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MARIETTA -- FracTracker Alliance and Buckeye Environmental Network allege gaps in Ohio's oversight of oil and gas operations, citing their analysis of state records and examples of leaking wells in Washington County.
The groups' report, "Rising Incidents, Lax Oversight," draws on Ohio Department of Natural Resources incident reports, inspection records and enforcement orders. The groups contend those records show inconsistent documentation, unresolved violations and inadequate follow-through.
ODNR did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the groups' findings.
FracTracker and BEN reported identifying 2,529 oil and gas incidents in ODNR records from 2015 through 2025. That total and the report's conclusions reflect the groups' analysis of the records.
Gwen Klenke, FracTracker's Midwest program coordinator and the report's author, presented the findings Wednesday during a press briefing alongside Bev Reed of BEN.
According to the groups' analysis, the records documented 103 incidents in 2015 and 268 in 2025, with year-to-year fluctuations. Their tally includes spills, leaks, equipment failures and other events of varying severity.
While acknowledging improvements in ODNR's location information and data consistency, FracTracker and BEN alleged that records often fail to clearly show how an incident led to inspections, cleanup or enforcement.
Reed pointed to the Kris-Mar 1 production well in Washington County as an example of what BEN considers inadequate follow-through on violations.
According to the groups' review of ODNR inspection records, the agency cited the well in 2021 for missing required identification. The report says an inspection nearly a year later found the same issue unresolved and noted evidence of an older release.
Reed said an ODNR incident description documented brine reaching Mile Run while the estimated quantity field listed the release as zero. She argued those entries were inconsistent.
"The well was flowing for days after the leak was found, so there's no way to measure the amount released," Reed said. "However, stating that it was zero is inaccurate."
According to FracTracker and BEN, ODNR inspection records showed 20 site visits between May 2023 and October 2025 as compliance issues continued.
The groups also raised concerns that wastewater injected at nearby disposal wells could be contributing to pressure and leaks at older production wells. Their report presents that connection at Kris-Mar 1 as a suspicion, not an established cause.
Reed called for an investigation and a halt to nearby waste injection while the issue is studied.
"Stop the injection of waste now, and study the issue," she said. "Figure out what's going on."
Reed separately described visits to a production well within Marietta's municipal water well field. She said she observed oil on the ground in September 2025 and September 2026 and alleged that ODNR inspections failed to adequately address the conditions.
Those observations were Reed's account. The briefing did not establish that the city's drinking water was contaminated.
Statewide, FracTracker and BEN said their analysis identified 486 incidents that took more than a month to close and 249 records, some dating to 2018, that lacked closure dates.
Klenke acknowledged that an open record could reflect unfinished paperwork or cleanup. The absence of a closure date does not establish that a leak continued throughout that period.
The groups also reported that 797 of the 2,373 records with an entry in the estimated quantity field listed the amount as unknown or unable to be quantified.
Klenke also said some incidents classified as "minor" may not be categorized appropriately. The groups argued that classifications may reflect an early assessment rather than the release’s eventual extent.
FracTracker estimated that about 25 ODNR inspectors oversaw roughly 96,000 active wells. Based on recorded inspection durations, the group calculated that inspecting all assigned active wells would take each inspector, on average, more than 2.5 work years.
"The burden is just really too high on them for them to be able to proactively catch, you know, degrading infrastructure that might then lead to an incident," Klenke said.
The report separately identified four inspectors responsible for 232 active or permitted Class II injection wells used to dispose of oil and gas wastewater underground.
In a previously published responses to public comments about the American Growers No. 4 injection well permit, ODNR said it responds to spills and can suspend operations, seek penalties through the Ohio attorney general's office, forfeit financial assurances or potentially revoke permits when operators fail to complete necessary cleanup.
FracTracker and BEN recommended clearer definitions, easier public access to state records, smaller inspector workloads and stronger enforcement for unresolved violations.
"This should all be easily accessible," Reed said.