Mayor Sammarone requests more details on brine, potential concerns
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YOUNGSTOWN
Sammarone letter
Re: Preliminary Report on the Northstar 1 Class II Injection Well and the Seismic Events in the Youngstown, Ohio, Area. Written by Mayor of the City of Youngstown, Charles P. Sammarone.
Mayor Charles Sammarone expressed concern in a letter to a state official about the materials in brine, a fracking byproduct that was injected into a well in the city, and potential safety concerns.
“We are requesting additional, detailed information regarding the hazardous materials in the brine and what effects they may have on the environment,” Sammarone wrote in a letter sent to Lawrence H. Wickstrom, division chief of the Ohio Depart-ment of Natural Resources.
Sammarone said he sent the letter because he’s heard concerns from several city residents about the materials in the brine that was shipped from Pennsylvania to D&L Energy Inc.’s shutdown brine-injection well on the city’s West Side.
“I’m not against drilling,” Sammarone said. “I’m against problems drilling causes. I’m for drilling, but I want to make sure it’s safe. Hopefully, with what the state has done, they’ll come up with answers that will satisfy people.”
The mayor added: “If brine isn’t a problem, why is Pennsylvania shipping it over here?”
An ODNR preliminary report last week said the well was the cause of 13 earthquakes since March 17, 2011, a year ago Saturday.
The well is one of 177 deep-injection wells in Ohio. Injection wells are a disposal method for brine, a salty, chemical byproduct of fracking.
Fracking is a process in which water, chemicals and sand are blasted into rocks thousands of feet underground to extract natural gas and oil.
D&L has said it followed all protocol and procedures for brine-injection wells, and ODNR made conclusions based “on the limited scientific data available from outside sources.”
ODNR has said D&L complied with regulatory standards but likely hit an unmapped fault causing the earthquakes.
On Dec. 30, D&L agreed to shut down its brine-injection well on Ohio Works Drive, near the epicenter of the earthquakes, after discussions with ODNR officials.
A day later, an earthquake occurred, the largest of the 13 in the past year with a magnitude of 4.0, leading the state to order D&L to keep that well and other inactive wells nearby shut down indefinitely.
In his letter to Wickstrom, Sammarone wrote that after ODNR’s preliminary report, citizens remain concerned about the content of the brine.
“I definitely want to make sure whatever problems are there are answered,” Sammarone said. “Whatever concerns people have, it’s our responsibility to investigate and find solutions. We want people to feel safe in their homes with water and earthquakes.”
The ODNR report also outlines new state standards for brine disposal requiring electronic monitoring of wastewater, something that isn’t widely available.