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Panel upholds suspension of operations at Trumbull County injection well
By Marc Kovac
COLUMBUS
A state panel has upheld the Ohio Department of Natural Resources’ decision to suspend operations at a Trumbull County injection well after seismic activity near the site last year.
The Ohio Oil and Gas Commission decision, released Wednesday afternoon, noted the earlier suspension orders for American Water Management Services’ Weathersfield Township facility were not “unlawful and/or unreasonable.”
“It is clear that the division has regulatory authority over injection operations,” according to the decision. “It is also clear that the division is taking a proactive approach to developing a meaningful regulatory program relative to injection-induced seismicity.”
ODNR voiced its support for the decision.
“We are committed to the safety of the public and the environment and will review all evidence thoroughly before a decision is made,” spokesman Eric Heis said in a statement. “ODNR continues to take a proactive approach in researching and identifying occurrences of induced seismicity and has been very proactive in installing seismometers throughout eastern Ohio to better analyze seismic data as it relates to oil and gas activity. If the data shows a probable correlation to an event, ODNR takes the appropriate steps necessary to ensure public health and safety.”
The company has 30 days to appeal the decision through Franklin County Common Pleas Court.
AWMS invested $5 million-plus and spent more than two years seeking the appropriate permits, drilling and preparing two injection wells in Weathersfield. Those wells began operating last year, one injecting into a shallower formation, one in a deeper one.
A few months later, seismic activity occurred in the vicinity, with a magnitude-1.7 event in late July and 2.1 about 30 days later. In September, the state ordered the company to cease injections at the wells, pending further investigation.
According to documents, evidence “did not reveal any citizen complaints or property damage associated with these events. Nonetheless, the division was concerned with the escalating trend relative to these events and believed that continued injections ... could result in additional and more intense seismic events.”
A subsequent study by Miami University seismologists noted that the quake’s epicenter was “almost directly beneath” the deeper injection well, with seismic activity dwindling after operations there ceased.
The state later allowed the company to resume operations at the shallower well, which AWMS officials said accounted for a small fraction of the company’s total revenues.
The company appealed the suspension, seeking to restart oilfield waste injections at the deeper well, though at a lower rate and with increased seismic monitoring.
The Oil and Gas Commission has been considering the matter for months, after a March hearing that stretched more than eight hours.