Concerns about injection wells in Washington County were raised again during the public segment of the weekly Washington County Commission meeting Thursday.

These concerns ranged from the potential impacts injection wells could have on nearby aquifers to where the revenue from the wells goes.

There was scrutiny from multiple members of the public about how the Ohio Department of Nature Resources handles the injection well permits and what could be done at the county level.

Putnam Community Water Corporation Board of Directors member and Muskingum Township Trustee Jay Huck said Friday that he brought a recently passed resolution to the commissioners for their support. He presented the commissioners with the resolution Thursday and asked them to review the documents.

“All three trustees have signed the resolution, and we think it is very important,” he said. “Why risk it? It’s unknown.”

Huck said Friday the resolution was passed Oct. 28 and requests a comprehensive study about the injection wells and any implications they could have on any nearby aquifers.

“Those wells may be safe today but there’s no guarantees. I bet you I couldn’t find an engineer that would tell me guaranteed 50 years from now that those wells will be effective,” he said Friday.

Huck said his purpose at the meeting was to seek the support of the commissioners and let them know this is important to the community.

He said he’s been working with Putnam Community Water Corp. for nearly 35 years and all seven members are concerned about the impacts of the injection wells. Huck has been a trustee for about seven years and said he’s been heavily involved with Muskingum for about 38 years.

“The Putnam Community Water serves about 950 members in Devola, and we draw our water from an aquifer nearby,” he said Friday. “We want to protect our water sources.”

Huck said on Thursday he didn’t understand the financial gain of having these injection wells and none of the revenue goes back to the county.

Asked about the meeting Friday, Commissioner Charlie Schilling referred to a statement he made Nov. 13 that commissioners have brought these concerns to the attention of the chief of oil and gas at ODNR. In past commission meetings, he’s expressed displeasure with the way ODNR conducts their public meetings.

According to a recording from the meeting, Washington County Job and Family Services Director Flite Freimann said the state Senate recently passed Senate Bill 219 which redirects revenue from the injection wells so it returns to the county.

Freimann said the bill allows for any revenue from oil and gas extraction in Wayne National Forest to go back to the county. Even though it was passed in the Senate, the bill still needs to go through the House of Representatives and be signed by the governor.

Schilling said he wanted to make it clear the concerns the public has about the injection wells have been brought to the attention of ODNR in past meetings.

“We did what the residents of this county asked us to do. We investigated the risks of injection wells to our drinking water,” said in the Nov. 13 statement.

Schilling said then that commissioners met with Eric Vendel, the chief of ODNR’s Oil and Gas Division, and were informed injection wells pose no risk to drinking water when properly permitted.

“We are dedicated to safe drinking water, and we take allegations of risk to our aquifers seriously,” he said. He recommended anyone with concerns he recommended they contact the state.