Politics & Government

Answers To Your Gas Well Questions

Highland Heights meeting wasn't a debate, so we created one.

City Council who do not want two gas wells drilled in the city's park.

They had many questions about water contamination, earthquakes and the safety of wells, but no one provided answers. So we presented those concerns to Bill Hlavin, president of Bass Energy, and Amy Feran, spokesman for Love Our Green Space.

Is there a risk of earthquakes?

This question comes from recent stories about a drilling operation in Youngstown suspected of causing earthquakes. The state created new rules for wastewater-injection sites as a result.

"That's a big disposal well. That's nothing like what we do," Hlavin said.

Hlavin said the jury's still out, but reports that the well operation caused earthquakes could be true. "They relieved the pressure from the disposal water and everything stopped," he noted.

However, that involved a much larger well than the ones being proposed locally and wastewater was being put into the earth, whereas it would be put into holding tanks here and taken by trucks to a disposal site in Diamond, OH.

Feran said the Youngstown well is different from what Bass Energy plans in Highland Heights, but she wasn't sure if the wells that caused earthquakes elsewhere were also injection.

"I'm not sure if that's the case in Arkansas and other parts of the country," she said.

Feran said a lack of proper oversight makes getting to the truth of such matters very difficult. She added that fracking is fracking, no matter the size of the well or the amount of chemicals used, and the process carries risks.

Are the chemicals used to fracture rock and release the gas going to contaminate the water supply?

"The problem is that not all of the substances put into the well come back out," Feran said. "Even if you're a good driller, not everything comes back up the well and there are radioactive materials that get out.

"How do you detect the problem? They don't require any monitoring of water," she added.

Hlavin said there's no chance for water contamination because the gas is 3,500 feet down and underneath a layer of limestone that serves to cap off the area.

"Think of it like an eggshell. It (limestone) is the reason the gas hasn't come to the surface. It's impossible for water to come out unless it comes up the pipe with the oil," he said.

As for radioactive materials, he said natural rocks can come up in the drilling process, but they are no more radioactive than rocks already at the surface.

Is there risk of an explosion?

Concerns about gas well explosions escalated after a 2008 incident in Bainbridge in which a house was blown off of its foundation. Hlavin said an Ohio Valley Energy employee's carelessness caused the explosion.

"It was investigated thoroughly. It was strictly operator error," Hlavin said. "Since that happened the state put in safeguards. They didn't check their amount of cement."

He said the companies now have to show state officials a bond log that indicates there is a proper amount of cement behind the production casing. Hlavin said Ohio Valley Energy tried to save money by using less cement.

"They got caught," he said. "Bass Energy drills a very expensive well."

Feran said oversight is so poor that Ohio Valley Energy applied and received a permit to drill after the Bainbridge explosion. She added that even if Bass Energy does run a better drilling operation, there's no guarantee that the lease will not be transferred to another company.

"That's troubling – it's assignable. Bass can let someone else take over it," she said.

The 2008 charter amendment

One final argument Feran made has nothing to do with safety or other issues – she simply cited the wishes of residents expressed when 73 percent of voters favored a 2008 charter amendment prohibiting park land from being leased without voter approval.

"If there wasn't that restriction, it would be a different conversation. Then we could talk about whether it's safe or not," she said. "Residents weighed in on the issue and they said no."

John O'Neil, city legal counsel, has said the charter amendment does not apply to the wells being considered for the city park because a lease had been signed prior to the amendment's passage.

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