Buckeye Environmental Network

Community members in Hebron still face pollution risks after the plant’s closure. Ohio EPA cited the facility for improperly storing hazardous waste containing benzene, its sixth violation in two years. BEN and Earthworks are working together to document the pollution and support workers’ demands for paid lifetime medical monitoring and residents’ calls for soil testing.

Ohio Plastic Pyrolysis Facility Receives Violation for Improper Hazardous Waste Management – Buckeye Environmental Network Ohio Plastic Pyrolysis Facility Receives Violation for Improper Hazardous Waste Management October 5, 2026 This press release is part of an ongoing collaboration between Earthworks and Buckeye Environmental Network to document Freepoint’s hazardous pollution and support community members fighting ...

Buckeye Environmental Network has several vacancies on our volunteer Board of Directors. Over the past year, we’ve accomplished big campaign wins and expanded our work across Ohio. That momentum is exciting, and we need help to keep it moving!

The ideal candidate has prior non-profit experience, but we will consider less experienced volunteers who are committed to our mission and willing to learn. The time commitment for this role is about 5 hours a month to help keep us strong and organized as we grow, with additional work as needed. Board members must be dues-paying members at the time they join the board.

We’re sharing the general Board Member description below for full details. We want folks to have a clear, honest picture of the responsibility and the collective leadership this role carries.

The Board Member Description can be found here: bit.ly/benboard

If this sounds like you, or like someone you know who believes in environmental justice and wants to be part of a collaborative, values-driven board, we’d love to talk!

Please feel free to reply directly or share this with someone who might be a great fit.

Our neighbors in Washington County shouldn’t have to wait for contaminated drinking water before Ohio takes their concerns about oil and gas waste injection seriously.

Guest opinion: Investigation, prevention necessary to avoid injection well catastrophe Re: Acton’s Injection Well Proposal Draws Industry Opposition; Marietta Times, Sept. 19, 2026: The opposition expressed in this article is just the kind of statement that angers and frustrates a lot of people in Washington County — namely, people living outside the county with a profit motive, i...

Washington County residents have been dealing with leaking injection wells for years, and the problems are only getting worse.

Industry, lawmakers not protecting Washington County This is in response to the article “Ohio Oil and Gas Association opposes proposed moratorium” published in the Sept. 19 edition of your newspaper. There are multiple misleading statements made by the Ohio Oil and Gas Association (OOGA), as well as Rep. Kevin Ritter, which should be clarified for...

Save the date! BEN’s Annual Membership Meeting will be Saturday, November 7th at 11am in Newark. We’ll have more details to share soon!

The meeting is open to BEN members, so if you haven’t already, you can become a member or renew with a donation of $20 or more at benohio.org/give/.

Monthly supporters who give $20 or more will get a BEN T-shirt while supplies last!

“Radium has a half-life of 1,600 years.”

That’s what our organizer Anton Krieger told Morrow County Commissioners about Ohio allowing oil and gas waste brine containing radioactive radium to be spread on local roads. Anton and BEN board member Greg Pace brought research on the brine to commissioners earlier this month, and now the county engineer will take a look.

Concerns expressed over use of brine - Morrow County Sentinel At its Sept. 9 meeting, the Morrow County Board of Commissioners heard concerns about the spreading of brine on county roads from Buckeye Environmental Network (BEN) representatives Anton Krieger and Greg Pace, along with county resident Kurt Powell.

Data center moratoriums are a growing trend across Ohio! Has your city or township passed one?

Ohio passes over 125 active data center moratoriums At least 136 Ohio municipalities and townships have active moratoriums on data centers as of Sept. 16, local government records and news reports show.

Local newspapers are still one of the best places to raise issues that aren’t getting enough attention. That’s why we’re holding a virtual Letter to the Editor training this Thursday. We’ll talk about how to write an LTE and what can help get it published. No writing experience needed.

Thursday, Sept. 24 at 6 PM
RSVP: bit.ly/training924