Matt Starline spends his days tending to crops and livestock on his 50-acre organic farm in Rome Township — but two injection wells that could pollute his only water supply sit just beyond the borders of his property.
Injection wells, like the two surrounding Starline, are cement-sealed pits used to dispose of waste and fluid expended during hydraulic fracturing and other types of oil and gas drilling, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.
The wells accept brine, fracking waste and flowback — all of which carry extra chemicals used on a fracking site, according to the department.
Athens County is home to four injection wells, three of which are permitted by the ODNR and one with a permit pending.
Starline said that, if the creeks and streams that irrigate his farm are contaminated, his agricultural livelihood would be ruined.
“I try to live off the land as much as possible, and if the water is gone, then the land is too,” Starline said.
Each of the injection wells in Athens is owned by a different company and has been in operation since the early 1980s, accepting waste from Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia drilling sites.
Stonebridge Operating Co., K&H Partners, PetroQuest Energy, and Lee Oil and Gas each own one of the wells.
Though many of Athens’ fracking opponents fear the potential environmental consequences of the drilling technique, the four wells in Athens have a Class II rating — meaning the wells are well-equipped to accept fracking waste, said Heidi Hetzel-Evans, spokeswoman for ODNR’s Mineral Resources Management Division.
“According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, (Class II rating) … is the best way to ensure that underground sources of drinking water are not contaminated by the fluids produced from the drilling, stimulation and production of oil and gas,” Hetzel-Evans said.
The threat of contamination is making landowners such as Starline worried for not only the future of their land but also their future in Athens.
Starline and some of his neighbors have joined to form a landowners’ lease group, which would combine their land into one large lease. Modeled after other groups in Carroll County, the larger numbers would give them leverage in deciding what the landowners want in a lease.
“We want to weigh all of our options, whether that be selling the land and leaving or leasing or not leasing,” Starline said. “We have to understand every aspect.”
David Gedeon, another resident neighboring one of Athens’ injection wells, said that, despite precautions, landowners still worry about contamination.
Landowners have considered leasing to oil and gas companies who promise to correct any damage to their properties, but they remain skeptical.
“With the bad track record of the drilling industry, some have questioned why it seems to be the responsibility of the landowner to prove that fracking or injection wells are unsafe,” Gedeon said.
Though the injection wells have been in production for almost 30 years, Starline said he would not let the threat of contamination persuade him to leave his home.
“I don’t know the future or what it will hold, but everyone thinks things are going to be great, and it just might not be (great),” Starline said. “I’m going to make sure I grasp that fact that it can swing either way.”
kg287609@ohiou.edu
