Guest opinion: Investigation, prevention necessary to avoid injection well catastrophe

Re: Acton's Injection Well Proposal Draws Industry Opposition; Marietta Times, Sept. 19, 2026:

The opposition expressed in this article is just the kind of statement that angers and frustrates a lot of people in Washington County -- namely, people living outside the county with a profit motive, imposing their will on the county residents. Many people in Washington County are sick and tired of our county being the dumping ground for the high-pressure hydraulic fracturing, i.e., fracking, industry. Our county has the highest volume of waste water injection in the state with 40% of this waste coming from neighboring West Virginia.

The President of the Ohio Oil and Gas Association is quoted as saying, "Science, facts, and sound regulation … are what will ensure safe operations …"

There is an arrogant and condescending implication that people concerned about safe water are engaged in soft-headed, uninformed, and unscientific politics when it comes to injection wells. The reality is that this is a community of educated individuals, many of whom have spent their careers in the oil and gas field, who are raising legitimate concerns based on known failures. 

Dr. David Jeffery, a petroleum geologist at Marietta College, has documented his concerns based on a lifelong career in the industry and deep knowledge of our local geology. The fact that the brine is migrating out of zone indicates that there isn't an appropriate reservoir, cap, and seal to hold the brine in place. The brine is searching for areas of low pressure and showing up in conventional wells. Our drinking water aquifers are another source of low pressure and this should concern all of us. Dr. Jefferey has recommended a shutdown of injection wells here in the county until a subsurface analysis is completed to better understand the geology of Washington County and determine if injection wells are sustainable here at all. Scientists such as Dr. Jon Stolz of Duquesne University in Pittsburgh have identified the chemical composition of brine from fracking and documented that it is toxic, containing chemicals like lead and PFAS, and it can also have high levels of radioactivity. Dr Stolz has also documented the fact that it does migrate from its intended location. Even the Ohio Department of Natural Resources through its Division of Oil and Gas Resources Management has acknowledged that injection well brine has migrated.

The fact of migrating waste water has been recognized by ODNR and has been a fact of life for Bob Lane and Bob Wilson whose traditional, vertical (not fracking) production wells have been damaged or destroyed by migrating waste water. This fact has reached a crisis point for some 45 people in the Belpre area who have relied on Bob Wilson's wells for natural gas. Wilson's wells have been so damaged by migrating waste water that they can no longer provide natural gas. These unfortunate residents have been told that they need to find another source of natural gas by Oct. 29 before the onset of the winter season. "The Bobs," as they are known throughout the state and even throughout the country (thanks to visibility of our efforts in publications like the New York Times, Ohio Capital Journal and the Columbus Dispatch and airing on the program, On Point, by National Public Radio) have sued 12 entities associated directly with injection wells.

The "sound regulation" referenced by the president of OO&GA is not something we have seen thus far from ODNR. In 2022 ODNR adopted a stricter set of regulations for permitting injection wells; yet they have not applied these new regulations to permit requests that clearly were submitted after that date. ODNR has not yet provided an investigative report on the 2021 blowout of raw petroleum in Veto Lake, which could have been caused by high-pressured and large volumes of waste water injected nearby. ODNR did call for a "voluntary" shut down of four injection well sites in the county in July 2026 (announcing this news to a reporter and not to residents like us). Representatives of our group did meet with a team from ODNR shortly after that announcement, but we left that meeting with many of our questions unanswered, such as: Is their greater injection activity at other well sites to compensate for that lost due to this voluntary shutdown. ODNR has shown no indication of their ability or interest in tracking waste water from cradle to grave. If they really want to, there are ways that the governor or ODNR can restrict the importation of waste water from West Virginia that we cited above.

Rep. Kevin Riter was quoted in this article as stating that we already have a four-year pause. Mr. Ritter has obviously not seen the parade of "brine" trucks plying their waste-water trade from West Virginia and from fracking sites to injection well sites. One can observe these trucks in profusion when they are stopped at the intersection of Third and Putnam streets in Marietta. There appears to be no letup in injection well activity, but ODNR is not willing to monitor that practice.

Dr. Acton's scientific background is in preventive medicine. As a physician in this practice, she is keenly aware of the importance of taking preventive action to avoid a health crisis in the future. That is why in her press conference of Sept. 17 she endorsed a three-year moratorium on injection wells in the county (during his town hall meeting on Sept. 11 her opponent never mentioned the issue of injection wells). This approach can apply as an analogy to injection wells. Prevention in the form of a cautious and deliberate geological investigation while injection wells are shut down can serve to avoid a future catastrophe. 

If a county road shows serious slippage or if a bridge is damaged, our responsible and efficient county engineer will arrange for proper repair work. But if a water aquifer is contaminated by toxic, radioactive, migrating waste water from an injection well, there is no repair that can be made -- it is a catastrophe beyond repair. 

Jessica Archer and George Banziger are environmental advocates in Washington County.