It is sometimes quite shocking how willfully ignorant the human species can be. After centuries of civilization, learning and technological advancement, we can still convince ourselves that burying something under the ground will actually make it go away.
Back in the late 1980s, Aristech Chemical Corp. had worked out a neat little process for getting rid of dangerous, chemical-laden waste from its acetone manufacturing plant. Convinced that injecting the waste into rock would somehow keep it encapsulated forever, the company had taken to drilling “disposal wells” about 6,000 feet under the Earth’s surface. It would shove the chemical waste in under high pressure, plug up the well, and call it a day.
It didn’t take long before workers drilling a new well in the same area of Southern Ohio started to smell phenol — a deadly chemical used in Aristech’s processes that is known to cause internal burns, muscle spasms and organ failure — wafting up from the mud removed from the drill site.
Turns out, the chemical waste wasn’t staying put like the company, and the Ohio EPA, thought it would. The high pressure injection process had created tiny fissures in the rock, and the chemicals were slowly working they’re way up toward the surface — and local drinking water supplies. That discovery sparked an investigation, which in turn started a flood of corporate denial that makes your head spin.
The EPA kept investigating and Aristech kept denying that the chemicals were a threat … for over 20 years. Eventually, the phenol did make it into the drinking water, but by that time, the company had bought and sold several times, making it almost impossible to hold anyone accountable. Just a few years ago, after a suspicious personal meeting with company officials, the Ohio EPA decided to simply drop the case.
Just like that. No fines, no penalties. No justice (or even a heads up) for the untold number of Ohioans that may be consuming contaminated water.
Sadly, the Aristech situation isn’t an isolated case. Chemical companies are drilling injection wells and dumping millions of gallons of toxins into them all over the country. Lax oversight and a lack of education mean it’s the public that ultimately pays the price. Yet, somehow, “we’re gonna bury it” is still considered a valid way of dealing with the toxic refuse of our “progress.”
Read more about this issue in ProPublica’s in-depth series on chemical injection wells.
Photo credit: kateausburn/Flickr