Ohio Rep. Debbie Phillips, D-Athens, left, West Virginia geologist Pavenne Pettigrew, center, and Nathan Johnson, staff attorney for the Buckeye Forest Council, formed the panel of speakers during Monday’s forum on Ohio’s Laws and the Oil and Gas Boom at the McDonough auditorium on the Marietta College campus. (Photo by Sam Shawver)
MARIETTA — “Johnson said Ohio’s oil and gas statutes are inadequate.
‘Ohio is essentially becoming the dumping ground for wastewater from oil and gas operations,’ he said, noting that some hydraulic fracturing waste includes radioactive materials like radium, strontium and cadmium.
‘Contamination happens,’ Johnson said. ‘The oil and gas industry reports show routine leaks in oil and gas wells that allow these chemicals to bubble to the surface.’
He said between 2007 and 2010 one in seven injection wells inspected showed integrity violations in the state.
‘And more than 90 percent, or 58,000 wells go uninspected every year in Ohio,’ Johnson added. “And companies found in violation are rarely penalized.’”
— Sam Shawver, Marietta Times
