Published: Friday, July 30, 2010

“We know they don’t have enough inspectors,” councilwoman Karen Schneider said, saying any valve could fail anytime in any part of town. “There’s no guarantee with any of these damn wells.”

Councilman Doug Bletcher said the situation was scary because he suspects ODNR has no process to keep track of defective equipment.

http://blog.cleveland.com/sunmessenger/2010/07/ohio_will_sue_gates_mills_gas.html

Article published July 30, 2010

"For the profits this industry is making, the investment [in public safety and the environment] should be greater," Mr. Doyle said.

http://toledoblade.com/article/20100730/NEWS16/7290358

Friday, July 30

Ohio isn't immune to oil spills.

Federal regulators have recorded 27 spills from fuel pipelines here totaling more than 323,000 gallons from 2000 through 2009.  They include six deaths, 12 injuries and $36.5 million in damage.

“A spokesperson from Congressman Maurice Hinchey's office said that this latest accident underlines the need for oversight into the drilling industry because there are  "lots of risks" to industry workers and the public.”

http://www.wicz.com/news2005/viewarticle.asp?a=15105

July 24, 2010

The explosion occurred in a remote, wooded area off Rich Hill Road at 9:48 a.m., shaking nearby houses and sending a plume of black smoke into the air, officials said. The power of the blast flung a nearby oil storage tank that measured 12 feet tall and 8 feet wide more than 70 yards, Full said.

Tom Tugend, deputy chief of the ODNR's Division of Mineral Resources Management, said one of the reasons the well was denied was that an alleged violation was found by the ODNR on a Beck Energy-drilled well in Benton Township in Monroe County, Ohio.

"An inspector noticed drilling fluids had been leaked into a stream," Tugend said. "There was a large notch on the side of the drilling pit that released the fluids. The drilling fluids and sediment entered the stream.

http://www.stowsentry.co...

Published on Friday, Jul 23, 2010

Denial of gas well rightly flags health and safety concerns

In March, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency launched a new study on the effects of hydraulic fracturing on groundwater and human health. Launching the study should signal officials in Ohio to consider with greater care the tradeoffs of drilling wells in residential areas.

http://www.ohio.com/editorial/opinions/99084394.html

Gas line hit by tractor; vapor cloud reached 50 feet into air

Fire Capt. Brooks Ross said firefighters found natural gas being emitted from a 1-inch metal pipe between the well-head and the oil/gas separator. It caused a vapor cloud to rise about 50 feet into the air.

http://www.timesreporter.com/topstories/x98872548/Gas-leak-near-Dover-investigated

January 21, 2010

Residents opposed to the drilling had contended in the lawsuit that it would be a violation of the deed restrictions of the park.

"Obviously, most people are not willing to loosely risk their largest financial asset, their homes, as well as their health," Ms. Fee said.

http://www.chagrinvalleytimes.com/NC/0/1618.html

June 17, 2010

Many in the audience have been approached about leasing their ground for gas drilling through the Marcellus shale, or were concerned for what may be ahead for the environment due to the effects of the drilling.

http://www.farmanddairy.com/news/marcellus-shale-boom-making-its-way-to-ohio-only-time-will-tell-the-story/15146.html

Posted Jul 11, 2010

Dover officials hope project rejected

Mayor Richard Homrighausen, who last month maintained that the church property isn’t the place for an oil and gas well, said he hasn’t been informed of any decision.

http://www.timesreporter.com/communities/x1609360671/OIL-WELL-PROPOSAL-UNDER-FIRE

The alleged willful violations cite the company's failure to provide appropriate respiratory protection, assess the worksite for potential respiratory hazards and provide adequate training.

https://hr.cch.com/news/safety/031910a.asp

Posted: 05/27/2010

Noise and smell irritating residents

The company said 72 nearby property owners signed off on the deal and will share in royalties estimated at $300,000  over 20 years. Those against the drilling said that will only amount to a couple hundred bucks a year and the money isn't worth the noise.

http://www.newsnet5.com/dpp/news/local_news/akron_canton_news/neighbors-irate-over-drilling-

Posted: 05/11/2010

MASSILLON, Ohio - The church was offered a signing bonus and royalty checks for the mineral rights. But Jekubic is worried about possible dangers, like the 2007 explosion in Bainbridge Township that forced a dozen families from their homes.

http://www.newsnet5.com/dpp/news/local_news/akron_canton_news/church-plans-for-oil-well-cause-troubles

Posted: 9/29/2009

The well is located in a corn field.

Randolph Township Trustee Roger Klodt told WKYC that witnesses reported seeing a large fireball following the blast at the well on Pamer Road Tuesday morning.

http://www.wkyc.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=122434

Sunday,  October 19, 2008

Conley said he and his wife followed the smoke to the oil well a few hundred yards from their home. They discovered one of the victims next to a pickup truck. Shortly thereafter, he heard the second explosion.

Posted: 3/29/2010

Warren Brown, a longtime opponent of the huge injection well project near Clyde, Ohio told the group that his daughter died from cancer that was environmentally caused.

HARTLAND TOWNSHIP -- Preferred Fluids Management, of Austin, Texas, has applied for a permit for two wells "for the injection of brine water produced in association with oil and natural gas."  The company, Preferred Fluids Management, plans to inject thousands of gallons of drilling waste water into the g...

Tuesday March 30 2010

While the project stirred controversy, prompting meetings and objections from area residents, the official reason for the reversal appears to be a wetlands issue.

“From a personal standpoint, from an environmentalist, here is the EPA ready for a $2 million study and we are wondering or not if it is a good idea,” Huron County Highway Department spokesman Carl Essex said. “In a rural area which has houses near the site and in an area where our residents still dep...

Geology; August 1988; v. 16; no. 8; p. 739-742

On January 31, 1986, an earthquake of Richter magnitude 4.9 occurred in northeastern Ohio some 17.0 km south of the Perry Nuclear Power Plant (PNPP) and 12.0 km south of the Calhio injection wells.

The indicated pressure buildup of 5.3 MPa at the epicenter may have been sufficient to trigger the January 31, 1986, earthquake.

http://geology.geoscienceworld.org/cgi/content/abstract/16/8/739

Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America; February 2004; v. 94; no. 1; p. 76-87

A persistent earthquake sequence in northeast Ohio includes many distinct fore-main-aftershock subsequences, illuminates two faults, and was triggered by fluid injection.

http://www.bssaonline.org/cgi/content/abstract/94/1/76

Posted: 07/02/2010

The explosion happened around 1 a.m. in a field on LaFever Road near Geneva.

The cause of the blast is still under investigation.

Published: Thursday, July 08, 2010

Marshall Ford owner Larry Elk was unaware of a proposed gas well on his property.

When Seagull Development Corporation approached the city to enter into a contract for a new oil and gas well on the Marshall Ford land, Elk said he heard nothing of the matter. He found out about the proposal after reading about it in the June 24 Sun Messenger.

http://blog.cleveland.com/sunmessenger/2010/07/mayfield_heights_marshall_ford.html

Old gas wells are a growing problem

“The Elyria Fire Department stepped in and forced all residents to permanently evacuate their apartments.”

"Northeast Ohio gas companies confirm there are a growing number of abandoned gas well causing problems. Many of the wells were created 70 to 80 years ago, and the underground pipes continue to rust and develop leaks."

Tom Meyer  : 6/30/2010
"It's a troubling trend we found happening statewide -- even as the state's allowed more than 1,000 wells to be drilled in urban areas during that time Violations issued by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, or ODNR, have dropped 58 percent, according to state figures."
VIDEO: http://www.wkyc.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=138748