Resident objects to injection of fracking waste


By Kalea Hall

khall@vindy.com

VIENNA

Michele Garman does not want a company to receive the authorization to inject fracking waste into a well near her Vienna Township home.

Garman, of 1111 Youngs-town-Kingsville Road, wants the Western Reserve Port Authority’s Aviation Committee to send an objection to the well to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources because of its proximity to the local airport.

The WRPA, which oversees the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport, has not commented on the well issue.

The well, owned by KTCA Holdings of Oklahoma, is drilled, but ODNR has yet to authorize the company to inject brine and other waste there. KTCA recently requested the state department to provide the authorization to inject.

At 1143 Youngstown-Kingsville Road, the well is two minutes south of the airport.

“I believe it would have negative effects for the airport mainly because of the association of earthquakes and traffic issues,” Garman told the committee members at their Tuesday meeting at the airport.

WRPA committee meetings typically do not call for a public comment period, but members let Garman speak for a few minutes before the meeting began.

The Vienna Township trustees have sent a letter to ODNR on the basis of safety.

Last year, the township had more than 2,000 gallons of light-waste oil spill out of holding tanks at injection facilities on Sodom Hutchings Road. Kleese Development Associates operated the injection facilities on Sodom Hutchings and did operate the well by the airport, which was sold to KTCA in early 2016.

When the spill happened, injection wells became a major concern for Garman.

Also at the meeting, Dan Dickten, director of aviation at the airport, provided members with the service figures for July. The airport had a total 85 flights with 14,588 passengers.

The new Great Lakes JetExpress Youngstown/Chicago daily service had 1,300 total passengers with 42 flights.

For the year so far, the airport has had 71,952 passengers, which is down by 13,904 from last July.