Marietta OH officials ask ODNR oil and gas chief to deny permit for new injection well

WTAP.com
By Chase Campbell
August 25, 2025

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MARIETTA, Ohio (WTAP) – Marietta city leaders are fighting a proposed injection well that would dispose of fracking waste less than two miles from the city’s drinking water supply.

An August 8 letter signed by Marietta officials including the city’s mayor, law director, water superintendent, and a majority of city council members asks Ohio Department of Natural Resources Oil and Gas Chief Eric Vendel to deny a permit application from DeepRock Disposal Solutions for what would be called the Stephan #1 injection well.

Injection wells are used to store the wastewater or brine used in hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.

According to the letter, the Stephan #1 well would be the fifth disposal well in close proximity to Marietta’s Source Water Protection Area and thee other nearby aquifers, all of which serve 32,000 residents in multiple different water systems.

In the letter, the council writes that “five disposal wells is too many.”

They say their main concern is protecting Marietta’s water supply.

Legal challenge over regulatory standards

Beyond public safety concerns, Marietta officials are challenging the legal basis of DeepRock’s application. The city argues that DeepRock is incorrectly applying expired regulations from when they first filed their application in December 2021.

Citing legal precedent, the council’s letter contends that under current Ohio law, permit applications must be evaluated using regulations in effect at the time of approval, not when originally filed. The current version of Ohio Administrative Code provides significantly stronger protections, including expanding the required review area from a half-mile radius to two miles and requiring baseline chemical testing for water wells within 1,500 feet.

“The current regulation provides that an injection well owner may dispose of 200 barrels a day, with the limit increased to 5,000 barrels a day if the well owner also owns all of the producing well in the area of review,” the letter states, highlighting enhanced safety provisions.

The city also argues that DeepRock has failed to meet current notice requirements, noting that proper notification to landowners, well owners, and public officials has not occurred beyond newspaper publication.

Pattern of regional injection well failures

City officials point to a troubling track record of faulty injection wells in Southeast Ohio–they note that six Southeast Ohio wells have been permanently shut down and write that “ODNR’s own records provide that injection wells in Southeast Ohio fail more often than anywhere else in the state.”

The letter provides extensive documentation of recent failures:

Two wells owned by DeepRock in Noble County were shut down by ODNR in 2023, with the order stating that the wells were “likely to contaminate the land, surface waters, or subsurface water” and presented “an imminent danger to the health and safety of the public.”

One of those wells experienced an “uncontrolled flow of brine” in April 2019, followed by another incident in January 2021 where brine flowed for days, causing what ODNR described as “imminent health, safety, and environmental risk.” The state incurred costs of more than $1.2 million for corrective actions.

Later that same year, orders shut down two wells in Athens County owned by other companies. Additional wells operated by K & H Partners were also shuttered after they began “impacting nearby production wells with migrating brine.”

The letter details problems with Washington County injection wells, noting that five of the county’s 17 wells have presented documented risks–a 30% failure rate that officials call “likely dangerous to health, safety, and good conservation practices.”

Contamination spreads miles underground

The letter also notes the precedent of wastewater in injection wells migrating through the earth in Washington County.

An ODNR investigation in 2019 found that millions of gallons of wastewater from the Redbird #4 injection well had “migrated into 28 different production wells, some of which were five miles away.”

Proliferation of “forever chemicals” in nearby wells

According to the letter, testing in June 2025 detected PFOA and PFHxA–chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing operations and considered “forever chemicals” –in wells near the American Growers site. These same chemicals were found in the Williamstown, West Virginia water supply, located approximately 5,000 feet from the DeepRock well.

“PFHpA and PFHxA are a type of Perfluoroheptanoic acid, which is used in hydraulic fracking operations. Considered forever chemicals, they are extremely water repellent,” the letter notes..

Environmental damage at surface Level

The city’s letter also documents surface-level environmental damage from injection wells. At the Barlow wells in Washington County, a retention pond overflow in 2023 “caused damage to the surface resulting in the death of nearby trees, grass, other foliage, and crops.” ODNR took five months to issue a suspension order, during which the letter presumes that the wells continued operating despite compromised casings that allowed waste fluids to escape.

Expert geological concerns

Marietta’s council’s letter quotes an affidavit provided by Marietta College geologist Dr. Tej Gautam that supports the city’s position.

Gautam, who holds a PhD in Applied Geology and is licensed as a Professional Geologist in Pennsylvania, writes that “When everything is perfect, the injection of the waste is fine.” But he warns that geologic factors in Southeast Ohio create uncertainty about how reliably injection wells in the region can keep waste contained.

Gautam identifies several specific concerns about the proposed injection sites:

Inconsistent Rock Formations: The geologist notes that the rock layers targeted for injection–including the Clinton-Medina Sandstone and Oriskany Sandstone –are not continuous throughout southeastern Ohio. “This makes it challenging to predict lateral continuity of the layers at depth,” he writes.

Pressure and Structural Risks: With multiple injection wells in close proximity, Gautam warns that “the cumulative pressure could be much higher than one individual well pressure.” If injection pressure exceeds bedrock strength, it could create cracks allowing waste to migrate to upper layers.

Seismic Activity: The letter notes that “recent earthquakes in the area and possible fault surface may also cause a problem, especially if they are extended to depth.”

Unknown Abandoned Wells: Gautam warns that abandoned wells not in ODNR’s inventory could provide pathways for injected fluids to reach the surface or contaminate groundwater.

Gautam writes that “If we inject waste and it moves to upper layers or to a producing aquifer in the city, the damage cannot be undone” and adds that “to avoid possible damage, the company can go to other locations away from the county/city to dispose of their waste.”

Lack of public notice raises transparency concerns

The letter also criticizes the lack of proper public notification about DeepRock’s operations near populated areas. Dr. Dennis Blatt, superintendent of Washington County Career Center, provided an affidavit describing how DeepRock’s drilling operations appeared at the school without notice.

“In approximately 2016, oil and gas drilling rigs began showing up in the vicinity of the school. I was surprised and had no idea why these vehicles had appeared,” Blatt wrote. The school serves roughly 1,000 secondary and adult students, with injection wells permitted within 1,500 feet of the facility.

“The lack of actual notice to the public regarding the placement of all four DeepRock wells near Marietta, in a heavily populated area and close to four aquifers, undermines public trust and transparency,” the council wrote.

City’s formal requests

The Marietta City Council is making three specific requests to ODNR:

1. Enforce current regulations governing injection wells rather than expired versions
2. Deny the Stephan #1 permit application for public health and safety reasons
3. Hold a public meeting on the permit application to ensure community input

The letter represents unprecedented unity among Marietta’s leadership, signed by all council members, the mayor, law director, and water superintendent.

Responses

A statement from the ODNR said, “The Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Oil and Gas Resources Management will review Marietta City Council’s comments as part of the standard review process.”

DeepRock Disposal Solutions released the following statement from attorney Laura Goins on Marietta’s letter:

We respect and appreciate the Marietta City Council’s commitment to safeguarding the health and well-being of the community. Public officials have a responsibility to carefully examine matters that may affect residents, and we welcome that scrutiny. However, it is important that these conversations are guided by facts and science rather than by misinformation or advocacy against oil and gas development as a whole. Regular testing has shown no evidence of groundwater contamination, and state regulators continue to oversee and enforce strict safety standards.

Class II disposal wells are the method of brine management approved and regulated as the safest option by both the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). When designed, constructed, and monitored to regulatory standards, as our application commits to, these wells are proven to protect groundwater and the surrounding environment. 

We are aware of references to a separate legal dispute involving oil and gas operators in another area. That case centers on the maintenance of certain private production wells and is a business matter, not a public health or groundwater safety issue. It does not reflect the safety or regulatory compliance of our Class II wells.

DeepRock remains committed to meeting or exceeding all state and federal safety requirements. We welcome continued dialogue with the City Council and the community to ensure questions are answered and facts are clear.”Laura Goins, DeepRock Disposal Solutions attorney

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Buckeye Environmental Network, an advocacy group that has worked to bring public attention to concerns over injection wells in southeast Ohio, released the following statement:

“Washington County has had the second-highest amount of radioactive oil and gas wastewater injected in the state in recent years. Over 400 million gallons of waste was injected into the county between 2023 & 2024. 

ODNR’s own records show that six injection wells were shut down in recent years in southeast Ohio due to wastewater migration out of intended zones. Noble, Athens, and Washington Counties have had leaking injection wells that have ruined dozens of oil and gas production wells. Now the ODNR is grandfathering in new injection wells surrounding Marietta under outdated rules that aren’t as protective of the community. The agency is not enforcing its own rules.”Buckeye Environmental Network