‘A Ticking Time Bomb’: New Book Exposes Oil Patch Contamination

Toxic Exposure

The oil and gas industry is spreading an alarming source of radioactive waste throughout the United States, a crisis that has largely escaped public awareness until now. Scientists suggest this contamination could match the severity of the 1986 Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant disaster causing acute radiation sickness, thyroid cancer and birth defects.

In his new book, “Petroleum-238: Big Oil’s Dangerous Secret and the Grassroots Fight to Stop It,” renowned science journalist Justin Nobel documents the stories of oil and gas workers routinely handling billions of gallons of a toxic brine. Many interviewees share chilling accounts of health issues such as rashes, loose teeth, and unexplainable cancers.

Fracking’s Environmental Impact 

This toxic brine cocktail is a byproduct of fracking – a process where water, sand and chemicals are injected underground at high pressure to extract oil and gas from a shale formation. These fracking fluids contain toxic salts, heavy metals like lead and arsenic, and dangerously high levels of radioactive radium.

With fracking operations at an all-time high in states like North Dakota, Pennsylvania and Texas, Petroleum-238 sheds light on the toxic waste that is all around us. Nobel’s investigation led him to Linda Fox, who grew up in a 1950s oil and gas town in West Texas, where her community suffered from rampant sickness, miscarriages and cancers, including severe birth defects in her own family. This anecdotal evidence underscores the historical prevalence of health issues linked to oil and gas operations.

In an interview with the Alleghany Front, Nobel noted the Marcellus Shale formation in Pennsylvania is the most radioactive formation in the United States. “Just think of all the people who work for companies doing the fracking there and all those who live nearby and then multiply that for every state that participates in fracking. The implications are enormous,” he said.

Are You At Risk?

Workers at the highest risk shovel toxic brine from trucks, jobs often assigned to former prisoners desperate for work and unaware of dangers. Jesse, a reformed bank robber, shares in Petroleum-238 the harsh realities he faced in the industry during the fracking boom.

But, toxic brine is also being repurposed into everyday consumer items, meaning you could unwittingly expose your family and pets to these hazardous substances. In an excerpt from the book, Nobel explains the eye-opening information sparking the investigation.

“My reporting journey into this topic started when an Ohio community organizer told me someone made a liquid de-icer out of oilfield brine. The product contained enough of the radioactive element radium to be defined by the EPA as a radioactive waste. Yet, the company behind the product advertised it was to be used on home driveways and patios and that it was ‘Safe for Pets’ – they had even been selling it at Lowe’s.”

Regulatory Negligence

Nobel’s investigation also uncovered serious regulatory failures. He discovered that in the mid to early 2000s, EPA regulations were so lax that oil and gas companies discharged radium into waterways used for drinking water in Western Pennsylvania. Even more concerning, he told Environmental Health News water providers are only required to test for radium once every nine years—a grossly inadequate measure given radium’s profound health impacts.

How could something like this happen? Jesse said it best when he told Nobel it’s all about oil and gas company profits. He explained oilfield waste treatment centers are “churning radioactive waste around like pancake mix, trying to down-blend it and lower the radioactivity.” From there it’s created into products we may be using daily.

What’s the solution?

The stories in Petroleum-238 shed a disturbing light on the oil and gas industry and the health crisis for not only workers but also the public unknowingly exposed to these toxic chemicals. So, what’s the path forward? Nobel hopes the truths in his book will spur greater accountability among oil and gas companies and help advance significant regulatory reforms.

How We Help Victims of Toxic Exposure

Our birth defects litigation attorneys understand the pain that families face when coping with life-altering birth defects—and the frustration of knowing they could have been prevented. Our team has over 40 years of combined experience in birth defects litigation in cases involving semiconductor and electronics manufacturing, pesticides, and energy production. We have the resources and experience to fight on behalf of our clients against corporations that put them in danger. Contact us to see how we can help you and your family receive justice for birth defects.