ODNR appeals decision that ordered Weathersfield injection well back open

Staff report

COLUMBUS

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources is appealing a judge’s order that the ODNR work out details with a Weathersfield injection well owner to allow the injection well to reopen.

The appeal of the Dec. 23 decision by Franklin County Common Pleas Court Judge Kimberly Cocroft now goes to the Columbus-based 10th District Court of Appeals.

The well is located on state Route 169 just north of Niles and is owned by American Water Management Services, a subsidiary of Howland-based Avalon Holdings LLC.

Ron Klingle, president of Avalon Holdings, said Thursday the appeal was “not a surprise.”

Injection wells force wastewater from oil and gas drilling deep underground as a means of disposal.

The ODNR shut down the well Sept. 4, 2014, after a series of small earthquakes occurred near the well. The largest-magnitude quake registered 2.1 on the Richter scale. Earthquakes smaller than about 2.5 are typically not felt by people.

The Columbus-based Oil and Gas Commission affirmed the ODNR’s decision Oct. 2, 2014.

Judge Cocroft ruled in favor of American Water Management Services Dec. 23 in an appeal of the Oil and Gas Commission’s decision, ordering the ODNR and AWMS to file a proposed entry with her by late January setting forth the parameters under which the well would reopen.

The next question is whether Judge Cocroft will grant an emergency stay of her December order. The ODNR also filed the stay request Thursday. The stay would keep the injection well closed while the appeal is heard.

The stay request, filed by Atty. Brett Kravitz of the Ohio Attorney General’s Office, “seeks to maintain the status quo” regarding the closed injection well, it says.

“Without a stay, AWMS could resume ... well operations under a plan not approved by the [ODNR] that fails to minimize risks and induces [earthquakes] to levels that are not protective of public health and safety,” it says.