Ohio environmental groups call on US EPA to take over injection well permitting
Friday, October 21, 2022
Appalachian Ohio has been a primary dumping ground for waste created by drilling horizontal or fracked natural gas wells, according to Ohio Capital Journal. And the waste isn’t limited to only what’s created in Ohio, nearly half of it is coming from neighboring states.
Now a battle is underway to give the Ohio Department of Natural Resources’ power to issue permits for these injection wells to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Environmental activists and community groups in Southeastern Ohio are pointing to the millions of barrels of fracking waste being injected into Ohio ground and continual pollution incidents as causes for the change in the permitting process.
“Ohio’s Class II well program contains numerous technical deficiencies that have allowed for under-regulated oil and gas waste disposal which has resulted in serious consequences to human health and the environment,” attorneys from EarthJustice, the Sierra Club of Ohio, and various community groups say in their petition to the EPA asking them to begin the rule-making process to revoke Ohio’s primacy over its Class II program “due to the longstanding and systemic failures.”
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Shale FAQ
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.