(Photo provided by the Buckeye Environmental Network) Bob Wilson loosens a valve to show the brine under pressure at one of his production wells on his property in 2025.

The Washington County Commission responded to concerns Thursday from county residents Bob Wilson and Bob Lane who have attended various local meetings regarding their land rights and oil and gas rights.

“There’s a lot of residents out in the county being hurt, especially right now,” said Wilson. “There’s landowners out there who use gas and some of them have used gas for 80 years from their farms and it’s not there anymore.”

Wilson said the injection wells and the oil and gas industry have dried and ruined nearly 25-50 of their wells they drilled on their personal land which consisted of thousands of acres.

Wilson and Lane said they’ve been in a lawsuit with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and the Division of Oil Gas Resources Management for nearly six years.

“They’re stepping all over our constitutional rights,” said Wilson. “The Constitution says they’re not allowed to do this, but they’re not allowed to do this and they’re doing this anyway, it’s illegal.”

(Photo provided by the Buckeye Environmental Network) Washington County resident Bob Wilson, right, speaks to Ohio Rep. Tristan Rader, left, about issues with the production of his wells in May 2025.

Lane said a lot of the residents who relied on the oil and gas provided through their wells don’t have anything except wood and electricity now. He said many of their wells are completely flooded and contain brine which they believe is from the nearby injection wells.

He said their case went to the Ohio Supreme Court when it should’ve been ruled in their favor at the county level.

“Why should I pay property tax on land that someone has destroyed the minerals under?” said Lane. “Bob’s (Wilson) got over 50 wells flooded and I’ve got probably 25 now that are totally ruined.”

Lane said, “shame on Rep. Kevin Ritter” because he was supposed to be representing the people in the county.

“I look into my two great grandchildren’s faces now and I wonder, ‘are you gonna have water to drink?'” said Lane.

Wilson said he recognized the commissioners couldn’t make direct changes but he requested any support they could provide for the community.

“It’s something that we don’t control and that’s obvious to us,” said Commissioner Charlie Schilling.

Schilling said when he was elected into office there was a lawsuit at the time between Marietta and Washington County over the Ohio EPA sewer project in Devola. He said when he came into office, he wanted to find a way to work with the Ohio EPA.

“We don’t oversee them changing any of their requirements or how things are permitted or how things are regulated,” said Schilling. “Our role is to work with them.”

Schilling said the commission has been able to bring in thousands of dollars for the county due to the projects they’ve worked on over the years.

“We expressed our concerns to them on exactly what you guys have brought to us and let them know what those are,” said Schilling. “But at the same time it’s the partnership that I think is the most important on this side of the table for us to be able to procure projects and things that we’re working on within the county and show that we can provide a good partnership with them.”

Commissioner Greg Nohe said he appreciated the comments from Wilson and Lane because it allowed him to gain more information on the subject.

Washington County Job and Family Services Director Flite Freimann responded to the public’s concerns which were discussed during last week’s meeting regarding the data center in Waterford and the commissioners signing the NDA (non-disclosure agreement) with potential developers.

“Commissioner Schilling is the lead negotiator and wrote down every single concern that was brought up,” said Freimann.

He said during stakeholder meetings, Schilling brought up concerns about water usage, pollution, and the environmental impact of a data center in the county.

“Schilling imposed upon them how important it was to get those answers back to the community as quickly as possible,” said Freimann.

Washington County Sheriff Mark Warden wanted to thank everyone for their efforts in clearing the roads during the storm. He said he doesn’t want to limit people’s movement but calling in a level three is based on working with the county, townships and the state for everyone’s safety.