Mixed bag of opinions after subcommittee hearing on brine injection wells
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Tuesday's bi-partisan hearing by state lawmakers on brine injection wells and the possible impact on the community has left some more skeptical than ever.
YSU Geologist, Dr. Jeffrey Dick says there's a good possibility that the Northstar #10 well in Youngstown triggered the earthquakes and he suggests that the drilling has to stop in to what's referred to as the pre-Cambrian basement rock where the faults are that cause earthquakes.
But several state lawmakers aren't satisfied that it's enough.
Silently protesting at Tuesday's hearing, Sean O'Toole of Warren is dead-set against the brine injection process. "They're injecting poison in to the earth," O'Toole said.
But the manager of two local hotels says the controversy has already been costly to local businesses, and while he agrees public safety is the priority, he's ready for the issue to be sorted out.
"We reap the benefit of these surveyors and drillers coming in to town and staying and eating here and spending their dollars here in the Valley. And with the uproar of what's going on, we're losing that business. They're not coming here. They're putting everything on hold," O'Toole said.
State Representative Bob Hagan was disappointed in the hearing and is demanding a moratorium until 2015 after the U.S. EPA's final report on these brine injection wells and their possible impact is released.
"Who's doing the math? We only have 30 inspectors for thousands of wells in the state of Ohio and now we're taking more toxic chemicals from out of state? This is utterly ridiculous," Hagan said.
But YSU's Dr. Jeffrey Dick says he would advise that drilling no longer be permitted in the rock where faults and earthquakes occur. "My thoughts on the issue would be not to complete wells in to the pre- Cambrian basement rocks. It's that simple," Dick said.
His findings indicate that the the Northstar #10 well was drilled 200 feet in to that level and may have triggered the seismic activity.
Senator Joe Schiavoni feels his testimony could be critical in drafting legislation to regulate the shale industry and protect the public and the environment. "If we can make a ban on drilling in to that basement rock that would be very, very important and very simple to legislate," Schiavoni said.
But a number of other lawmakers say more hearings are needed to flush out more facts.
