Martin’s Ferry: Austin Master Services radioactive frac waste clean up completed three months ago; Ohio regulator, ODNR, still has no test results

ODNR says still no test results for Ohio company that stored radioactive material by Michelle Chavez, Aug 28, 2025, WTRF

Three months since state officials announced the cleanup was completed at Austin Master Services, the facility in Martins Ferry that stored thousands of tons of oil and gas waste beyond the legal limit—including some radioactive material—officials say they still do not have test results pertaining to that cleanup.

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) said in a statement on May 28 that the cleanup had been “completed in accordance with the terms of the contract and its May 28, 2025, completion date.”

The ODNR specified it was waiting on test results from a contractor to confirm “the facility is restored to conditions as they existed before Austin Master Services received the permit.”

In a later statement in June, the ODNR said the lab analysis could take up to four weeks, but a timeframe for results was not given.

With Aug. 28 marking three months since the cleanup announcement, the ODNR explained why test results have not been provided yet.

“The test itself takes several weeks to complete from start to finish and that does not account for where the test lands in the queue of the lab or the time it takes to analyze the results and prepare a report after that testing process. The division has not been given a timeframe on when results will be delivered,” an ODNR spokesperson said in a statement Wednesday.

The ODNR previously explained the testing included soil testing for 21 different metals and compounds, among other tests.

Refer also to:

These work boots worn by an Ohio oil and gas wastewater brine truck driver tested positive for high radioactivity. Radioactivity can cause cancer, and it’s a growing concern for frack waste haulers.

Award-winning science journalist Justin Nobel warns about the health dangers to oil and gas transportation workers and our environment in “Petroleum 238: Big Oil’s Dangerous Secret and the Grassroots Fight to Stop it.” (Karret Press, 2024). (Buckeye Environmental Network Photo)

2025: Martin’s Ferry: Austin Master Services’ 10,000 tons illegally stored radioactive frac waste, 500 feet from Ohio River, clean-up continues with power washing.

2024: MUST WATCH! Frac’ers are poisoning us with radioactive waste: “It’s people begging for enforcement.” Ohio’s DNR “knew what was happening” just like AER. “It’s greed at its worst.” When I asked AER to enforce it’s “World-Class” regulations after Encana broke every law in Alberta in place to protect drinking water, AER violated my charter rights instead (enabled by Canada’s lying supreme court and Alberta judges)

2024: Justin Nobel’s book, Petroleum 238, on oil, gas ‘n frac industry’s radioactive waste secret now available: “More Radioactivity Than at Chernobyl.” Jesse Lombardi: “In every single oilfield you will find these oilfield waste treatment centers churning radioactive waste around like pancake mix”