WFMJ.com News weather sports for Youngstown-Warren OhioOfficials recommend having drinking wells tested before allowing natural gas drilling

Officials recommend having drinking wells tested before allowing natural gas drilling

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - The state of Ohio and local health boards are recommending people with water wells have them tested before they decide whether to let companies drill on their property for oil or gas reserves.

Drilling for gas and oil have some folks who depend on well water nervous their source of drinking water, water for crops, animals and for daily living in general might end up contaminated.

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Environmental Protection Agency, and local boards of health recommend testing before drilling is done on or near a property.

It's nearly impossible to prove your well was changed or contaminated without a prior test. "It's a little way to protect yourself. To make sure if something should happen in the future you have a baseline to know what your well looked like before the gas drilling," said Sandy Senedak, Lab Director of the Mahoning County Board of Health.

The state of Ohio recommends using a qualified professional to do the testing, otherwise the water sampling may not hold up in a court of law when you are alleging oil or gas contamination.

Senedak says you should select "somebody who knows how to take samples, knows how to handle samples, knows how to go through the chain of custody to make sure the samples are taken correctly at the correct point to, use the correct preservatives to make sure the testing is accurate."

The Mahoning Board of Health has divided the tests into three levels with increasing levels of testing. The cost is $107 to $396 dollars.