By Jake Zuckerman Advance Ohio Media COLUMBUS Injection wells owned by an Ohio state senator leaked frack- ing waste deep underground in Noble County before blast- ing through the surface miles away at an oil well, warrant- ing a $1.3 million cleanup effort. The state paid to remedi- ate the mess in January 2021, but it asked state Sen. Brian Deeprock Dis- posal Solutions for a dime to cover the costs. Instead, state regulators billed the owners of the idled produc- tion well that the brine used as a chimney to reach the surface before contaminat- ing nearby land and water. State ethics forms show Deeprock i owned by av a Re i a appointed to the seat in December.
He owns several oil and gas companies, and reported investments in sev- eral others. In June 2021, Gov. Mike DeWine appointed Chavez to serve on the Oil and Gas Commission, a panel of five commissioners that consid- ers appeals of orders against the industry. Chavez represented petro- until his appointment to the Senate. That same year, brine from Deeprock injection wells shot out of the ground like a busted sprinkler head.
On Jan. 5, 2021, state records reflected that Dee- prock Disposal Solutions acquired two wells hous- ing brine the toxic, some- times radioactive byproduct of fracking operations at high pressure, thousands of feet underground. At that point, their brine already had reached at least three production wells over the prior decade, according to the Ohio Department of Nat- ural Resources. Mere weeks after the trans- fer, on Jan. 24, a production well owned by West Virgin- ia-based Genesis Resources began spitting out brine at rates reaching 42 gallons per minute, threatening to reach two nearby rivers and a creek.
It took ODNR offi- cials and contractors days to plug the leak. Records show officials removed more than 362,000 gallons of liquid from a nearby stream and that 450 fish, salamanders, frogs and other nearby ani- mals died. The Genesis well produced oil in years. Ohio Environmental Protection Agency reports, obtained in a public records request, state that Resources was not engaged in the response and had departed the This was but one of five well incidents of brine discharging from nearby production wells between 2010 and 2023. The releases occurred miles northeast of Deep- injection wells, and as far as 5 miles southwest.
The permits for those wells allow for it only to leach into the ground within a half- mile radius. Two years after the Gen- esis blowout, EPA officials determined another produc- tion well a few miles away was oilfield brine into a nearby intermittent Only then did ODNR suspend opera- tions and formally attribute the five spillage incidents to its operations. Instead of Deeprock, the department in January 2023 ordered Genesis to pay back the $1.3 million the state spent on remediating the 2021 well blowout. Genesis argued that Deeprock made the mess and should pay to clean it up. Lawyers for both the company and an insurer suggested ODNR was negli- gent in permitting the injec- tion wells in the first place.
ODNR, in response, said where the brine came from. What matters is that the brine came up through Gene- abandoned oil well like a straw, without which it have surfaced. If Genesis thinks this is Dee- fault, the company can always file a lawsuit. As required by state law, Deeprock posted a $15,000 bond and has provided cer- tificates of insurance total- ing $15 million in coverage, ODNR said. Many in the rural area of southeast Ohio rely on pri- vate wells for drinking water.
ODNR spokesman Andy Chow said no rea- son to believe water has been contaminated, and there are no mapped groundwa- ter wells within a half-mile radius of the affected produc- tion wells. ODNR, he said, aware of any ongoing monitoring. But Dave Yoxtheimer, a professor at the Penn State College of Earth and Min- eral Sciences, said the pat- tern of spills should warrant water testing of nearby pri- vate sources. want my water tested if I lived within a mile or he said. Chavez declined to be interviewed or answer spe- cific questions about the inci- dents.
He offered a statement via a Senate spokesman. an expert in the field, a former member of the Oil and Gas Commission, and as a responsible operator, public and environmental safety are paramount to Sen- ator the statement reads. petroleum engi- neers to the welders on a platform, these hard-working professionals have families who also want clean air and water, despite what radical political activists and media want you to think. This industry is needed now more than ever, as it respon- sibly generates reliable and affordable energy that the so called politi- cal lobby Leaks Fracking technically known as hydraulic frac- turing entails spraying high volumes of a mixture of water, sand and chemicals to free methane from shale thousands of feet underfoot. The process produces brine as a byproduct, which can pick up some of the radioactive elements from below.
This toxic brew needs to be either treated or properly disposed of. There are 250 Class II injection wells in Ohio, each housing millions of gallons of brine at high pressure underground. Basic phys- ics and geology explain the splashy episodes. If fluid underground injected at very high pressure, it nat- urally wants to go toward the low-pressure conduit of the production well. surprising part to me is that allowing injection at high enough pressure that seeing fluids migrate miles away, which is a pretty large dis- tance for an injection said Yoxtheimer, the Penn State professor.
While Ohio law requires production well owners to plug their wells after done producing, the Genesis well in question is but one of the estimated tens of thou- sands in the state that are no longer being used to pro- duce oil or natural gas and for the most part are con- sidered abandoned. On Jan. 3, 2023, ODNR formally ordered Genesis to reimburse the state for $1.3 million in cleanup costs. Six days later, ODNR suspended operations given the history of its brine dis- charges. But in somewhat contradictory fashion, the agency seek money from the company.
if you read between the lines, that would appear to be what ODNR is saying: you guys (Deep- rock) caused the Yoxtheimer said. on the other hand, we issued you a permit that allows you to cause the Appeal When asked why ODNR is both blaming Deeprock for the mess but asking some- one else to pay for it, Chow said on Ohio law, who we sought reim- bursem*nt He specify which law. Genesis appealed its case to the Oil and Gas Com- mission in February 2023, which has not yet issued a final ruling. In June 2023, the commission voted 4-0 in denying a request from Genesis to pause $1.3 million reimbursem*nt order as it considers the appeal. Chavez recused himself.
By December of that year, Chavez left the com- mission to begin working as a senator. Genesis has since alleged that ODNR has refused to turn over documents regarding its issuance of permits to Deeprock, and its inves- tigation that led them to blame Deeprock for the spilt brine. Genesis ques- tioned whether ODNR was negligent in awarding the permits, or failing to warn nearby well owners of the potential dangers. of the great mys- teries here is why the state is pursuing us so hard and apparently not going after said Kevin Maloney, a Genesis attor- ney, in an interview. ODNR argued that all that matters is that Gen- esis failed to plug its well when it stopped producing oil.
And that well leaked brine. Genesis can sue Dee- prock in court if it wants, but ODNR said its job is to get the most proximal party to clean up the mess. instead, sim- ply points the finger and nearby injection wells and argues that if the leaked brine originated from those wells, it cannot be liable for any subsequent issues at its ODNR lawyers wrote. Appointed Chavez earns at least $100,000 per year from both Deeprock and Utica Assets LLC, ethics forms show. He also reported earn- ing between $50,000 and $100,000 from Deep Rock Investments LLC, and the same from serving as a vice president of Condevco.
And he owns at least $1,000 each of common stock in Devon Energy Corp, Diamondback Energy, Halliburton and Marathon Petroleum. He appeared on a recent podcast hosted by Ohio Senate President Matt Huff- man and his press team. Chavez said he took over a business started by his in-laws, operating 400 ver- tical oil and gas wells. Speaking to the senate president, he downplayed risks of climate change, not- ing that while gas emits car- bon dioxide, so do humans while breathing or open- ing a can of soda. Carbon dioxide in the air, he said, is no bad thing.
fact, when we go back and look at the his- toric time, the reasons why the dinosaurs were so big is because there was a lot more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and the earth was he said. plants were bigger. They have to work so hard so survive. They were big. The earth is always changing, and some- thing that we need to be able to understand, and not just point fingers and look at short term solu- tions, or short-term man- ufactured IN-DEPTH COVERAGE Fracking wells owned by Ohio senator leaking A dormant natural gas production well in Noble County sprays toxic brine on Jan.
24, 2021. Ohio Department of Natural Resources officials traced the brine to a well owned by Ohio Sen. Brian Chavez. ODNR Ohio Sen. Brian Chavez owns Deeprock Disposal Solutions and fracking waste wells that leaked brine.
OHIO SENATE LOCAL STATE TUESDAY, MAY 7, 2024 JOURNAL-NEWS TRUSTED SINCE 1898 A5 Age 80 of Trenton, passed away surrounded by family at her residence on Saturday, May 4, 2024. Billie was born in Manchester, Kentucky on July 26, 1943 to Tite and Grace (Stellings) Whicker. On March 3, 1962, she married James H. Burns. Together they had sev- en children.
Billie was a dieti- cian at Powell Nursing Home for many years. The job she took the most pride in was raising her seven children and being a grandma. Billie is sur- vived by her children, Betty (Kurt) Smith, Richard (Wendy) Burns, Alex (Jolene) Burns, Paul Burns, Billy (Mellissa) Burns and Roxann Burns; her grandchildren, Nate, Katie, Amanda, Ashley, Alyssa, James, Jimmy, John, Jeremy, Amanda, Kristina, Rachel, Andrea, Paul Ben, Danielle, Cassidy and Natalie; her 24 great grandchildren; her siblings, Norma, Brenda, Lisa, Theresa, Tite and Vincent; her sisters-in-law, Jane, Joan and Diane; her beloved dog, Oakley and many nieces and nephews. Billie was preceded in death by her parents, Tite, Grace and stepfather, Charles her husband of 33 years, James H. Burns her son, James H.
Burns her in-laws, Jodie and Louella Burns; her siblings, Connie, Martha, Mary, Richard, Johnny, Rocky and Charles her sisters-in-law, Lin- da and Barb; and her brother-in-law, John. Visitation will be held on Thursday, May 9, 2024 from 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM at Brown Dawson Flick Funeral Home, 330 Pershing Avenue, Hamilton, Ohio 45011. Funeral service will be held at Brown Dawson Flick Funeral Homeon Thursday, May 9, 2024 at 12:00 PM with Rev. Rick Witt Entombment will follow at Rose Hill Burial Park. Memorial contributions can be made to Hospice of Hamilton.
The family would like to extend a special thank you to her home hospice nurses, Janelle and Donna. BURNS (Whicker), Billie YOU CAN COUNT ON US. EVERY DAY. When items are paid directly to Woodside, we guarantee that the price you pay will be secured and locked in at price when time to assist your family in the inevitable at-need service. 1401 Woodside Blvd.
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