A group of local residents and area officials met as part of the Athens County Strategic Advisory Committee on Hydraulic Fracturing to discuss issues regarding the potential advent of “fracking” to Athens County.
The Wednesday meeting focused on water testing and use, agreements concerning the use and maintenance of local roads, injection well waste disposal and the charter the committee is working on.
The committee was created as a part of a resolution passed by the Athens County Commissioners in February.
Commissioner Mark Sullivan, who is part of the committee, was not present at the meeting.
The charter, which members said is still in progress, was approved unanimously, said Al Blazevicius, chair of the committee, adding that amendments need to be made before the charter is official and made public at the next meeting.
The charter was not released to the media.
The committee also formed two subcommittees to further research injection wells and the status of existing state laws on fracking.
“We need to look at what the current state laws and proposed regulations for fracking are so we have a baseline for what we want to see happening in Athens,” Blazevicius said.
One of the committee’s major concerns is road use agreements, which hold the energy companies responsible for damage caused by the heavy traffic they require.
“We need to know what the primary roads (are that energy companies) will be taking to and from drilling sites,” Blazevicius said. “Those roads will need to have a road use agreement.”
Most of the roads and bridges in Athens County were built to withstand travel from farming operations, said John Branner, a representative from the Athens County Engineers Office.
“They are not industrial bridges,” Branner added. “We are asking our bridges to (withstand) more than they ever have before.”
But other committee members said they are worried that too much regulation will hinder the abilities of non-fracking operations, like loggers and garbage trucks, to carry on business.
“It might be better to leave wiggle room to let the counties set their own parameters instead of having the energy companies sign a state wide road use agreement,” said Pat Davidson, who said she has leased drilling rights. “We want people to be able to have their moving trucks come in and out, but also be able to regulate the fracking trucks.”
Branner added that energy companies might have to replace the bridges before drilling occurs because of the volume of heavy trucking that hydraulic fracturing operations bring in.
“From the places I’ve visited where fracking is happening, the roads are way better than in Athens County because the energy company fixed the roads so they can support their traffic,” Blazevicius said.
Another topic of concern at the meeting was wastewater injection wells and what can be done to improve, control and regulate them.
Committee member Pat Smith said he is concerned that the small, in-state drilling companies cannot inject their wastewater in Ohio because large, out-of-state operations have bought up all the volume rights at the injection-well sites in Ohio. Smith added that the charter should include the promotion of local activity.
“New York’s trash is in Athens-Hocking landfill, Pennsylvania’s frack water is in our injection wells. The problem is that local drillers can’t dispose of their wastewater because bigger, out-of-state companies have all the rights,” Smith said.
About 99 percent of the hydraulic fracturing waste from Marcellus Shale activity was injected in Ohio, Blazevicius said.
Smith, Branner and committee member Rob Wiley plan to further research the issue of injection wells as members of the injection well subcommittee and bring their findings to next month’s meeting.
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