American Oil and Gas Reporter - February 2016 - 25

State Legislative Report

Two Ohio Legislators Propose
Stronger Injection Well Rules
COLUMBUS, OH.-Two Ohio legislators are seeking stronger injection well
regulations and procedures that they say
will ensure public safety while allowing
the state to capitalize on its shale resources.
State Representatives Sean O'Brien,
D-Bazetta, and John Patterson, D-Jefferson,
are the sponsors of HB 442. According to
O'Brien's office, the bill would require
injection well operators to monitor groundwater near their wells and trucks carrying
brine to use a global positioning satellite
tracking system. HB 442 also sets standards
for injection well setbacks from public
water sources and bans the permanent
underground storage of brine in Ohio.
The bill has been referred to the House
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
"Ohio has not kept pace with the
public safety demand stemming from a
rapidly developing industry," O'Brien
says. "This law would modernize the
way we do business in Ohio, to strike
the right balance between corporate profits
and protecting people."
Adds Patterson, "The growing shale
industry has brought new economic opportunities to Ohio, but with that opportunity comes the responsibility to keep
people and communities safe. This legislation will provide necessary safeguards
that balance the safety of our communities
with the continued expansion of this burgeoning industry."
However, Shawn Bennett, executive
vice president of the Ohio Oil & Gas Association, says the legislation is unnecessary as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's latest audit of the state's
Class II injection wells was favorable.
Monitoring Groundwater
According to the Ohio Legislature's
website, HB 422 authorizes state regulators
to require groundwater monitoring wells,
and groundwater quality and quantity testing, before permitting injection wells. The
legislation also sets requirements for groundwater assessment and corrective actions if
water sources are affected by injection
wells or their contents. The well owner
would be required to secure a monitoring
report prepared by a qualified groundwater
scientist to analyze any impacts and determine what contaminants from the well
could be in the groundwater.

Injection wells could not be drilled
within 2,000 feet of a stream, river, watercourse, water well, or other body of
water without authorization from state
regulators, the bill draft says. Its surface
location may not be within that distance
of a railroad track or traveled portion of
a public street, road or highway.
In urban areas, the injection well may
not be within 2,000 feet of an occupied
dwelling without the landowner's consent.
For nonurban areas, the draft language
says the well's surface location may not
be within 2,000 feet of an occupied
private dwelling or public building that
may be used for education, entertainment,
lodging or public occupancy.
Other provisions of HB 422 require:
* Local emergency responders be
given a description of the brine or other
waste contents intended to be injected;
* Well operators add a chemical
tracer to help determine if contents have
migrated;
* Operators install continuous, realtime pressure measurement and monitoring devices on injection wells;
* Well operators conduct seismic
testing and submit results to state regulators; and
* An injection well not penetrate
below Precambrian formations, be built
in a 100-year flood plain, or be within
100 kilometers of a known fault line.
Under the proposed legislation, registered brine transporters must keep electronic records on their trucks' activities
and provide that data to state regulators
on request. Transporters also would be
required to track how many gallons of
brine and other waste substances were
delivered to injection wells, with the well
operator submitting daily reports to the
state on total volumes received.
❒

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American Oil and Gas Reporter - February 2016

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