Brine injection wells mean money for Ohio

Brine injection wells mean money for Ohio

COLUMBUS

Ohio has made $1 million off brine injection wells during the first nine months of 2011, according to figures from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.

Brine is a byproduct of gas and oil drilling including hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, in which water, chemicals and sand are blasted into rocks thousands of feet below the ground to unlock natural oil and gas.

The fee, which the state implemented last year with the passage of Senate Bill 165 in 2010, levies a 5-cent-per-barrel tax on all injected brine that originates from Ohio.

It also imposes a 20-cent-per-barrel tax on injected brine from out-of-state.

The latter fee was implemented under the theory that it would deter oil and gas drilling operations in Pennsylvania and West Virginia from transporting brine water to the Buckeye State.

But so far, that hasn’t happened.

Read the complete story in Wednesday’s Vindicator and at Vindy.com.