From left, Marietta City Council President Susan Vessels shares information on proposed litigation against the Ohio Department of Natural Resources with legal counsel for DeepRock Disposal Solutions Laura Goins during a joint committee meeting Monday at the Armory. (Photo by Gwen Sour)

Marietta City Council members on Monday discussed potential litigation regarding a proposed injection well near the municipal water supply and were met with opposition from oil and gas industry representatives.

The discussion in a joint Water and Sewer and Finance Committee meeting at the Armory focused on whether to pursue a legal filing to require the Ohio Department of Natural Resources to apply newer rules to DeepRock Disposal Solutions’ application for a Class II injection well. The well, if approved, would be drilled within two miles of the well field for the city’s drinking water. According to ODNR, Class II disposal wells can include conventional injection wells containing the brine liquid used in fracking operations

According to council, Earthjustice, an environmental legal team with over 200 lawyers, would represent the city for free. Council took extensive testimony from the city’s water superintendent and industry speakers.

“All that is proposed here is (for) the law director … on behalf of the city (to) sue (ODNR) in a mandamus action … to force ODNR to utilize the current rules,” said Council President Susan Vessels. “Those rules will add protections for our community. This is just forcing ODNR to do their job.”

Councilman Ben Rutherford said safe and clean water is a “fundamental responsibility of local government.

Laura Goins, an attorney for DeepRock Disposal Solutions, shares concerns regarding the potential litigation against the Ohio Department of Natural Resources during a joint Marietta City Council committee meeting Monday at the Armory. (Photo by Gwen Sour)

“It’s supported unanimously across every political line. Doesn’t matter who we are, we want clean and safe water,” he said.

Rutherford added that the application for DeepRock’s proposed Stevens No. 1 well has polarized the community.

“If we assume contamination and reject assurances from both industry and regulators alike due to perceived agendas, then we default to accusations of poisoning, leaving little room for any objective assessment,” he said.

Under the new rules, daily injection volumes could be reduced from 3,000 to 5,000 barrels per day to as few as 200 barrels, Vessels said.

Several council members raised worries about the potential materials injected into the well to impact the water supply or have other environmental impacts.

Christy Chavez of Reno Oil & Gas LLC discusses her family’s history within the community and urges Marietta City Council to reconsider pursuing legal action against the Ohio Department of Natural Resources during a joint committee meeting Monday at the Armory. (Photo by Gwen Sour)

“My biggest worry is how these chemicals in the brines are migrating. I’m curious if (the proposed) well has been infiltrated by brine water, and if so, what happens when perhaps there’s a crack in the lining, in the casing, or in the concrete mix.” said Councilman Bill Gossett. “With the amount of wells that are in close proximity to the city … all of them injecting at high pressure, it just creates some real angst.”

Laura Goins, an attorney for DeepRock Disposal Solutions, spoke in opposition to the proposed litigation, claiming it could damage the local economy.

“Injection wells, when properly constructed and regulated, are the safest and most scientifically supported method for disposing of oil field brine.” she said. “(ODNR) is empowered by law and staffed with geologists, engineers, regulators to evaluate and issue these permits. … Why would Earthjustice volunteer to litigate free of charge on behalf of the City of Marietta? What is in it for them?”

Christy Chavez spoke at length about her family’s history in the oil and gas industry. Chavez is the wife of Ohio Sen. Brian Chavez and daughter of Carl Heinrich who started Reno Oil & Gas LLC.

“My dad was a petroleum engineer and geologist, and he spent his entire lifetime (in the industry),” she said. “I am very concerned that outside influences are going to come in and take over our city. Earthjustice, Buckeye Environmental — they don’t live here. They do not have concern for the clean water here that we do.

Marietta City Councilman Ben Rutherford asks a clarifying question from Water Superintendent Steve Eddy during Monday’s joint committee meeting. (Photo by Gwen Sour)

“On their web pages and their mission statements, they say they want to shut down the oil and gas industry,” Chavez said. “This city was founded on oil and gas, and we can prosper, and we can continue to develop it and have safe water. The only reason we have injection wells is to dispose of the brine safely, and that is what the company is doing.”

Water Superintendent Steve Eddy outlined a plan to install three monitoring wells along the aquifer.

“As far as sampling, we’re going to draw baseline samples out of all of our wells. That way we know what we currently have,” he said. “Then … if there is something different, then we know we have issues, and we need to get on it quickly.”

He also rebutted a claim that Marietta discharges polluted water into the Muskingum River. He explained that volatile organic compounds are removed through an air-stripper system before treated water is released.

Committee leaders closed with plans to form an ad hoc committee to bring in information from experts in the field before taking further action.

The well discussed Monday is separate from DeepRock’s application for a Class I well, which is the subject of a public meeting being held by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency from 6-8 p.m. tonight at the Marietta High School Auditorium. Class I wells involve non-hazardous substances drilled thousands of feet below any underground sources of drinking water into isolated rock formations, the EPA said.

Gwen Sour can be reached at gsour@newsandsentinel.com.