The waste that is created during the fracking and extraction process is often toxic, radioactive, or highly flammable, but because laws are not properly enforced, the waste is not being classified as hazardous materials.
And because the oil and gas waste is not being classified as hazardous, truck drivers are not trained on safe handling. This heightens their exposure to the toxic material, which has resulted in worker hospitalizations, long-term illness, and deaths.
The federal government is not enforcing the law requiring these trucks to display hazard signs. That means when first responders arrive after an oil and gas tanker overturns and spills contaminated water used for fracking across the highway, like it did in Barnesville, Ohio in 2016, they have no idea they’re racing into radioactive brine, toxic chemicals, or flammable liquid. Furthermore, the surrounding community does not know what is leaking into their water supply.
Communities deserve the right to know what’s being hauled in trucks continuously running through our towns day and night. And truck drivers deserve the right to know how to keep themselves safe from their hazardous cargo.
Tell the Department of Transportation: Enforce the rules. Train our truckers. Protect our communities and keep our highways safer.
