Ohio Supreme Court to hear cases regarding injection wells beginning today
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Photo Illustration
The Supreme Court of Ohio will hear oral arguments on eight cases Nov. 18-19, including a dispute over hydraulic-fracturing waste in Southeast Ohio and the proposed approval of a major solar facility in Logan County, according to Court News Ohio, a service of the Supreme Court of Ohio and Ohio Government Telecommunications.
The two-day session will take place at the Thomas J. Moyer Ohio Judicial Center, beginning at 9 a.m. each day. The court remains open to the public, who may attend in person or watch proceedings online in real time. Livestreams will be available at SupremeCourt.Ohio.gov, with recordings archived on the site and on the Ohio Channel.
Among the eight cases scheduled are Bethel Oil and Gas v. Redbird Development, a dispute stemming from the discovery of hydraulic-fracturing waste fluids in natural gas wells in Washington County. A state investigation found one of Redbird Development’s underground injection wells leaked into nearby gas-producing wells. Bethel Oil and Gas, which operates wells on roughly 3,800 acres in Washington and Athens counties, sued Redbird and 15 other injection-well operators, arguing their disposal practices damaged or could damage its production.
A trial court dismissed the complaint, finding Bethel’s initial filing lacked sufficient factual support. The justices will consider whether Ohio courts must apply a “plausibility requirement” to civil pleadings and whether Bethel had to demonstrate not just the possibility but the probability that the injection wells caused the alleged widespread harm.
Justices will also review whether a proposed 2,100-acre solar farm in Logan County meets the state’s public-interest standard. The remaining six cases involve criminal matters, including questions about self-defense, sealing records of individuals found not guilty by reason of insanity, and whether a traffic stop was improperly prolonged because of a potential mistake.
A summary of all cases is available at CourtNews.Ohio.gov.



