Anonymous - ALERT! Mayor Plans to Frack Youngstown
Channel: Occupy Youngstown Oral History Project
Date: 2014-03-09

Greetings citizens.  We are Anonymous.

On Saturday, March eigth, burried near the end of a Youngstown Vindicator article about the sale of a downtown office building, Youngstown mayor John A. McNally is quoted as saying that he will, quote "begin exploring the ability to raise income through oil and gas development  to raise income to fund city operations, to fund the need for capital and infrastructure improvements, to raise money to provide funding for small business improvement programs, to fund demolition programs and to look at ways to reduce the income tax burden to city residents, city employees and the thousands of nonresident taxpayers."

Such a statement on the part of the city's mayor demonstrates a blatant disregard for the health of the city's residents, as fracking is known to contribute to multiple serious health and environmental issues.

Youngstown citizens have the opportunity to protect both their health and the city from the toxic effects of fracking by voting yes for the Communit Bill of Rights on May sixth, amending the Youngstown Home Rule Charter to ban hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, withing the city limits.  Anonymous would like to present you with several reasons why a yes vote on the community bill of rights is important:

Drilling and fracking can liberate naturally occurring toxins, including radioactivity, introducing cancer risks into the community.

The chemicals used in the fracking process are themselves toxic to humans, and twenty five percent of the chemicals used are known cancer-causing agents. 

Drinking water aquifers are above the rock that will be drilled and shattered, thus contaminating Youngstown's drinking water supply.

Fracking also contributes to local smog cover, requires trucks to travel over local roads transporting hazardous materials, and creates large amounts of radioactive, carcinogenic waste for which there is no safe disposal method.

In addition, thousands of gallons of toxic chemicals are added to millions of gallons of water, causing a dangerous negative impact on the local water supply.

Fracking has contributed to the contamination of surface and groundwater across the United States, with more than a thousand cases of contamination reported near fracking sites.  

In Youngstown during the last year alone, four hundred and eighty thousand gallons of fracking waste has been illegally dumped into the Mahoning river.  Visitors to the city during the summer of 2013 reported that the water had a burning quality were unable to drink it, suggesting that toxins may still remain in the water.

In Pennsylvania,  eight thousand gallons of fracking waste containing a suspected cancer-causing agent spilled into a waterway.  

In Texas, Benzene and methane contaminated a drinking water aquifer.  

In Wyoming, Benzene, a known carcinogen associated with childhood leukemia, was found to have contaminated both groundwater and wells.

Fracking also pollutes the air with known human carcinogens, exposure to which has been documented to cause lung, breast, and bladder cancers.

Finally, thirty seven percent of the chemicals used in fracking fluid have been identified and endocrine disruptors, which alter the function of hormones in the body and can lead to tumor formation.

Documentation of these claims is listed in the video description below.

We cannot expect local government to protect us from these health risks, as McNally's statement clearly demonstrates that he will not.  The time has come for us to take matters into our own hands by voting yes for the Community Bill of Rights on May sixth.  

Knowledge is power.

SWAPwells -- Frackfree America National Coalition
http://www.frackfreeamerica.org/swapwells.html

Youngstown man admits dumping toxic fracking waste into Mahoning River 
http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2013/08/youngstown_man_admits_dumping.html

Risk Gas Drilling Threatens Health, Water Supplies
http://www.nrdc.org/energy/gasdrilling/

4 Horrifying Dangers of Fracking
http://www.alternet.org/fracking/4-horrifying-dangers-fracking

Dangerous levels of radioactivity found at fracking waste site in Pennsylvania
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/oct/02/dangerous-radioactivity-fracking-waste-pennsylvania

Why Fracking Must be Banned
http://bcaction.org/2012/11/01/why-fracking-must-be-banned/


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