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Leone joined the unanimous vote in the state Senate to "approve a minimum three-year ban on the storage or use of toxic hydraulic fracturing waste in Connecticut," according to a press release. The waste is a byproduct of the hydraulic fracturing or “fracking” technique in the domestic production of natural gas.
"Research on samples of fracking waste has identified a variety of proprietary chemicals injected during the fracking process, as well as contaminants from underground, including arsenic, lead, corrosive salts, the radioactive radium-226 and other materials," according to the release.
“This three-year ban on fracking waste is a necessary step to protect the public and our environment from materials that have been shown to be not only radioactive, but toxic in a variety of other ways. Each batch of fracking waste may vary slightly from another in its exact composition, and no federal or industry standard exists to monitor its contents or address public health and safety concerns,” said Leone.
“In the absence of federal oversight, our state must act. Before allow such dangerous waste into Connecticut, for possible processing or for any other purpose, we must first take the time to properly study the waste and establish guidelines for its handling and use.”
Congress has "exempted hydraulic fracturing waste from hazardous waste regulations, creating an absence of oversight which the legislation, Senate Bill 237, aims to address," according to the release.
With the bill, Connecticut’s ban on fracking waste will remain in effect for a minimum of three years until regulations regarding any future sale, manufacture, distribution or use of fracking waste in Connecticut are developed by the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection and then adopted by the legislature’s Regulations Review Committee, according to the release.
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