Brookfield residents against 2 injection wells

By Ed Runyan

runyan@vindy.com

BROOKFIELD

About 40 people turned out for the Brookfield Township trustees meeting, most of them residents of the Wyngate Manor manufactured home community off state Route 7 looking to know if anything can be done to stop two injection wells proposed for land next to them.

The trustees read a letter they wrote to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources opposing the two Highland Field Services wells, primarily on the grounds that they might contaminate the drinking water for many township residents and because of the additional truck traffic that will be using state Route 7 if the wells are authorized.

The letter pointed to a 1941 ODNR study indicating there are 33 known abandoned coal mines in Trumbull and Mahoning counties that could contribute to contamination of groundwater as a result of injection wells being used in Brookfield.

“This is already a fairly heavy truck and automobile commuter traffic area with the speed limit set at 45 miles per hour,” the letter added of state Route 7 about a mile north of Warren-Sharon Road.

One woman in the audience Monday night wanted to know why the letter didn’t mention the potential for injection wells to cause earthquakes, and Trustee Dion Magestro agreed that earthquakes should be mentioned in the letter, so it will be revised, he said.

Trustee Ron Haun told residents, however, the chances of the letter stopping the injection well from operating are “nil to zilch,” adding, “This is all regulated by the ODNR.”

Magestro said trustees learned that lesson several years ago when they attracted a large group of people who opposed an injection well at the former Air Force radar site of McMullen Street not far from the Brookfield schools complex.

That well was drilled but has never been used for commercial injection, Magestro said, adding he doesn’t believe the public protests were the reason the well didn’t begin operation.

Magestro said he believes American Energy Associates will eventually start using it, but the company backed off because gas and oil drilling dropped off shortly after the well was drilled.

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

Sherry Smith, who lives in Wyngate Manor, asked about circulating a petition, which the trustees encouraged.

William Sawtelle of Merwyn Chase Road, which is close to the proposed well site, said he’s been disappointed federal and state officials he’s called have not returned his calls.

“Voters will remember those who don’t help us,” he said.

Lorraine Lewis, who also lives in Wyngate Manor, said one of her biggest concerns is a drop in the value of homes.

“Even if you tell [potential buyers] it’s not a danger, do you think they are going to believe you?” she said of the injection wells.