Ohio business owner ordered to pay $200K for ‘mishandling oil field waste’
Tuesday, February 11, 2020
Judge Thomas Harris of Ashtabula common pleas court ordered Richard Morrow, who owns RWC Properties and Circle M Oilfield Transportation, to pay $200,000 for polluting the environment by illegally burning and mishandling oil field waste, according to Farm and Dairy.
In 2017, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency reported seeing Morrow burning waste in large storage tanks twice. Later inspections by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources noted large areas of soil stained by waste leaking from the tanks.
Despite repeated orders from the Ohio EPA and ODNR, Morrow didn’t address the violations. The Ohio Attorney General’s Office sued Morrow and his companies for unlawful transport, storage and open burning of oil field waste in 2018.
Learn more: Farm and Dairy > Judge: Ashtabula County business owner must pay for pollution
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What is fracking?
Fracking is a slang term for hydraulic fracturing. Fracturing is a process by which highly pressurized fluid is pumped thousands of feet into the ground to fracture rock formations. The goal is to release the natural gas that’s locked inside the rock.
Is it safe?
What most concerns people about fracturing is ground water contamination. The worry is that fractures underground, caused by the process, will extending upwards and into aquifers, releasing gas and chemicals into the ground water supply. There’s been no confirmed reports of such a thing happening. Though surface spills and drill site blowouts can lead to localized environmental concerns.
Will my water catch on fire?
Flammable water is caused by the release of methane gas into a drinking water supply. Methane gas occurs naturally and can be released by any kind of drilling, including water wells. In Pennsylvania officials fined Chesapeake Energy $1 million for contaminating ground water with methane. It was determined that the company had not properly cemented it’s boreholes and gas migrated up the well, between rock and into aquifers.