The Jackson Township Planning Commission recently voted against an ordinance that would be more protective regarding oil and gas development locally. One-third of the citizens in the packed municipal building were requesting greater setbacks from schools and residences. However, the ordinance failed.

This community is already vulnerable to radioactivity. Seneca Landfill is one of the most radioactive landfills in the state, with thousands of tons of radioactive fracking waste, according to the DEP 2016 TENORM study. It documents Seneca Landfill is dumping radioactive “treated” leachate into the Connoquenessing Creek, with radium levels twice as high as allowed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Radium-226 causes cancer and lasts for 1,600 years.

Another recent Penn State study documented the mussels in Franklin are radioactive. Researchers found elevated levels of Radium-226 in the mussels and the streambed downstream of a former waste “treatment” facility that discharged oil and gas wastewater into the Allegheny River. Mussels in Pennsylvania are in danger of extinction, according to the study.

Over 45 Pennsylvania landfills accept radioactive fracking waste, so the whole state is getting radiated. Currently citizens in Mercer County are appealing a permit in Commonwealth Court that would allow dumping of radioactive fracking waste into the landfill and streams in Grove City.

If you want to protect our waterways, communities and future generations, contact your state representatives and the governor and tell them radioactive fracking waste should not be dumped in our communities.

Jane Cleary, Grove City