A group of concerned citizens, longtime activists, and Ohio University faculty members gathered at the Athens Community Center Wednesday to discuss a potential hydraulic fracturing injection well in Ross Township.
The forum focused on community organization and working with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and featured discussion about the potential effects of such a well in Ross Township, which lies on the eastern side of Athens County.
The wells — which are designed to contain brine, a byproduct of oil and natural gas production — are possible sources of radioactive elements and multiple known carcinogens and they present a risk of contamination for the local water supply, local fracking protestors argue.
Though there are currently no actual fracking wells in Athens County, it is already home to several such injection wells and companies are seeking to build two new wells.
The crowd was largely opposed to the proposition of a well in Ross Township.
“This is the tip of the iceberg, we expect many more well applications in the next year,” said Sandra Steighl-Brennan, who moderated the forum. “It’s not an issue a single group can tackle, it is something a community must tackle.”
Neighboring West Virginia and Pennsylvania have regulations or bans for injection wells, but Ohio has been behind the curve on such legislation.
Wells are managed by the Ohio Department of Natural Resource’s Division of Oil and Natural Gas Resources Management, with some oversight from the Environmental Protection Agency.
As a result, Ohio has become received other state’s brine and excess waste, something the group hopes to change.
“You should be in the face of every elected official you know and some you don’t,” said Teresa Mills, Ohio organizer for the Center for Health, Environment and Justice.
The new well in question, being built by D.T. Atha, a land and shore drilling company with experience in injection wells, is not actually new. The well is a repurposed gas well, said Roxanne Groff, of Amesville, OH, in a letter to ODNR.
Some also raised concerns about the integrity of the rock below and around the well, along with the general construction of the concrete well.
Citizens were encourage to write or call elected officials in an effort to help combat the fracking and injection wells to voice their concerns.
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