The Ohio River Valley needs protection for the welfare of all
Notice from the Concerned Ohio River Residents (CORR), 3/27/21
The ever-present threat of oil & gas development is rearing its head again. Two proposed facilities and a new legislative revision could endanger the health of families along the Ohio River. We need your help to stop them.
1. ODNR has granted a draft permit to Powhatan Salt Company to begin constructing the Mountaineer NGL storage facility, which would store flammable, highly explosive natural gas liquids next to (and potentially beneath) the Ohio River. The agency completely ignored dozens of expert concerns about the safety and integrity of the facility. Click here to tell ODNR not to issue final permits for the Mountaineer facility.
2. The Sardis injection well in Monroe County, Ohio, threatens nearby residents with air pollution, groundwater contamination, and the risk of earthquakes. Click here to demand ODNR denies all permits for the Sardis injection well.
3. A proposed legislative change could place the health of Ohio’s frontline communities at risk. The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (OEPA) is seeking a revision to Ohio law that would allow for the automatic extension of air permits-to-install (PTI) for major polluting facilities, potentially threatening local air quality and eliminating opportunities for public input. We fought for a 30-day extension to the public comment period—and won. That gives us more time to tell USEPA to deny automatic extensions to Ohio air permits. Click here to let them know where you stand.
Keep reading to learn more about each of these dangerous threats to our community. It only takes a minute to add your name to the fight for Ohio Valley families. Your voice makes a difference!
Contact Us @ CORR Website: www.concernedohioriverresidents.org
Address: Concerned Ohio River Residents, P.O. Box 135, Bridgeport, OH 43912
Email: general@concernedohioriverresidents.org
Phone: (740) 738-3024
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1. Mountaineer NGL Storage Facility’s Solution Mining Permits
This February, more than one thousand community members contacted the Ohio Department of Natural Resources to submit their concerns about Powhatan Salt Company’s permit applications to begin constructing the Mountaineer NGL storage facility, which would store flammable, highly explosive natural gas liquids in salt caverns next to the Ohio River. (Read more about the risks of natural gas liquid storage here.)
Legal experts also outlined fifty-eight technical deficiencies with the solution mining well applications, pointing out their failure to prove the wells would meet all safety standards and industry-recommended practices for NGL storage in solution-mined salt caverns.
Yet, despite overwhelming public concern and glaring technical deficiencies in the company’s application, on March 11, 2021, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) issued a draft permit to Powhatan Salt Company. The official draft permit addressed only eight of the fifty-eight concerns raised by legal experts. Forty-two comments on the safety and technical integrity of the proposed solution mining wells received absolutely no response from ODNR.
ODNR’s failure to respond to — or even acknowledge — dozens of technical deficiencies with Powhatan Salt Company’s solution mining well permits undercuts our right to transparent public information about this project and jeopardizes the health and water access of the five million people who rely on the Ohio River for drinking water.
See the Comments at www.FrackCheckWV.net for the other current issues.
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2. Sardis Injection Well
K.A. Brown Oil & Gas, LLC, is applying to permit a brine waste injection well near Sardis, Ohio. The proposed well will inject at a depth of 12,200 to 12,900 feet. The average injection is estimated to be 2,500 barrels per day, and the maximum injection pressure is estimated to be 2,810 psi.
Local residents have serious concerns about the safety and integrity of the facility, which cannot be guaranteed by Ohio’s regulatory agencies.
This injection well site is less than a mile south of the Monroe Water Systems water plant. Any unknown fissures in the underlying formations could and would lead to contamination of the aquifer utilized by the water plant. This would leave a large portion of Monroe County with a contaminated drinking water supply. This site is also in very close proximity to Deadhorse Run, a direct tributary of the Ohio River. Spills from this operation would easily make their way to the Ohio River likely before remediation efforts could take effect. This site will also be a safety hazard due to the increased truck traffic it will cause on Route 7. There will be truck traffic both day and night during drilling and injection operations.
Moreover, the map included with the permit application does not identify the area of review as required by OAC 1501:9-3-06. The application does state that there are no wells in the geologic formation of the proposed injection zone. However, there are at least 5 plugged gas wells within a half mile of the proposed injection well. In addition, there is a producing oil and gas well within 261 feet of the proposed injection well. The application also makes no mention of active water wells in the affected zone.
There is reasonable concern that with increasing numbers of brine injection wells in the State of Ohio that there will be increasing volumes of volatile organic compounds emitted into the air from vented tanks associated with the injection well process. Some of the chemicals of concern found in oil & gas wastewater include benzene, toluene, xylene, ethylbenzene, radium, and barium. ODNR must explain these chemical hazards in a public hearing to ensure Monroe County’s residents are properly informed of these dangers.
Lastly, the depth of this proposed well cannot guarantee that there will not be fractures in the formations prior to the targeted injection formation. This concern is only exacerbated when considering such a high injection pressure.
Click below to demand ODNR deny permits for the Sardis Injection Well.
https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/deny-permits-for-the-sardis-injection-well/
3. Automatic Air Permit Extensions are a Risk to Public Health
Current Ohio law requires corporations to begin constructing major polluting facilities no more than 30 months after receiving air permits-to-install (PTI) to ensure that major sources of air pollution are constructed with up-to-date pollution control standards and current air quality information.
A new proposal to revise Ohio’s State Implementation Plan would allow for the automatic extension of an installation permit by the length of time a permit was under third-party appeal, which could range from 6 months to more than 3 years. In essence, the law could allow major polluting facilities to operate under aging air regulations with outdated pollution control technology, potentially endangering local residents’ health.
Additionally, automatic extensions of air permits-to-install do not require the distribution of a public notice, nor do they require OEPA to accept and address public concerns, effectively shutting citizens out of the decision-making process.
If approved, the legislative revision would allow PTT Global Chemical, the Thai corporation constructing the Dilles Bottom ethane cracker plant, to automatically extend its air permit through February 24, 2022 without any input from surrounding communities. The facility, which could annually release hundreds of tons of hazardous airborne pollutants linked to a host of serious health problems, would also not be subject to the latest pollution control standards.
Click below to demand the U.S. EPA deny Ohio EPA’s request to allow the indefinite extension of permits for major polluting facilities under appeal.
https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/deny-indefinite-permit-extensions-for-major-polluting-facilities-under-appeal/