Officials comment on injection wells
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ST. CLAIRSVILLE -- Belmont County officials were disppointed and dismayed by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources' approval of a permit for New Jersey-based Omni Energy Co. to place two saltwater injection wells at the intersection of U.S. 40 and Ohio 331.
The Ohio Supreme Court had ordered ODNR to make a decision regarding the permit. This occurred after a lawsuit filed by Robert E. "Bob" Murray, who has since died, had delayed the process since April. Murray's filing argued that there should be a public hearing on the matter to allow nearby residents to voice their concerns. The coronavirus pandemic had prevented such a gathering, the High Court ruled that such a meeting was not required.
The Richland Township trustees previously tabled a request from Omni Energy to allow ingress from U.S. 40 onto Pickering Road, but Ohio Department of Transportation spokeswoman Lauren Borell confirmed that ODOT has granted Omni Energy a permit to make an access road for the site.
"Our only role in this was to review and consider their application for construction of an access drive to the injection well site, and to connect them to U.S. 40," she said. "All the necessary information on the drive application was previously provided to us and reviewed. Once Omni provided those copies of ODNR permits that were recently approved, District 11 did issue a right-of-way permit for construction. ... This permit was handled as we would throughout the state. ... We issue probably thousands of permits each year."
The Belmont County Board of Commissioners had also opposed the presence of wells at that site.
"I'm disappointed that they came out with that decision," Commissioner Jerry Echemann said, adding the commissioners had relayed their concerns to ODNR and the opinion that the site was not suitable for wells.
"Unfortunately, they don't have to go by anything that we say. They can issue that permit as they like, and they did it without notifying us. We would have appreciated giving us a heads-up a few days before, but we found out the same time as the rest of the general public," Echemann said. "There's not much we can do. That's the way the law reads, but if ODNR feels it's geologically possible to have an injection well at that site, they can give approval, which is what they did."
"I understand the need to have business, but I wish they'd have found a better location. I'm not thrilled about where they're going to put that," St. Clairsville Mayor Kathryn Thalman said. "It's out of the city limits. There's nothing we can do about it."
Thalman expressed concerns about road damage due to increased traffic, as well as the possibility of accidents.
Omni officials have said all precautions will be taken and the company intends to proceed quickly. The company could be ready to apply for a permit to operate the wells by late spring or early summer.