Let me start this letter with a review of an Oil and Gas Association person who gave a talk at the commissioner’s meeting a few weeks ago. He made the statement that injection wells are just returning prehistoric brine back into the ground where it came from. To his credit he was about 90% correct. What he did not say was that the brine is about 90% of what is pumped back into the ground. However, the remaining 8% plus or minus, is the fracking chemicals that are hazardous, radioactive, and toxic waste. Some of the chemicals combine with the brine salts and cause chemical changes to the bine that create other hazardous chemicals. Now 8% may not seem like much, except that we have had over a billion gallons already pumped under our feet in Washington County. That 8% of one billion equates to eighty million gallons. Just putting it into perspective.

Now on to my main subject. The Viewpoint in the Dec.19/20 weekend edition of The Marietta Times describes our citizens as radicals clawing for a foothold they cannot find and wanting to stop all injection wells.

The writer claimed to be the research director of Accountability Project Ohio. That organization is based in Granville, Ohio and is funded by Accountability Project Institute a 501 c3 non-profit. The accountability Project Ohio has about 4 officers (the writer is not one of them) and no employees. The APO hires contract writers etc. Their articles align totally with the oil industry’s interests. API being a 501 c3 does not have to disclose who their donors are. I can only guess who their doners might be.

Now to their claims of safety:

APO claims injection wells are safe, “scientifically engineered” and that concerns are just misinformation. The Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) documented multiple uncontrolled brine releases over 13 years. APO Migration risks: casings, and geology prevent migration. ODNR found brine migrated 1.5 to 5.4 miles from injection sites. APO: Regulatory oversight ensures safety. ODNR has issued suspension orders to permitted wells due to environmental harm. APO environmental impact: injection wells protect ground water. ODNR documented stream contamination and land impacts APO operational performance: injection wells operate safely under regulation. ODNR found repeated failures, casing breaches, and uncontrolled flows.

With Deep Rock’s documented (bad) record why would the ODNR, who is responsible for protecting the public, land and water approve any more permits let alone approve them under the old regulations? Under those regulations, there are just a few old wells in the injection zone. In the new regulations, there would be well over a 100 known old wells. These old wells serve as conduits for the toxic brine to find its way up into the very permeable gravel and sand soil along the river bottom, where the new wells are proposed.

Now for our state senator the “X” CEO of Deep Rock, who is the chair of the Ohio Senate Energy Committee (the fox guarding the hen house). He was a vocal advocate of Senate Bill 219. I suggest the readers do their own research to see what that bill does. It is not to protect his constituents’ land and water but does make permitting new wells an almost sure thing.

But I am just a mis-informed radical local troublemaker.

James Reed

Lowell