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Kasich Signs Executive Order on Injection Wells
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – An executive order signed by Gov. John Kasich allows the Ohio Department of Natural Resources' oil and gas division more authority over injection wells that are used to dispose of contaminated wastewater from drilling operations.
The order, signed late Tuesday, calls for new regulations that "provide the greatest degree of citizen protection possible without causing irreparable harm to an industry important to the economy."
Under the new order, the chief of ODNR's oil and gas division can order a series of tests performed before the agency can issue a permit. These tests include seismic testing before an injection well is drilled, and X-ray tests to explore the bottom of the well to determine if there are faults in the basement rock.
Should the tests come back negative, the oil and gas division has the power to shut the operation down. The order also allows the division chief to set limits as to the amount of pressure used to inject wastewater into the well.
The agency can also order the installation of automatic shutoff valves and monitor any leakage from the well site.
The order comes more than six months after a series of earthquakes rocked Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley beginning in March 2011 through January 2012. Much of the evidence has tied the tremors to an undetected fault line that ran underneath an injection well operated by D&L Energy in Youngstown. The well was shut down after a New Year's Eve quake registered a magnitude of 4.0 and was felt as far away as Buffalo.
Kasich then placed a moratorium on all deep-injection wells near the epicenter of the quakes.
State Sen. Joe Schiavoni, D-Boardman, applauded the governor's actions, saying the ODNR needs the authority to react swiftly in potentially emergency situations.
"There is no question that the Department of Natural Resources needed more authority to issue conditional permits and to shut down injection wells that pose a danger to the public," Schiavoni said in a statement. "I have worked extensively with ODNR and I have confidence they will be able to use these new rules effectively in preventing situations like we experienced in the Mahoning Valley."
The executive order governs all applications now under consideration by the ODNR. According to ODNR records, there are 24 permits pending and the state is home to about 175 injection wells.