Five water districts and several municipalities in southeastern Ohio submitted a letter to Governor Mike DeWine and state legislators on Thursday calling for a 3-year pause on new waste injection wells in Washington County.
The wells store wastewater, created by fracking for oil and gas, deep underground. It often contains radioactivity and other contaminants.
“Our water districts acknowledge the importance of the oil and gas industry, but they believe these interests must be balanced so that regular Ohioans are protected from unnecessary risk,” the letter states.
Washington County has 19 permitted injection wells, which is about as many as the entire state of Pennsylvania. According to the letter, four of those wells are permitted to inject a combined 20,000 barrels of wastewater a day.
“The owner of those wells is seeking to operate an additional three injection wells – all existing and proposed wells would be within two miles of four aquifers serving 32,000 people in Ohio and West Virginia,” it states.
Representatives from Washington County’s Warren, Putnam, Little Hocking, Highland Ridge, and Tri-County water authorities, joined Muskingum and Waterford Townships, the Village of Beverly, the City of Marietta, and the group Washington County for Safe Drinking Water signed the letter in support of a moratorium, which included over 300 signatures.
- Fracking produces a lot of wastewater. Millions of gallons of it are stored under eastern Ohio.
- Why some Ohio residents fear injection wells will pollute their drinking water
- In southeast Ohio, state and local officials fight over the future of injection wells
In addition to the 3-year pause on injection wells in Washington County, the letter asks for state legislation to stop the import out-of-state waste for injection, stop all current injection of waste within six miles of the aquifers and require a full study of brine migration and risks to drinking water sources within Washington County over the next three years.
“These are reasonable, temporary safeguards designed to protect essential drinking water infrastructure,” said Jay Huck, a trustee in Muskingum Township, at a community event Wednesday evening. He said the moratorium would give the state “time to gather the scientific data needed for responsible long-term policy.”
Ohio regulators have suspended several injection wells in recent years after finding they leaked underground. Huck said it would be ‘devastating’ and ‘irreversible’ if the injection wells were to contaminate a drinking water aquifer.
Steve Hutchinson, a member of the Warren Community Water and Sewer Association in Washington County, has been trying to get the governor and lawmakers to pay attention to this issue.
“I think we’re on the right track here,” he said. “The pressure’s on. We can’t quit. We have to keep going because Columbus is listening to us. They certainly are.”
A spokesperson said Gov. DeWine’s office had received the letter, but had no comment at this time.
