Requests to build drilling wastewater wells rose rapidly in Ohio before moratorium

CLEVELAND - A 5 On Your Side investigation has uncovered a huge increase in the number of permit applications for drilling  wastewater disposal wells in Ohio.

The number of permit applications for Class II brine injection wells rose close to 400 percent from 2009 to 2011, according to data obtained from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.

In 2011, the state department of natural resources received 29 injection wells permit applications. In 2010, it received 12 applications. In 2009, it received 6 applications.

Injection wells are a controversial disposal method used by oil companies to get rid of wastewater from the oil drilling process.

Oil companies use a mixture of water, chemicals and sand to help break open rock and extract natural gas.

The process is often called “fracking.”

When drilling is finished, the liquid mixture is disposed of by pumping into an injection well dug thousands of feet underground.

Injection wells became controversial in Ohio in 2011 after one was linked to 11 earthquakes in the Youngstown area.

D&L Energy has begun pumping fluid into the Northstar #1 well three months before earthquakes started shaking the area.

The Ohio Department of Natural Resource officials shut down the well December 30.

The state also put a moratorium on approving new well permit applications until they review and revise the rules of its permitting process.

Some of the state’s newly permitted wells have yet to begin operations.

There are 194 permitted injection wells in Ohio. There are 176 injection wells currently operating in Ohio.

An exclusive 5 On Your Side investigation also uncovered what state officials could have done to help prevent the Youngstown earthquakes.

Investigator Sarah Buduson will tell you what she uncovered tonight at 11 p.m. on NewsChannel5.

WEB EXTRAS
- To view a map of the state’s injection wells, click here: http://on.wews.com/w4WoCc