43
Gas wells’ location in Hubbard raises concerns
By LINDA M. LINONIS
hubbard
Fred Hanley, Hubbard Township trustee, worries the township is facing “a catastrophe waiting to happen.”
There are 93 gas wells that have been drilled in the township, but Hanley and John Pieton, township zoning administrator, are particularly concerned about two on Drummond Avenue. The storage tanks are located on a flood plain.
Local governments have no input when it comes to oil and gas drilling within their borders. A state law passed in 2004 put all regulation of drilling with Ohio Department of Natural Resources.
Pieton said he gets information from ODNR about the location of wells and related access roads.
Hanley said he has multiple issues with how drilling is handled. The drilling company obtains a lease agreement with the property owner, then the company files that information with the ODNR. Information also goes to Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and Trumbull County Soil and Water Conservation District. “[Trustees] get everything after the fact,” he said.
One problem with the gas well-head and storage tank at 2033 Drummond Ave. is that paperwork said it was at 6486 Chestnut Ridge Road and that Chestnut Ridge also was the access road. “The plan submitted wasn’t followed,” Pieton said, noting Drummond and Chestnut Ridge are about 1,000 feet apart, and the storage tank isn’t accessible from Chestnut Ridge.
The problem with the paperwork location and the real site is twofold: The storage tanks are on a flood plain, and incorrect addresses could be dangerous if there should be an accident or explosion. Fire and other emergency responders would be sent to the wrong place.
Storage tanks at 2101 and 2033 Drummond were overwhelmed by flooding Feb. 28. A photo taken by Pieton shows the tank at 2101 Drummond surrounded by high water; the tank at 2033 Drummond toppled. The saving grace at 2033 Drummond was that the well was not yet in operation and the storage tank was empty.
Hanley said if flooding occurs after the storage tanks are filled with gas, salt, brine, water, oil, sludge, minerals and byproducts, that all could go into the floodwaters, which run into Little Yankee Creek then into the Shenango River in Pennsylvania. “It will affect what’s downstream,” Pieton said. He asked, “Who is liable if the environment is damaged?”
Hanley said drilling companies are required to place 18-inch earthen dikes around the tanks. After the flooding, the company placed 2-by-2-by-6-foot concrete blocks around the tanks. PAC Drilling of Bolivar, Ohio, did the Drummond Avenue sites.
Hanley sent a letter, dated Feb. 25, 2011, to the district director of Ohio Environmental Protection Agency expressing alarm about the placement of the well and storage tank at 2033 Drummond. The letter in part reads “Hubbard Township has a concern that the state is allowing these oil and gas wells ... to be located so close to this waterway in total disregard of potential contamination and other dangers downstream from these sites. The area in which the wells and tanks are located regularly floods at the slightest rain and in our opinion, poses a potential danger.” The letter continues with, “Please review the placement of these wells and equipment so near Little Yankee Creek and clearly within ...[a] flood plain.”