Radioactive releases Radioactive materials, including uranium, polonium, and radon, are commonly found in shale formations. These can be released as airborne contaminants during drilling and fracking operations, as revealed by a 2020 study that documented the presence of airborne radioactive particles downwind from fracking sites at levels sufficient to raise health risks for nearby residents. Radioactive materials are also often components of liquid and solid fracking waste, including sludge and drilling cuttings. These raising exposure risks for workers and the general public. Exemptions from federal hazardous waste laws mean that no national regulatory framework exists for handling the disposal of radioactive materials from oil and gas extraction activities. Instead, regulation is the responsibility of individual states, which vary widely in their approaches.
High levels of radiation documented in fracking wastewater from many shale formations imperil groundwater and surface water. Measurements of radium in fracking wastewater in New York and Pennsylvania, from the particularly radioactive Marcellus Shale, have been as high as 3,600 times the regulatory limit for drinking water, as established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Studies have found toxic levels of radiation in Pennsylvania waterways even after fracking wastewater was disposed of through an industrial wastewater treatment plant. In 2020, New York State banned the practice of dumping out-of state fracking waste in municipal landfills. A 2021 investigation found that a fracking waste disposal site in Texas has been importing radioactive oilfield waste from abroad.
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Increasing evidence documents illegal, haphazard dumping of radioactive fracking waste, along with its disposal in municipal landfills not engineered to contain radioactivity. Drill cuttings— the pulverized rock pulled up during the drilling process—are a special concern as this form of solid waste, generated in prodigious amounts, is typically disposed of in municipal landfills lacking special protections for hazardous waste. Radioactivity in drill cuttings has been shown to exceed, in some cases, the regulatory limits for landfills that accept fracking waste. In some states, drill cuttings are repurposed as road-building materials.
As confirmed in a 2023 study, the scaly mineral build-up that accumulates inside fracking equipment can also be a significant source of radiation because radium coprecipitates within calcium carbonate and barium sulfate.
Research suggests that the chemical composition of fracking fluid itself helps to mobilize radioactive materials in the shale.
Studies have found high levels of radon in buildings located in heavily drilled areas of both Pennsylvania and Ohio, with levels of radon rising since the start of the fracking boom, although not all studies show consistent results. Unsafe levels of radon and its decay products in natural gas produced from the Marcellus Shale may also contaminate pipelines and compressor stations, as well as pose risks to end-users when allowed to travel into homes.
https://concernedhealthny.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/CHPNY-Fracking-Science-Compendium-9.pdf
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