Vienna residents, commissioners irked over lack of report on injection well spill

VIENNA

The communications director for the Ohio Department of Health says the results of radium testing the department did early last month near Sodom-Hutchings Road are not yet complete.

The testing was done in areas that were contaminated by oil that leaked in late March into the streams and wetlands on the east side of Sodom-Hutchings Road from the Kleese Development Associates brine-injection facility on Sodom- Hutchings.

Russ Kennedy said the Ohio Department of Natural Resources asked the Ohio Department of Health to conduct radium testing “of an area of the spill that has been cleaned up. Oil-based materials such as those in the spill contain naturally occurring radium, so radium testing provides an indication of whether additional cleanup is needed.”

Trumbull County Commissioner Frank Fuda said last week that residents living near the site have expressed frustration to him that they have waited so long for results of the testing.

“Initially, [state officials] said it takes 30 days to test,” Fuda said. The testing was done April 8, and residents still are waiting, he said.

One change the township association wants is notification of property owners and local government agencies when a company applies for a permit for an injection well.

A public meeting for people from seven counties with most of the state’s brine-injection wells will take place at 1 p.m. Wednesday in the Trumbull commissioners meeting room.

Read the complete story in Sunday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.