Petroleum-238 author Justin Nobel to speak across Ohio

As Justin Nobel traveled the United States reporting on the oil and gas industry he learned a disturbing and little-considered fact: a more comes to the surface at a well than just the oil and gas. Each year the industry produces billions of tons of waste, much of it toxic and radioactive. The fracking boom has only worsened the problem. So where does it all go?

Petroleum-238 provides the shocking answer. Shielded by a system of lax regulations and legal loopholes, this waste has been spilled, spread, injected, dumped, and freely emitted across America. Nobel relies on oilfield workers, community activists, a century of academic research, and a trove of never-before released industry and government documents to lay out a series of game-changing reveals into the world’s most powerful industry. None have been more deceived than the industry’s own workers, who are suffering mysterious health maladies and dying from unexplainable cancers.

This book is an impressive work of investigative science journalism with surprising moments of literary beauty, and a welcome breakdown of the false wall corporations and politicians often set between industry workers and environmentalists. In the tradition of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring, Petroleum-238 is both a landmark work of environmental writing and an urgent call to action.

See the video preview for Petroleum-238
Read an excerpt from Petroleum-238

Schedule of events in Ohio

Petroleum-238: Big Oil’s Dangerous Secret and the Grassroots Fight to Stop It was published April 24, 2024. The book can be ordered from Amazon or Barnes and Noble or Bookshop.org or any independent bookstore across the United States.

Book tour dates

> Wednesday, May 1: Book event at Athens Public Library in Athens Ohio (2 p.m.) and Athens Community Center in Athens Ohio (6 p.m.), hosted by Buckeye Environmental Network and others

> Thursday, May 2: Book event at Youngstown State University in Youngstown Ohio, hosted by Buckeye Environmental Network (4-6 p.m.)

> Friday, May 3: Book event at Oberlin College in Oberlin Ohio, Room 101 Wilder Hall (Oberlin Student Union Bldg.), 135 College St. Free parking available in the Mercy Allen Hospital parking lot (one block west of Wilder Hall). This event is hosted by Sunrise Oberlin and the First Church in Oberlin UCC Green Team. (Noon)

> Friday, May 3: Book event at Fraternal Order of Eagles Hall in Medina, Ohio, hosted by Sustainable Medina County (6:30 p.m.) [Pre-Order the book here at Medina’s fabulous Black Cat Books & Oddities!]

> Thursday, May 16: Musical book event at Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland in Cleveland Ohio, hosted by the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF) and moCa Cleveland, with musicians Pierson Keating and Karen LeBlanc (2-4 p.m.)

> Friday, May 17: Musical book event at West Shore Unitarian Universalist Church in Cleveland Ohio, with musicians Pierson Keating and Karen LeBlanc, hosted by Faith Communities Together for a Sustainable Future (7 p.m.)

> Saturday, May 18: Musical book event at Korbel’s Family Farm in Hammondsville, Ohio, with musicians Pierson Keating, Karen LeBlanc and MANY other great acts! Hosted by the fabulous Pete and Micki Rockenhauser (2 p.m.)

> Sunday, June 2: FRACKSTOCK! Musical book event at Unitarian Universalist Church in Columbus Ohio, hosted by Buckeye Environmental Network, GrassRoots Ohio and First UU Church of Columbus (5-9 p.m.)

> Monday, June 3: Bookloft Book of German Village, Columbus Ohio. (Time TBA)

Find the full book tour list of events here. Please contact the venue for additional information.

Book cover design by Sabrina Bedford, cover photo by Julie Dermansky

See the video preview for Petroleum-238 here: