County Commissioners passed a resolution requesting that state officials halt the issuance of injection well permits in the state of Ohio.
The Athens County Commissioners voted to request that state officials stop issuing new oil-and-gas injection well permits in Ohio.
The vote by the commissioners to request this moratorium is the result of a June 30 meeting with members of the Athens County Fracking Action Network (ACFAN).
Roxanne Groff, a member of ACFAN and Bern Township trustee, said the resolution drafted by the anti-fracking group expresses the frustrations of citizens and local officials who see more harm than benefit in the approval of new injection wells.
Injection wells are used to dispose of waste, including frack waste, from oil and gas wells. Currently, there are seven injection wells in Athens County, according to a previous Post report.
“The impact is huge,” Groff said. “We’re getting all of this out-of-state and in-state waste, and it’s the shale gas extraction wastewater that is filled with toxic chemicals and radioactivity. No one at the state level will listen to us.”
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According to the resolution, Athens County received almost 3 million barrels of toxic, radioactive waste in 2014 with over 80 percent of the waste coming from outside Ohio.
She added that 37 countries out of the 88 in Ohio host injection wells, 21 of them being Appalachian counties.
Groff and Athens County Commissioner Chris Chmiel hope other counties will join with similar resolutions in order for state officials like Ohio Gov. John Kasich and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources to take notice of citizens’ concerns.
“I think that’s the only way that something is going to happen, if there’s a broad, geological coalition here and not just a couple counties in one part of the state,” Chmiel said.
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Athens County is not the first county in Ohio to propose a moratorium, as Trumbull County Commissioners approved a similar resolution last week. Both counties were No. 1 and No. 3 in the state for having fracking waste injected through the first quarter of 2015. Groff said Meigs County is hopefully looking into voting on a moratorium also.
The resolution was approved unanimously by the board, declaring that “hosting Class II injection wells provide no known benefit to the community, no guarantees of compensation and no sustainable financial, business or community betterment opportunities for the county.”
The resolution expresses concern for the fact that oil and gas industry waste is legally exempt from federal regulations prompted by both the Safe Drinking Water and Clean Water acts.
“Athens County is concerned about the potential for waste being injected into the ground being harmful to its citizens and the environment,” the resolution reads. “State and county officials are unable to assess the risks to public health, safety and welfare from injected waste and receive no financial support to monitor the air or water for contamination from this waste.”
Chmiel referenced his concern for the quality of drinking water due to injection well waste and the county’s work with area water districts.
“Their responsibility is to provide fresh, good quality water for people, and it’s my understanding that they haven’t had much luck getting their requests or concerns met at the state level,” he said. “To me, that sounds interesting.”
Following the board’s vote on the resolution, a copy of the moratorium request will be sent to Kasich, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Chief James Zehringer, Ohio Environmental Protection Agency Director Craig Butler and the Athens County delegation to the Ohio General Assembly.
Grogg said she is excited about a momentum being built with statewide effort and collaboration between counties in making such demands.
“We’re tired of being dismissed when calling the governor’s office or department of natural resources,” she said. “We’re fed up, but we’re not tired of fighting.”
This news comes after members of the Athens County Bill of Rights Committee filed a 2,111-signature petition to ban injection wells, according to a previous Post report.
@Alisa_Warren
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