“As an elected official…, I along with over 90% of the citizens [of Darke County] am bitterly opposed to this project [a CO2 sequestration injection well and associated seismic testing].” –– James Zehringer, Ohio Statehouse Rep., 77th District, in a letter to ODOT Director Jolene Molitoris, 7-31-09.
Now Director of ODNR, Mr. Zehringer no longer seems to hold the wishes of Ohio’s citizens in such high regard. The objections of hundreds of Athens County citizens to the D. T. Atha injection well permit application based on health and safety concerns have still not been deemed relevant or addressed by ODNR.
Why did James Zehringer, as an Ohio House Representative, oppose injection wells for CO2 in his community but as ODNR Chief now supports dumping of vast quantities—as much as 2 million gallons a year per well—of highly toxic, radioactive out-of-state waste, with high levels of benzene and radioactive strontium, in our community and everyone else’s communities?
Perhaps there was some accountability in his old job that is totally absent in his present position?
PLEASE WRITE ODNR Director Zehringer to say: If CO2 injections were not okay for your community, benzene and radioactive strontium injections are not okay in ours.
Tell him and ODNR (again):
The Atha well (ref: Application #aAMY0000706, D.T. Atha Permit # 376) is not okay to put in our community. We do not want it here.
You are not listening to our concerns. You have not answered our questions except with non-answers and spin. Your “answers” are not satisfactory.
Ask (again):
- Where are the monitoring wells and water testing data that would support your allegation that injection wells have not contaminated drinking water?
- Why have you not addressed citizens’ concerns about well integrity or traffic accidents or first responder preparedness or implications of truck spills along the Hocking River?
- Where is the documentation to support your claim that our hundreds of objections are not substantive?
- Where are the hydrologic maps to show that aquifers and drinking water wells will not be contaminated by the Atha well?
- Why is it considered necessary to sample water sources within 300 feet of a proposed injection well in an urban area but not at all in a rural area and not in Mrs. Frost’s backyard, where the Atha well is proposed? Why should our community accept this discrimination against rural areas?
- Where is your water sampling from around the Ginsburg well to substantiate your claim that it has not contaminated surrounding bodies of water or drinking water supplies?
- Your pr person’s letter of Dec. 7, 2012, (J. Kozlowski to Heather Cantino) admitted that over a dozen Ohio Class 2 wells have failed integrity tests (since “less than 10%” of 179 wells presumably means over a dozen). Why is this acceptable and why should we be reassured by this record, since you don’t test surrounding soil and water to know if there have been breaches of the casing and fluid migration?
- Please show us evidence to support Ms. Kozlowski’s claim in her letter to Ms. Cantino that the Ginsburg well was EVER shut down. Where are the missing Ginsburg records? Why did it go for years without being inspected? Why should this record and your woefully inadequate staffing and inspection protocols give us any reassurance about your ability to protect our groundwater from contamination by another well?
- Why did ODNR employees at the “open house” refuse to acknowledge their association with ODNR, let alone give their full names? Why was audiotaping not permitted, or videotaping even by accredited journalists? Isn’t government supposed to be transparent and accountable to the public it serves?
Just because the Halliburton loophole and other oil and gas regulation exempts oil and gas waste from Safe Drinking Water Act and most federal hazardous waste regulation does not make it safe in our drinking water or community. It is still toxic and highly radioactive. We still need to protect our water, school children, and animals from these poisons. Their LEGAL designation IS IRRELEVANT to our safety.
Sincerely,
name, address, contact info
________________________________________________________
Please personalize your letter. Feel free to copy and paste from your earlier letter (if you wrote one during the formal comment period), if your questions were not adequately addressed (were any questions adequately addressed??). Visit acfan.org/injection-wells/ for background materials.
Send your letter to: James Zehringer, Director, Ohio Department of Natural Resources, James.Zehringer@dnr.state.oh.us
Please cc Rick.Simmers@dnr.state.oh.us, Chief, Division of Oil and Gas (DOGRM), and Ohio House Rep. Debbie Phillips at district92@ohr.state.oh.us (or your rep if different). Feel free to cc news media: news@athensnews.com, info@athensmessenger.com, dispatch.com/content/pages/opinion/send-letter-to-editor.jsp (online form), Cleveland Plain Dealer: bsulliva@plaind.com; Akron BJ: vop@thebeaconjournal.com, Cinci Enquirer: dholthaus@enquirer.com
AND please send to us at acfanohio@gmail.com.
Thank you, Athens County Fracking Action Network acfan.org, acfanohio@gmail.com, January 2013