In response to the letter to the editor written by Dan McKenzie, research director for Accountability Project Institute, published Feb. 21: Washington County for Safe Drinking Water was founded here in Marietta by and for residents of the Mid-Ohio Valley in response to threats posed by injection wells, existing and proposed, within two miles of our aquifers along the Muskingum and Ohio rivers. These wells channel toxic, radioactive wastewater from fracking operations deep into the rock structure below the level of our aquifers, and under high pressure. Underground, that toxic concoction is not contained, but pushed into whatever porous or pervious space it can find.

We have legitimate reasons to expect that this wastewater under such high pressure could find a pathway upwards via old, unplugged production wells or natural fissures in the rock structure and contaminate the sources of our drinking water. This is not fear-mongering, but a rational critique of the threats posed by Deeprock Disposal LLC and other liquid waste-disposal companies who use Washington County as a dumping ground.

Washington County for Safe Drinking Water is a nonpartisan local organization that seeks to reduce the risk to our aquifers and protect our drinking water. Those goals are not radical, and our organization is 100% volunteer-powered. We do not discuss the mining, oil, or gas industry, and it is likely that members of our group have vastly differing opinions on such extractive enterprises. We are, however, united in agreeing that toxic, radioactive wastewater-fracking brine-should not be disposed of anywhere near our water sources.

Contrary to what API claims in their misinformation campaign that there have been “no issues” with injection wells, ODNR has documented brine migration in southeastern Ohio. The Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Oil and Gas Management determined that fracking brine has migrated more than five miles from where it was injected (https://tinyurl.com/Brine-migration). How could that same organization permit new injection wells to be installed within two miles of our water sources?

DeepRock owns four injection wells in Washington County near our aquifers, and aims to install three more. Fracking wastewater in one of DeepRock’s injection wells in Noble County, Ohio, blasted its way to the surface through an old oil well miles away – which Ohio taxpayers paid $1.3 million to clean up (https://tinyurl.com/Noble-Co-leak). What if such a thing happened near our aquifers or our beloved rivers?

Washington County for Safe Drinking Water is not a radical environmental group, but we welcome the expertise of Buckeye Environmental Network and EarthJustice as we work on these issues. We do not scream at public meetings. We are a bunch of locals who are passionate about protecting our drinking water. That is not radical. We are not “anarchists” or “goons” and we are not paid lobbyists, as are the staff of the API.

The Accountability Project Institute, despite its academic-sounding name, is not a research organization at all. Originally operating as Accountability Project Ohio, this 501(c)(4) dark money group recently rebranded as an “institute” presumably to weigh in on environmental issues. The organization lists no researchers, provides no research methodology, has published zero peer-reviewed studies, and maintains no academic affiliations. Neither the organization’s spokesman, Matt Dole, nor its “research director,” Daniel McKenzie, (whose background is in illustration and communications) have published any scientific research on injection wells. They’re not real academics or experts. This political advocacy group’s sudden pivot to defending injection wells, while claiming to be “research-driven” — without any evidence of actual research capacity — should raise serious questions about the credibility of their environmental claims.

Washington County needs a moratorium on injection wells. Only Gov. Mike DeWine can grant that. We hope all residents of the Mid-Ohio Valley agree that this is a conservative approach to protecting our drinking water.

Dawn Hewitt

Marietta