Trumbull turns on faucet for fracking water at drilling sites
WARREN, Ohio - An agreement to sell an oil and gas company up to 200,000 of water a day is approved in Trumbull County.
Trumbull County commissioners gave the OK on Thursday to allow Halcon Resources to pump water from the southeast water district supply to its Vienna Township drilling site near Scoville North Road and Rt. 82.
The company will pay $10 for each 1,000 gallons it uses instead of having the water brought in by trucks.
Halcon's hook-up to the county water won't have an impact on supply as the county sanitary division will still maintain control to pull back if the water is needed elsewhere.
Buying water by the gallons could also help keep customer water rates from going up.
"It's probably not going to decrease the cost but it will help from increasing the cost in the future," said Trumbull County commissioner Frank Fuda.
The county engineer's office confirms Halcon wants to install a 6.8 million gallon water containment facility at its Vienna site.
Halcon will have direct access to water to fill up that facility once it taps into the Warren-Sharon Road water line.
With water flowing out, money should pour back into the sanitary division's budget.
"We can use it to upgrade our pump stations. We could use the money to replace aging water lines ... things of that nature," said Trumbull Sanitary Engineers executive director Rex Fee.
Halcon's road upkeep agreement now approved at Layer Road in Warren Township means short term detours in exchange for new pavement on roads, some that would otherwise stay untouched with needs for repair.
"A lot of these areas in our county don't have the ability to get their roads paved and in some cases, roads are going to be paved and they're going to be fixed when the project is done," Fuda said.
It's not yet known when Halcon will begin filling up but the county will make sure it will happen during times of the day when water is at its lowest level of demand.
