43
Trumbull commissioners call on governor to freeze issuance of permits for additional injection wells
By ED RUNYAN
WARREN
Trumbull County commissioners have approved a resolution calling on Gov. John Kasich and the Ohio Legislature to freeze the issuance of injection-well permits for an unspecified period of time, or until a list of suggested changes to state law are enacted to better protect property owners.
Injection wells dispose of brine, one of the waste products of the gas and oil industry.
The proposed changes to state law were written by the Trumbull County Township Association, which last week approved sending the list to the Ohio Township Association.
The Ashtabula County Township Association also passed a resolution recommending the list of 11 changes, said Dominic Marchese, a Johnston Township trustee and one of the chief proponents of increased regulation of injection wells.
Trumbull County has the most injection wells in the state, and 75 percent of the waste being transported to the wells comes from outside of Ohio, the resolution says.
Such injection wells “are poorly regulated and not monitored for contamination migration, it says.
House Bill 278 stripped control from local governments to regulate injection wells in 2004, the resolution says, adding that the result has been a proliferation of injection wells in rural townships, villages and cities in Ohio’s Appalachian counties and other mostly rural counties, it says.
The result has been “unfunded burdens on our local government infrastructure, citizen concerns regarding their health and safety, and the anticipated long-term devaluation of real property values.”
Among the suggested changes to state law are ones that would limit the hours of operation of the wells and require them to be set back from homes or businesses a similar distance as gas and oil wells.
The commissioners also honored the members of the 2015 Champion High School Golden Flashes softball team for its state championship this spring – its sixth championship in school history.