In his recent Viewpoint, “Local Columnist” Daniel McKenzie failed to share his credentials, and he did not say how long, if ever, he has lived in our community. The Times states that Mr. McKenzie is a “research director” for the Accountability Project Institute “API.” I’d like to know what exactly are the qualifications to serve as a research director for API — is it being a children’s book illustrator from New Zealand? Because, that is who Mr. McKenzie is. Right now, on Amazon, you can buy his latest children’s book “God Bless America 250 Years Strong,” completed in conjunction with Ohio attorney Mark R. Weaver of Isaac Wiles, LLC in Columbus.

API is a 501C4 — this means that its donors are a secret. Given that the column attacks me and others who care about the safety of water in Washington County as “predators hunting in packs” and “noisy activists,” I would really like to know who is hiding behind API and paying for Mr. McKenzie to write such an inaccurate and disrespectful column.

I am with a local group, Living Democracy: Engaging Citizens. We have a mission to inform and educate people in the Mid-Ohio Valley about how government works on the local, state, and federal levels. We help citizens learn to become involved so that our democracy may work better. Last year, we joined with Washington County for Safe Drinking Water, a local group standing up for clean water, safer communities, and a healthier future.

Our members consist of local Washington County residents who have lived here 20 to 80. We share a belief that Washington County cannot survive and thrive without safe water. We decided to take our concerns to our state and local government by attending County Commission and Marietta City Council meetings, communicating with the thirteen Water Districts in Washington County, and raising community awareness through public meetings, articles and press conferences.

“We the People” of Washington County have great concerns about how our geology is being stretched, drilled, fractured, and pressurized. There are over 9,000 oil wells in Washington County. This number does not include an unknown number of orphan wells. Washington County has 17 Class II injection wells, the second highest number in the state. Permits have been issued for the drilling of two more Class II wells, and there is a pending Class I well permit application. Fracking waste is being imported from Pennsylvania and West Virginia by rail and truck. This waste has been documented to have migrated over five miles from an injection well to the surface, including into Veto Lake where our children swim. There is a pending lawsuit in the Ohio Supreme Court involving who is liable for nearly thirty formerly producing Washington County berea wells ruined by foreign brine. Washington County has seen an increase in seismic activity (a sign of too much fracking), reports of at least 76 earthquakes recorded in 2025 in Washington County compared to 31 in all of Southeastern Ohio in 2024.

We the People are asking the Ohio Department of Natural Resources for a three-year moratorium on injection well permits in Washington County to allow time for a study on the effects of brine waste with its heavy metals, radioactive materials, benzene, and more, being injected under intense pressure near to our aquifers. Class II wells are permitted to accept up to 5,000 barrels a day. Multiply that by 17. Countywide, current permits exist for the injection of up to 85,000 barrels of waste a day.

People in Washington County want to be heard, and they want to be safe from an industry that allows the likes of Mr. McKenzie to speak on their behalf. As a final note, I for one, am grateful for the assistance provided to citizens of Washington County by both Earthjustice and the Buckeye Environmental Network. They are helping us in our endeavor to be treated as other than disposable by an industry that is apparently quite threatened by the little people standing up for themselves.

Betsy Cook, member Living Democracy: Engaging Citizens, retired Marietta City teacher, 50 year resident of Washington County.