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Cheryl Johncox said calling for a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing is not being a perfectionist about the environment at the expense of society’s need for sources of energy. She said she and fellow activists with Buckeye Forest Council simply want better regulations.

“I can’t believe they can put a pit with radioactive fluid a hundred feet from my house and not even have to fence it in.”

Johncox said that as of 2010, Ohio no longer requires companies engaged in fracking to keep radioactivity logs. She said fracking fluids from Marcellus shale and Utica shale contain radioactive particles at a thousand times the recommended limit.

Columbus Activsts

Howard Markert from Youngstown Ohio is a Green Party candidate for Mahoning County Commissioner.

Markert said hydraulic fracturing is not new.

“It’s been in use for more than 60 years. What’s new is the combination of the horizontal drilling technique, which has only been around for about 15 years, and the high volume slick water concept. Instead of tens of thousands or 50,000 gallons of water per well, they’re using anywhere from 8 to 10 million gallons of water per well; and anywhere from 7,500 to 50,000 gallons of concentrated chemicals.”

Market said those who say there are no alternatives to fracking for providing the energy to run modern society should look to Germany.

“Currently, Germany, a country four times the size of Ohio, produces more than 40 percent of their energy from renewables. They produce more energy from solar panels---both photovoltaic and thermal---than all of North America combined. Yet they’re farther north than Ohio, and have only 50 percent of the available solar energy that we do.”

Markert said public policy explains the difference between Germany and the United States.

“Germany’s government have been very proactive in making sure that subsidies and incentives are put in place to encourage the development of green energy alternatives and discourage the use of fossil fuels through taxes.”

Connie Harris has been involved with activism in Columbus for many years. Presently working with Occupy Mansfield, she came to the State Capital on Jan 10 to protest for a moratorium on fracking.

“We had a great turnout. If people keep pushing hard enough, maybe they (politicians) will listen. In Mansfield, the Occupy group was able to work with the city government, Republicans and Democrats. They’re building a so-called war chest to build a fund to keep fighting for laws for better oversight (of fracking).”

Harris said the moratorium would allow time for properly assessing the risks and possible benefits of fracking.

“ A lot of these communities, they’re losing all their factory work and other jobs. They’re treating some of these communities like wastelands. People have to live there and work and send their children to school. This is some real dangerous stuff. They (government officials and industry) don’t know enough about it. We don’t know enough about it.

She said her recent involvement with fracking ties into other activism she has done over the years. The common theme is that politicians are not in tune with the will of the people.

“Government agencies are doing what they want to do. They’re definitely more interested in mulah than the safety of our communities. I just happen to be living in a town where they want to build two (fracking) wells. They want to give the underground an enema.”