Trumbull, Ashtabula state reps explain injection-well legislation
By Ed Runyan
CHAMPION
Three Trumbull and Ashtabula county state representatives have introduced legislation they hope will protect the public by reducing the likelihood that injection-well-related problems that have occurred in Trumbull, Mahoning and Ashtabula counties will happen again.
Sponsors Sean O’Brien of Bazetta, D-63rd, and John Patterson of Jefferson, D-99th, along with co-sponsor Michael O’Brien of Warren, D-64th, had a news conference Tuesday at Trumbull Career and Techncal Center to explain the bill.
Among the proposed changes is prohibiting the use of underground storage “vaults,” which Sean O’Brien said were partly to blame for the March spill at the Kleese Development Associates injection facility on Sodom Hutchings Road in Vienna Township.
The Ohio EPA described the spill as 2,000 gallons or more of “light waste oil” that leaked from storage tanks. The fluids fouled wetlands, ponds and streams on the east side of Sodom Hutchings.
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources shut down the facility shortly after the spill, and it has not been allowed to reopen. A state criminal investigation into the spill also is underway.
The legislation also would require all wastewater being trucked from gas- and oil-drilling facilities to be infused with dye when it enters tanker trucks so that any spills from trucks or storage tanks at injection sites can be detected and stopped more quickly than in the KDA spill.
“The KDA spill occurred over several days, but nobody knew it,” Sean O’Brien said.
The legislation, introduced Jan. 7, also would require that GPS monitoring equipment be installed on all tankers hauling gas and oil wastewater to provide “real-time” information on the location of trucks at all times.
The goal of the equipment is to ensure that all wastewater makes it to the injection facilities and isn’t dumped by unscrupulous haulers into streams or ditches, Sean O’Brien said.
All three legislators said they believe the oil and gas industry will welcome some of the changes. “They realize when you have a few bad actors, it hurts the whole industry,” Sean O’Brien said.
Michael O’Brien outlined a provision in the bill that would require township trustees and county commissioners to receive notification that an injection well is being proposed for their township or county.
The legislation calls for creation of the groundwater monitoring fund, which would pay for groundwater monitoring near injection wells.
Patterson said water quality is “critically important” in Ashtabula County because of Lake Erie on its border, three creeks and “many of our individuals in northern Trumbull County and in Ashtabula County rely on wells for drinking water.”
The legislation also seeks to standardize seismic testing for all injection wells in the state so the ODNR can detect injection-induced earthquakes and address them immediately, Sean O’Brien said. It also would require injection wells to be at least 2,000 feet from dwellings.