A new online map helps people find out if any waste injection wells are being permitted near them. The map pinpoints all the sites in Michigan where companies have applied to dump toxic waste from oil and gas exploration. Peggy Case, who heads the group Michigan Citizens For Water Conservation, says even though the waste is injected 4,000 feet underground, Michigan is riddled with old well bores that could allow it to seep elsewhere.
“There’s all these holes in the ground already. It’s already a pincushion, so there’s ample opportunity for wastewater to migrate up into the aquifers.”
The map is on the homepage SaveMIWater.org, and was created by an eighth grade student in Ann Arbor as part of a middle school sustainability project, with help from MCWC Board Member John McClane. Fracking wastewater can contain high levels of salt, chemicals, and sometimes even radioactive material, but the Environmental Protection Agency takes the view that injection wells are safe.
