Columbiana Co. receives 47th drilling permit

Staff report

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Chesapeake Energy has received another horizontal-drilling permit for Columbiana County, solidifying the county’s status behind Carroll County as the second-most permitted in Ohio.

The permit was issued July 17 for Center Township, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. The site is off Lisbon Dungannon Road between Freeman and Trinity Church roads. It is about 3.5 miles southwest of Lisbon.

ODNR reports that seven wells in the county are ready to be fracked. Hydraulic fracturing or fracking is a process in which sand, water and chemicals are pumped into shale at high pressure to release the gas trapped within the rock thousands of feet underground.

Two wells in the county have been reported by ODNR to be in the production phase.

ODNR has approved 47 drilling permits in Columbiana County, with 45 of them granted to Chesapeake Exploration. In Carroll County, 102 drilling permits have been issued, according to ODNR.

Throughout the Mahoning Valley, 12 permits have been issued in Mahoning County and two in Trumbull County.