The recent earthquakes near Youngstown appear to have been caused by nearby Class II wastewater injection wells. These wells are used to dump brine and other fluids associated with oil and gas production, fluids that likely contain toxic chemicals – often from the fracking process – as well as radioactive or cancer-causing chemicals released from underground.
According to recent reports, nearly 9 million barrels (at 42 gallons per barrel) of wastewater were dumped in Ohio last year, with about half of it coming from fracking wells in other states like Pennsylvania.
With hundreds of these disposal wells dispersed throughout Ohio, Plunderbund wanted to know if we had any in our backyards.
So we asked the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) for a list. According to the documents they provided, there were 194 injection wells in Ohio as of 01/02/2012. (note: A few new permits have since been issued)
The well data we received from ODNR is mapped** below along with the full list of wells we received. We also obtained a list of all violations for these wells which we’ll be publishing tomorrow.
Here’s the map:
CommunityWalk Map – Class II Injection Wells in Ohio
Here’s the full list of injection wells from ODNR:
Injection Well Data Sheet
**Please Note: The well map has been updated using geographic coordinates provided by ODNR for each well. If you need additional information on any specific well, ODNR has details about all of the wells in Ohio on their website. Or email us at crew at plunderbund.com and we’ll help you find the information.
