Climate Corner: Elected officials missing in action

May 3, 2025

Rebecca Phillips

editorial@newsandsentinel.com

Two of Southeast Ohio’s elected officials missed an important opportunity to hear their constituents’ concerns and answer their questions. Last Saturday, April 26, the trustees of the Warren Community Water Board held a public meeting on Deep Rock Disposal’s permit application for yet another injection well, this one in Warren Township. The water board, working with the Warren Township trustees, held this meeting because the Department of Natural Resources declined to do so. Weeks before the meeting date, the trustees invited District 30 Senator Brian Chavez, CEO of Deep Rock, and District 94 Representative Kevin Ritter. Both declined, as did DNR Chief Eric Vendel.

More than 140 people attended this meeting, most of them from the districts represented by the missing officials. They came to tell their stories and ask questions, but the people who claim to represent them could not be bothered to show up. Instead, they were represented by empty chairs, to which the township trustee chairing the meeting occasionally addressed questions.

Speakers at the meeting represented a variety of backgrounds and viewpoints. Owners of oil and gas production wells in Washington County described how their wells were infiltrated by injection well brine and taken out of production, leading to the loss of millions of dollars. An attorney who has worked on gas issues for many years shared information on the legalities surrounding permitting. A local climate activist presented a list of questions that Chief Vendel has not yet answered, many of them regarding the transport of oilfield brine by barge, rail, and road, while I presented information on the toxic and radioactive substances carried in those innocently labeled brine trucks. Audience members raised questions about compensation for production wells lost to brine infiltration, while a Warren Community Water trustee noted that a state geologist had admitted that many unknowns still exist regarding the movement of underground brine.

With so many people raising legitimate concerns, one would think that public servants would consider working with those constituents a primary responsibility. However, last Saturday Senator Chavez, Representative Ritter, and Chief Vendel found more important things to do than listen to the voters whose taxes pay their salaries. I am particularly disappointed in the elected officials, both of whom live in the Marietta area.

Senator Chavez is the CEO of Deep Rock Disposal, the company seeking the permit; he is also the chair of the Ohio Senate Energy Committee and a former member of the Ohio Oil and Gas Commission. Deep Rock’s injection wells have a checkered history. Some of the local oil and gas producers believe that Deep Rock is the source of the brine that has contaminated their wells. In 2023, the company was ordered to suspend operations at its Noble County wells after a series of leaks, one of which contaminated a stream, killed wildlife, and required a $1.3 million cleanup.

It is important to note that there has been no documented migration of injected brine into drinking water aquifers, but humans to this date have not invented a foolproof technology. Warren Community Water has thus far been able to provide clean, safe drinking water to its thousands of rural customers, so it is understandable that its trustees and customers have a right to be concerned about the possibility of radioactivity and chemical toxins migrating into their wells. The senator has stated in interviews that he cares about our water and air since he and his family live here, and there is no reason to doubt that he cares about his family’s well-being. Still, why could he not be bothered to meet with the local voters and officials who took time out of their weekends to attend a public meeting on an issue of concern to them?

Representative Ritter places the following passage on his official website: “Too often we rely on Columbus or even Washington to make decisions that should be happening at the local level. Decisions at the lowest form of government allows voters to have a genuine voice in the process.” That site also touts his concern for improving rural water infrastructure, so why could he not manage to attend a public meeting to hear the voices of his constituents?

If Southeast Ohio and Washington County in particular are to continue to be ground zero for high-pressure injection wells for the country’s toxic oilfield waste, our elected officials owe it to us to meet with citizens and explain why they support this practice.

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Rebecca Phillips is a longtime Ohio resident and a member of Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action.