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02/14/2018 07:00 AMMadison officials took another step toward banning the use of fracking waste in town. On Feb 12, the Board of Selectmen (BOS) approved a resolution adding language to all town bid forms prohibiting the use of materials including fracking waste and set up a timeline to potentially adopt a formal ordinance banning fracking waste as soon as March.
Fracking waste, as the name suggests, is a byproduct of fracking, which uses high-pressure water to extract petroleum products from bedrock. While fracking is not practiced in the state, the amount of waste generated at fracking sites often requires the waste to move across state lines either for disposal or repurposing. Due to Connecticut’s proximity to Pennsylvania, a state with a large fracking industry, local groups have been looking a ways to ban the liquid waste within this state.
Residents first gathered at the BOS meeting on Dec. 18 to ask the board to consider a ban. Nearly 30 people, bearing petitions from other residents in town, turned up to hear a presentation from Jen Siskind, local coordinator for Food & Water Watch. According to the presentation, if Madison were to pass a local ordinance banning fracking waste, it would be the 35th municipality in the state to do so.
According to the presentation, natural toxins and radioactive radium that are found in oil and gas drilling waste are known to cause cancers, nervous system and organ damage, birth defects, and many other health problems. The State of Connecticut currently has a temporary moratorium on fracking waste storage, but critics say it is filled with loopholes. State law also mandates the Connecticut Department of Energy & Environmental Protection (DEEP) to submit regulations for review by July 1.
At that time, members of the BOS seemed to agree that fracking waste in town is a bad idea, but they were less clear on a path forward. At the Jan. 22 BOS meeting, the board invited State Senator Ted Kennedy, Jr. (D-12), who serves as co-chair of the Senate Environment Committee; State Representative Noreen Kokoruda (R-101); and former Board of Finance chair and professor of environmental law at UConn Joe MacDougald to provide insight on the legal aspects of a ban and where the state currently stands on this issue.
At the meeting, the three speakers all seemed to be in support of the idea of a ban, but said since it is unlikely that there is an imminent fracking waste threat to Madison, the town can take some time to properly review the ordinance. The draft ordinance is the same document used by 33 other municipalities in the state, but selectmen agreed it would be prudent to have the town attorney review the document.
At the meeting on Feb. 12, Executive Assistant to the First Selectman Lauren Rhines said the board can review the draft ordinance at its next meeting and set a public hearing on the ordinance for its Monday, March 26 meeting.
“The ordinance right now is at the attorney’s for attorney review,” she said. “He will come back to us and let us know if there is anything that needs to be changed based on his legal opinion. Then you guys would bring the ordinance for discussion and then call the public hearing.”
The board agreed on the timeline and then moved to adopt a resolution adding language to town bid forms prohibiting the use of fracking waste in any town projects.
The resolution states that all contractors, sub-contractors, agents, or vendor agents for town projects or property must sign a document certifying, “that no materials containing any natural gas or oil waste shall be utilized in providing such a service.”
Selectman Bruce Wilson said the language was lifted out of the larger ordinance currently up for review and has been approved by the town attorney.
“We have picked up that part that we thought we could have done really quickly and that will be very non-controversial,” he said. “We are using this as a vehicle to get this process going sooner rather than later.”
Resident Lynne Charles, a supporter of the full ordinance, said she was concerned the town might not move on to step two and pass the full ordinance. Wilson said the town intends to move forward with the ordinance and only broke the process into two steps because resolutions do not require public hearings for approval, allowing the town to get some form of fracking waste restriction on the books quickly.
The board unanimously approved the fracking waste resolution.