Ohio bill targets radioactive brine spread on roads

By Farah Siddiqi

Ohio lawmakers are hearing proponent testimony on Senate Bill 329, legislation to end the use of oil and gas waste brine on roadways as a deicer and dust suppressant.

Supporters argued the practice spreads radioactive byproducts from drilling operations onto public roads.

Sen. Paula Hicks-Hudson, D-Toledo, ranking member of the Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee and a sponsor of the bill, said the measure is about public health and environmental protection.

"This bill, by removing the type of deicer that causes cancer, potentially bone cancer and other problems, as well as pollute our waterways, is the primary reason for doing this," Hicks-Hudson explained

The Ohio Department of Health released a 2022 study recommending against brine-based deicers derived from oil and gas waste due to increased levels of human exposure to radiation.

Backers of the legislation added supporting research showing samples of brine taken from wells across Ohio contained radioactive materials. Hicks-Hudson argued the issue also connects to long-standing concerns about water quality in the Great Lakes region.

"Why would we continue to do something that is harmful to individuals as well as to the world?" Hicks-Hudson asked.

The Ohio Department of Transportation and the Ohio Turnpike Commission have already discontinued use of brine-based deicers, though some local governments still use them.