High court refuses to reconsider case

COLUMBUS

The Ohio Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to reconsider its decision last month not to review a lower-court decision that keeps the American Water Management Services injection well on state Route 169 just north of Niles closed.

A 2014 Ohio Department of Natural Resources order to close the injection well owned by Avalon Holdings Corp. of Howland followed small earthquakes at or near the injection-well site, the largest being a 2.1-magitude event Aug. 31, 2014.

AWMS wanted the state’s top court to review a July 31 decision by the Columbus-based 10th District Court of Appeals that agreed with the conclusions of the Columbus-based Ohio Oil and Gas Commission, which suspended the well’s operations pending further study by ODNR of how to handle injection-well-induced earthquakes.