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-A Call to Action-
Washington County has long been the dumping grounds for "Brine" waste that is a by-product of Oil and Gas extraction and especially fracking. If you drive very far on any of our local highways you are almost certain to encounter a "Brine" truck or several that you are sharing the road with. The term "Brine" gives one the idea that this is simply some salty water, but that would be dead wrong. "Brine" is a radioactive concoction of hundreds of harmful contaminants including PFAS (forever chemicals), heavy metals such as arsenic, and chemicals such as benzene.
This "Brine" is brought to Washington County from long distances to injection wells where it is injected at very high pressures (1000 to 7000 psi) into underground formations where it is expected to remain in perpetuity. Washington County already has 18 Class II injection wells - more than any other Ohio county, and there have been incidents where injected brine has found its way to the surface through abandoned wells and caused major environmental damage and has been known to find its way into drinking water supplies.
Recent area earthquakes also call into question the soundness of those underground reservoirs under pressure.
DeepRock Disposal Solutions has a bad track record and is applying for a permit to install another injection well that is expected to receive 3,000 barrels (126,000 gallons) of "Brine" waste each day. DeepRock previously received approval to bring "Brine" waste in by barge to a docking/offloading site just south of the highway 550/highway 7 interchange where "Brine" would be pumped under the highway to holding tanks. A rail line may also be installed to bring in "Brine" to that location.
Washington County gets nothing out of this deal; the state charges a token amount per barrel $0.05/barrel to $0.20/barrel and after 500,000 barrels there is no fee so there is an incentive to inject more.
Public notice about the comment period was not well announced. If you are concerned about the impacts of this well, submit a comment to Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Oil and Gas Resources Management, 2045 Morse Road, Building F-2, Columbus, OH 43229-6693 or email oilandgas@dnr.ohio.gov by Feb. 14, Reference DeepRock Disposal Solutions, American Growers #4 permit and make to the attention of ODNR Chief Eric Vendel. Demand a public hearing and an extension on the comment period.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Scott Lacey
Marietta, OH