HUBBARD TWP., Ohio - Across Ohio, it's Trumbull County that has the highest concentration of injection wells.
But Hubbard township trustees say "enough is enough." They're pushing back against a request for another site, located near a busy entrance to I-80 on Hubbard-Masury Rd.

"We're not interested in the money of it. We don't want it here," Trustee Rick Hernandez says. 

ODNR has not yet approved the permit for the Class II disposal well, which would be used to dispose brine - a byproduct of fracking that is saltier than sea water, and can contain toxic metals and radioactive substances.

"Just below this area we have little Yankee Creek, which is a tributary that feeds the Shenango river," Hernandez explains, gesturing to the brush-covered plot of land. "For people in this area, a lot of drinking water comes from that reservoir. So that's a concern, too."

According to a fact sheet published by the ODNR in March that appears to support the Hubbard-Masury Road proposal:

"The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has determined that Class II disposal wells provide the safest
method for disposal of oil field waste fluids. Prior to the underground injection control (UIC) program,
the primary method of disposal of brine was surface pits which resulted in numerous water wells being
contaminated. Since the inception of Ohio's UIC program and injection of brines through class II disposal
wells, no water supplies have been impacted by the proper use of these wells."

Despite those claims, Hernandez says he and the rest of the Board of Trustees still hold concerns over safety, seismic activity, and water contamination that could come from improper use of the wells. "I do not trust the [current] regulations. There's a reason why the state of Pennsylvania does not allow [the disposal of brine]. Why do we take it in Ohio?" 

This isn't the first dispute over a well at this site. The property was bought by Bobcat Hubbard LLC in 2018, and a permit was granted to the company for the same proposal. That permit went unfulfilled after organized protests -- a result Hernandez says he hopes to see again.

21News reached out to ODNR and Bobcat Hubbard LLC for comment, but neither have responded to the request.