The public needs to be able to provide input on these impacts as well as ask important questions. Again, it is most important right now to submit a hearing request. Please also try and get your comment in by April 30th in case the USACE decides not to grant a hearing or 90-day extension on the comment period. You can submit your hearing request today and then take your time writing your public comment to get it in by April 30th if you wish to do it that way.

See a full list of concerns by clicking HERE. These include negative impacts to air, the economy, potential radioactive spills and leaks, concerns about traffic, flooding, quality of life, freshwater life, etc. Please use these arguments in your public comment if you wish.

…….. How to submit a hearing request:……..

All you have to do is copy/paste this letter (<-click text to see letter) into an email and email it to the following people at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers:

tyler.j.bintrim@usace.army.mil and george.r.brkovich@usace.army.mil

>> Make sure subject line says: Request for Public Hearing; CELRP-RG-2020-78
>> Change the date and enter your name/group’s name at the bottom.
>> Customize the letter with your personal reasons for why a hearing should be held. (Customizing the request is important but not absolutely necessary.)
>> Please BCC ConcernedOhioRiverResidents@yahoo.com in the email when sending so we know how many requests were sent.
>> Send this ASAP as the deadline is the end of April! In the sample letter you will see that we requested that it be held when public gatherings are again possible.

We need a public hearing on this when people can actually attend and be heard adequately. Please take this action today.

If you have any questions about this please don’t hesitate to reach out!

ConcernedOhioRiverResidents@yahoo.com