UNDER A GROVE OF PINES in Maryland’s Appalachian Mountains, Nick Fischer gathered his childhood friends around a campfire in June 2023. Tucker wore a trucker cap and a beard, while Bobbie’s dress glowed under the flames’ light. They passed around beers as Fischer began his story: His former job, he believes, destroyed his health. “I am falling apart,” he said. “I don’t know where to begin.”
Not all jobs in the oil and gas sector involve extracting fossil fuels. During extraction, significant waste—often containing carcinogens, heavy metals, and radioactivity—surfaces, and a hidden workforce in the industry manages it. Fischer was part of this workforce.
Fischer’s journey into fracking wastewater treatment began in November 2017 with a job at Clearwater in Doddridge County, West Virginia. The $255 million plant was a global venture, operated by Colorado’s Antero Resources and French firm Veolia. Clearwater processed wastewater from gas wells, extracting salts for deicing or food use. Conrad Baston, a facility engineer, discussed this at a 2015 community meeting. However, the plant closed 22 months later, and Fischer and his colleagues were dismissed without warning. “Clearwater was a failure,” stated a lawsuit Antero filed against Veolia in 2020. The wastewater was radioactive, and the salts problematic. Fischer had to scoop and transport a toxic mixture to build a landfill that locals opposed, fearing contamination.
Nick Fischer, who has suffered health issues since treating radioactive waste, rests in his camper in Little Orleans, Maryland.
Neither Antero nor Fischer’s employer, Preston Contractors, has answered questions. In January 2023, a Colorado court ruled in Antero’s favor, awarding $242 million for breach of contract and fraud. The Colorado Court of Appeals upheld this ruling. Veolia has not commented on whether workers were informed about radioactivity risks.
FISCHER BELIEVED THAT he was part of “greening” the industry by treating wastewater for reuse and creating beneficial products. Yet, he worked long hours handling corrosive mixtures, unaware of the radioactivity threat. “I truly thought I was helping the company,” Fischer said at the campfire. He questioned why workers weren’t informed of the risks.
Fischer, who struggles to keep food down and has lost 40 pounds, now works cleaning a campground in Maryland. “I’m stuck holding the radioactive bag at the end of this thing,” he remarked, criticizing the industry’s profit-driven motives and its neglect of workers’ health.
Workers like Fischer, who want to expose unsafe conditions, face companies using greenwashing and legal defenses. Despite the risks, Bobbie assured Fischer, “You’re doing the right thing. Somebody has gotta say something.”
WE LIVE ON A RADIOACTIVE PLANET. Soil, rocks, air, and water contain background radiation. Oil and gas extraction bring radioactive elements to the surface. Radium levels inside pipes can be 400,000 times background radiation. However, radioactive oil and gas waste is not regulated by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission or the EPA, due to a 1980 federal exemption classifying it as “non-hazardous.”
Much of the industry’s radioactive trouble comes from “brine,” or “produced water,” misleadingly named. Brine can contain radium levels thousands of times higher than safe limits. The industry produces a trillion gallons of brine annually, with most disposed of in injection wells regulated by the EPA. However, these wells have been linked to earthquakes and leaks.
In the 1970s, EPA officials were skeptical of injection wells, with one stating, “We really do not know what happens to the wastes down there. We just hope.” The industry is now focusing on wastewater treatment facilities, but these pose risks to air quality and the environment. Workers are often uninformed about these dangers.
“There [are] night and day differences between radioactivity protections received by a nuclear worker and an oil field worker,” said Phil Egidi, a former EPA scientist. This issue lacks public awareness and political support.
Democratic Pennsylvania state senator Katie Muth is fighting for these workers. She won her seat in 2018, focusing on corporate accountability, including for the oil and gas industry.
“We have no regulatory protection for these workers, and no one is calculating their cumulative radiation exposure,” Muth stated. “This is a government failure on so many levels.”
SHANNON AND MICHAEL LUTZ met at a West Virginia mall in the 1990s. Economic hardship led Michael to work at a fracking wastewater plant in 2009. He was exposed to radioactive dust, which can attach to clothing and be brought home. In 2018, Michael was diagnosed with glioblastoma, an aggressive brain cancer, and passed away in 2023. His case highlights the potential health risks faced by workers in the industry.
Experts like Marco Kaltofen warn of significant radiation exposure from contaminated dust at these facilities. “There are a lot of ways to bring radioactivity home with jobs like this,” he said.
Living in Appalachia comes with inherent carcinogenic risks. The health risks from radioactive waste are well-documented, yet challenging to link to specific cases due to various exposures and the mobility of workers.
IN FAIRMONT SITS the abandoned AOP Clearwater plant, later sold to Fairmont Brine. Upon visiting, Yuri Gorby and Jill Hunkler found the site contaminated with radioactivity exceeding 99% of Chernobyl’s Exclusion Zone. The EPA declared the site’s contamination uncontrolled, highlighting the potential for human exposure to radio-nuclides.
Sean Guthrie, a former operations manager, cited issues with disposing radioactive sludge and inadequate protective equipment. “I would like to see some accountability,” he said.
Industry lobbyists often divide environmentalists and workers, but workers’ stories reveal a more complex reality. Many appreciate public land and clean resources, and for them, the industry provides necessary work.
IN 2022, AN APPALACHIAN group found radioactivity leading to Austin Master Services in Ohio. This plant treated downstream waste from facilities like Clearwater and Fairmont Brine. Workers, including David Duvall, were exposed to hazardous conditions, with radium levels in samples vastly exceeding EPA limits.
Last year, Ohio’s attorney general sued Austin Master for “egregious violations of Ohio law.” The facility closed in early 2024, leaving radioactive waste to be removed.
MANY OF THE LEGAL CASES linking oil and gas jobs to cancer were led by attorney Stuart Smith, who successfully sued major companies. His work, supported by industry documents, revealed significant health risks from radiation exposure. The industry’s own reports acknowledge the dangers, yet government reports often downplay the risks.
Phil Egidi, a former EPA scientist, plans to advocate for workers’ protection. “First you have outrage,” he said, “then you get legislation.”
LAST AUGUST, I RECEIVED a message from Muth about Eureka Resources, another troubled plant. Workers reported unsafe conditions and contamination, with faulty equipment and potential risks to public health. This highlights the need for unexpected alliances to address these issues.
In September 2024, Pennsylvania’s DEP found elevated radiation levels at the plant. Despite having a protection plan, only four employees received safety training.
I contacted Eureka’s VP of engineering, Jerel Bogdan, who dismissed concerns as attempts to gain sensational data. “Let him write his stupid piece,” he wrote.
Original Story at www.sierraclub.org