Ohio Suspends Produced Water Injection Wells Over 'Imminent Danger' To Health And Environment
Wastewater operations designed to handle produced water from oil and gas operations in Ohio have been forced to shut down over their potential impact on the environment and consumers.
“Four fracking waste injection wells in Athens County have temporarily suspended operations by order of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR), which says the wells present an ‘imminent danger’ to health and the environment,” the Athens County Independent reported. “The wells are intended to isolate the waste water, known as brine, from groundwater. However, the Division of Oil and Gas Resources Management found that waste fluid injected into the … wells has spread at least 1.5 miles underground and was rising to the surface through oil and gas production wells.”
The potential impact of produced water on drinking water sources and the environment at large is one of the most controversial issues in the wastewater treatment industry. As oil and gas operations utilize high-pressure water jets to reach underground fuel deposits, a practice known as “fracking,” the resulting wastewater, or “produced water,” is highly contaminated and difficult to treat or dispose of. And while innovation around produced water treatment is happening fast, drinking water quality advocates are concerned about a lack of effective standards governing the wastewater.
The operator of the injection wells has appealed the Ohio Oil and Gas Commission’s decision, arguing that an independent consulting firm it hired found no evidence that it was the one causing the environmental issues found around the wells.
“The report said the brine appearing in production wells could be naturally occurring,” according to the Independent.
“For local activists who participated in the initial fight against the wells, the recent ODNR suspension and denial orders only confirm what activists have said about injection wells all along,” per Inside Climate News. “‘We said it would happen, and it did!’ activist and former Athens County Commissioner Roxanne Groff said.”
To read more about how fracking operations dispose of or treat their operational wastewater, visit Water Online’s Produced Water Solutions Center.