Politics & Government

Frack Water Disposal in Portage No Cause for Immediate Concern in Kent

No frack water waste disposal wells in immediate proximity of Kent's water supply

Recent headlines declaring Portage County the fracking waste water disposal capital of Ohio in the Akron Beacon Journal and Mother Jones have alarmed area residents.

But Kent city officials aren’t sweating yet.

The Beacon Journal reported that Portage led Ohio counties in 2012 with 2.4 million barrels of brine and other wastes from hydraulic fracturing injected into 15 waste wells throughout the county.

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Kent Service Director Gene Roberts said, according to information from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, none of the active wastewater wells are close to the underground well fields that populate Kent’s drinking water supply.

“There’s nothing approximate to our well field,” Roberts said. “So, that gives me some comfort.”

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Proponents of the practice say the injection wells are safe, while critics claim the waste wells are threats to aquifers. In 2012 and injection well near Youngstown, OH, was linked to earthquakes in the region.

Kent’s water is supplied by high-yield, deep wells drilled into sand and gravel aquifers. The wells are replenished as surface and below ground water migrates into aquifers.

Steve Hardesty, manager of Kent’s Water Treatment Plant, told Kent City Council during a recent presentation on the city’s water supply that the sand and gravel aquifers are great producers because they replenish so quickly.

“But that also makes them highly susceptible to contamination,” he said.

The wells are fed by what’s called a cone of influence, which is a large area of the city and connecting townships where both ground and below ground water migrates into the aquifers.

Kent has two primary cones of influence, and those two areas have a one-year and five-year time of travel to the aquifers—which means if there were a contaminant spill within a cone of influence it would take that length of time to reach the city’s aquifers if it weren’t completely cleaned up.

None of the injection wells fall within Kent’s cones of influence for its aquifers.

The Beacon Journal reported eight different injection well operators pumped the frack waste into injection wells in Nelson, Edinburg, Brimfield, Hiram and Freedom townships.

“Most of our water comes from the east, due west,” Roberts said. “If they came over and … put in an injection well in (Kent), I would be concerned. If I saw a rig or a potential (injection) well going within that, we would contact the EPA and request they pull that permit.”

City officials regularly monitor the ODNR website and reports about potential gas wells and waste wells, and Kent’s water supply wells undergo about 90,000 tests per year—about 240 per day—for various contaminants.

Councilwoman Heidi Shaffer said that, so far, there doesn’t seem to be any immediate concern for Kent that would prompt any potential legislative action.

Still, she sees the fact that Portage is the state’s leading wastewater site as embarrassing for the entire county and wants to work with other area leaders to stay on top of the issue.

“I find it to be incredibly embarrassing for Portage County,” Shaffer said. “This is not just an inside the city of Kent issue. We need to talk to our neighbors, Franklin Township and Brimfield Township, for sure. Especially Franklin Township because they are close to our well fields.

“Unfortunately this keeps getting passed off as ‘We can’t do anything, our hands are tied,’” she said. “I think we need to make our voices heard. I’m still looking into what action might be warranted.”


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