For Immediate Release
Athens (OH) County Fracking Action Network, acfan.org
Sept. 12, 2012
contact: acfanohio AT gmail.com
Athens Countians Respond to Injection Well Permit Application
with Demand for Public Hearing
A
public notice for an Athens County injection well permit application
for the Atha well on Rte. 144 near Frost, OH, has been posted. Citizens
have until Sept. 28 to send in comments and concerns about the
application to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (oilandgas@dnr.state.oh.us, include reference: Permit # 3761 and application # aAMY0000706).
“We call on everyone who cares about southeast Ohio drinking water and
public safety to tell ODNR we must have a public hearing on this permit
application,” stated Former County Commissioner Roxanne Groff, an
organizer of the effort. “We have until Sept. 28 to tell ODNR we don’t
want this dangerous waste dumped on our land or 50,000 gallons a day of
toxic liquids being hauled on Ste. Rte 44 along the Hocking River, 24
hours a day, seven days a week,” she stated. Groff has been growing
increasingly alarmed about the permit as she studies the rules and
practices involved.
If it is permitted, the Atha Class II Injection Well will be licensed to receive “brine,”
“produced water,” and “fracking fluids” – all the liquid waste from oil
and gas wells. “This waste, especially from fracking operations, is
heavily laced with toxins, both intentionally from fracking chemicals
and unintentionally from the deep earth,” Groff stated. “Only last week,
the Columbus Dispatch
reported that this waste coming into Ohio from Pennsylvania is highly
radioactive.” According to the Dispatch, radium in one sample of
Marcellus liquid shale waste (“brine”) that Pennsylvania officials
collected in 2009 was 3,609 times more radioactive than a federal safety
limit for drinking water. It was 300 times higher than a Nuclear
Regulatory Commission limit for industrial discharges to water. (Columbus Dispatch, 9/3/12, linked at acfan.org)
“The
1200 barrels--over 50,000 gallons--a day will be hauled on twisty
narrow roads with school buses and young drivers going to nearby
schools. It is reckless and irresponsible to allow this dangerous
activity on our rural roads,” Groff stated. She explained
that tanker trucks carry 75-100 barrels and semis up to 150-200
barrels, meaning as many as 16 tankers or eight semis daily. The trucks
are permitted to dispose of waste 24 hours a day.
The
waste is intended to reach the porous rock formation at the end of the
pipe, about 3000 to 4000 feet down. “I’ve read the Atha permit
application. This well does not even have an annulus,” stated Teresa Mills, Buckeye Forest Council fracking coordinator,
who has been studying Ohio injection wells for decades. She explained,
“The annulus is the envelope of sealed fluid between the pipe and the
cement casing. It’s what allows inspectors to see whether the well pipe
and casings have been breached. If they check the pressure of the
annulus and it’s low—or even non-existent as the Ginsburg well in Lee
Township has often been—that means there’s a leak.” She concluded, “The
fluid could be going anywhere.” The Atha well is a converted production
well. All new injection wells must have an annulus, Mills explained.
Mills
has recently been poring over records of all 177 Ohio injection wells
as well as permit applications and found extensive serious violations
that have not been corrected. She spoke in Athens on Friday
at Madeline ffitch’s press conference about the Ginsburg well. “For 26
years, this well has been in violation,” she stated, adding, “For ten
years, the Ginsburg well went uninspected.” An examination of ODNR
records shows repeated references to “no pressure detected in annulus.”
The well has continued to accept waste except briefly when the county
cut a trench across the driveway to prevent access in 2003.
Groff
commented on the relevance of this information: “How can we expect ODNR
to have effective oversight of additional wells when they’re not even
following their own regulations for the wells already permitted?”
“This new permit application is the just the tip of the iceberg,” added local business owner Christine Hughes.
“As more wells are drilled in Ohio, more waste will be headed here.
West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and New York don’t allow their fracking
waste to be disposed of in their states,” she stated. She concluded, “We
know we can expect much more of this toxic waste in Ohio, with the
intensity of shale drilling heating up and our own governor welcoming
other states to use us as a toilet. I think citizens should demand Ohio
shut the lid and hold the oil and gas industry to common sense
standards of safety and stewardship.” 53% of the 12.2 million barrels of “brine” injected into Ohio disposal wells last year came from out of state.
A landowner who lives near the Atha site and wished to remain anonymous, added, "It's
20 truckloads of waste every day for just one injection well, bringing
in huge amounts of unknown industrial waste from other states. As a
neighboring landowner, I am very alarmed that it is not tested. If this
stuff is safe, why won't they prove it through proper testing and
reporting of every load, so the public can know what's going down there,
and decide whether they want to live next to this stuff?” He concluded,
“If someone's profiting from dumping this waste in Ohio, they can
afford to test it and we deserve to know the results."
Nate Ebert, spokesperson for Appalachia Resist
and an attendee at last Wednesday’s meeting, stated, “It’s urgent and
imperative that citizens speak up now to have a voice in ODNR’s
evaluation of this dangerous industrial activity planned for our county. People must demand that ODNR attend a public hearing in Athens
before evaluating this terrible proposal.” Ebert added that letter
writers should note that a handout at last week’s public meeting had
incorrect e-mail information for ODNR. [to the editor: please include this important correction! thank you]
Citizens should write to ODNR Division of Oil and Gas (oilandgas@dnr.state.oh.us rather than incorrect e-mail info disseminated previously) by Sept. 28. Letters should include a reference to the DT Atha Well Permit # 3761 and application # aAMY0000706.
Supporting materials, including the Atha application, ODNR Ginsburg
records, letter writing information and other pertinent documents, are
available at Athens County Fracking Action Network’s injection well page
at acfan.org.
