Guernsey County Commission votes to deny spreading of toxic oil and gas waste
On October 15, Guernsey County commissioners voted unanimously to deny permission for an explosives supply and blasting company to spread oil and gas waste on a private road for dust control .
Wampum Hardware Company had sought permission to spread oil and gas waste, known as brine, in front of its business at 60711 Dynamite Road in Guernsey County. Oil and gas brine is known to contain salts, heavy metals, volatile organic compounds, and radioactive materials that can be harmful to humans, animals, and aquatic life.
Oil and gas companies do not have to disclose chemicals used in oil and gas and drilling operations under the federal Halliburton Loophole, passed in 2005.
Dynamite Road is close to Leatherwood Creek, which flows into Wills Creek, the public water source for the city of Cambridge.
“We did our due diligence and looked at the proximity of the brine to Leatherwood Creek. After consultation with our EMA and prosecutor, we thought it was in the county’s best interest to deny the request,” said Guernsey County Commissioner Dave Wilson.
Save Ohio Parks volunteer speaks out
Salt Fork State Park area resident for 40 years and Save Ohio Parks volunteer Terri Sabo presented information on oil and gas brine spreading at the commission’s public hearing. She is a retired nurse.
“I’m appreciative of the opportunity to speak to the commissioners and their willingness to learn about the harmful effects of brine use,” she said. “I hope they continue to consider the harmful effects that the fracking industry is having on Guernsey County.”
Oil and gas waste often contains carcinogens Radium 226 and Radium 228, considered by scientists to be bone-seeking isotopes that can cause cancer. Research and documentation of Radium 226 and Radium 228 in oil and gas production wells was last conducted by the Ohio Department of Health and updated in 2019.
Save Ohio Parks spokespersons said they’re appreciative of the work Sabo did to educate her local county commission on oil and gas waste brine.
“This decision points out how important it is for concerned citizens to help local officials learn the facts on issues like fracking,” said Jenny Morgan, steering committee member for Save Ohio Parks. “This is a win not just for the residents of Guernsey County, but for all environmental advocates who are deeply concerned about the large amounts of contaminated and radioactive waste that oil and gas drilling in Ohio creates, and the potential impacts it is having on our health, our children’s health, our water, and the environment at large.”
Longtime work by Ohio Brine Task Force
The Ohio Brine Task Force (OBTF) is a volunteer group dedicated to stopping the practice of oil and gas brine spreading in Ohio communities. Brine has been used to de-ice or keep dust down on roads since the early 20th century, but brine spreading was legalized in Ohio in 1985, according to FracTracker Alliance, a national nonprofit that analyzes, maps and provides tools to help advocates, researchers, and the public better understand the harms posed by hydrocarbon extraction.
OBTF has been working since 2014 to educate state lawmakers on the potential harms of using oil and gas waste on roads, soils and water. Only Athens and Franklin counties have banned its use on private and public roads.
State law allows brine from conventional vertical wells (not horizontal fracking wells) to be spread as a deicer without a cap on radiation levels because the state says it is a naturally occurring byproduct, according to a 2021 story in the Columbus Dispatch; however, chronic exposure to high radium levels can lead to bone, breast, or liver cancer.
“The goal is to change the law by educating our lawmakers with one-on-one meetings to discuss brine toxicity and remove language allowing it,” said Anton Krieger, OBTF program manager.
Volunteers step up
Save Ohio Parks is a statewide volunteer organization concerned about the human health, environmental, water use and climate-warming effects of fracking under Ohio’s public lands. It is among the environmental groups fighting the legality of H.B. 507, a 2023 state law requiring state parks and public lands to be fracked.
The ODNR’s Oil and Gas Land Management Commission has approved fracking of parts of Salt Fork State Park; Valley Run, Zepernick, Keen, Egypt Valley, and Leesville wildlife areas; and several Ohio Department of Transportation rights-of-way. Fracking of Salt Fork is projected to begin in early 2025.
For more information about Save Ohio Parks, visit saveohioparks.org. For information about the Ohio Brine Task Force, visit ohbrinetaskforce.org.
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