Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) cited the danger from radioactive waste in making the case for new legislation that would establish a nationwide prohibition on fracking for production of oil and natural gas.
The Ban Fracking Act is being introduced in both the Senate and House of Representatives. If passed, it would automatically ban the federal government from issuing new permits for “fracking related infrastructure.” All hydraulic fracturing within 2,500 feet of homes and schools would be stopped by 2021, and the practice would be fully outlawed by 2025.
Fracking involves high-pressure pumping of water and additives into horizontally drilled holes to break up rock and access deep-underground deposits of oil and natural gas. The safety and environmental impacts of the practice are a matter of heated debate.
Sanders’ bill, filed on Jan. 28, cites a long list of dangers from fracking, including earthquakes, groundwater contamination, air pollution, and worker exposure to toxic substances.
“Each year, fracking produces nearly a trillion gallons of radioactive waste – sometimes in concentrations hundreds of times more radioactive than the legal limit for nuclear power plant discharges,” according to an explainer for the legislation. “Workers regularly transport this waste without protective safety gear, and it is often disposed of spraying on roads next to homes and farms.”
Uranium, thorium, radium, and other naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) are found in the geologic formations that hold oil and gas resources accessed through fracking, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Those materials are concentrated and brought to the surface through energy extraction; they are then characterized as technologically enhanced naturally occurring radioactive materials (TENORM) in forms such as mineral scales within pipes, sludges and sediments, and contaminated gear.
Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) sponsored the Senate version of the bill with Sanders, who is campaigning for the Democratic Party’s nomination for president. The House bill is sponsored by Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Darren Soto (D-Fla).
