693 of Ohio’s gas and oil wells failed inspections in 2011

We took a look at data from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) obtained through public record requests along with data obtained from ODNR’s RBDMS database and we found that 693 gas and oil wells in Ohio failed inspections performed by ODNR inspectors last year, resulting in 1,625 distinct violations.

The most frequent citations appear to be for older, non-productive wells that have often been abandoned or unused for many years. Violations for Failure to legibly identify well (347 violations) were most frequent, followed by Nonproduction wells that need to be plugged or placed in temporary inactive status (251 violations). But many more serious violations were also identified including:

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Geologist: Site injection wells away from critical infrastructure

"If you took a brick in each hand and tried to slide them past one another, the rough surface along the boundary would represent a fault and the frictional resistance that is present," explained Marshall University geologist Ronald Martino.

 "When you build pore fluids up in faults, you decrease the resistance. The fault will slip at lower thresholds than it would naturally so you're triggering movement along the fault — it's occurring sooner and more frequently than it would if left alone under natural conditions."

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Call For Poems: PUDDING MAGAZINE IS LOOKING FOR SUBMISSIONS FOR A SPECIAL EDITION OF ECOPOETRY.

Editorial Focus

Website: puddingmagazine.com

Pudding Magazine is a print journal that focuses on publishing eclectic, sophisticated, poetry that appeals to our conscience through bold and exacting language conjuring powerful imagery.  Together with our sponsor EPOC (EcoPoetry of Ohio Center), we focus in this special issue on work that has vision, passion, and compels the reader to act rather than to indulge or resign – a call to arms – a joining forces – in defense of our natural world: experiment, provoke, innovate, compel, and lament!

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Rep. Driehaus Calls for Hearings on Fracking Bills

State Rep Denise Driehaus sends letter to Rep. Hall asking for hearings on House Bills 345 and 351 to pass a moratorium on fracking in Ohio.

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Liberty plans to study its right to ban drilling

In 2004, the state Legislature passed House Bill 278 giving sole regulatory authority on gas and oil drilling to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.

The future resolution, township officials said, would also urge state lawmakers to pass a statewide moratorium on drilling to allow a study of drilling’s safety.

“We all want job creation,” said township Administrator Pat Ungaro. Injection well drilling “may create a lot of jobs, but obviously it’s creating a problem. The last [earthquake] I think really woke everyone up.”

Liberty is one of the first townships in the state to ask for a ban, Stoyak said.

In Hubbard Township, where an injection well is planned for construction, Trustee Fred Hanley said the township tried to ban the well and wrote to Gov. John Kasich, but nothing has worked.

But the difference between Hubbard and Liberty is that Liberty is a home-rule township, allowing it to assert more zoning control than a normal township.

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Gas-rich Ohio is in the running for a $2 billion chemical plant

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A giant chemical plant that processes natural gas is coming to the Midwest and Ohio leaders hope the state's newly tapped gas deposits, coupled with growing industries that use gas products, make Ohio the favored location.

Shell Chemical is finalizing plans for a $2 billion complex that is expected to create hundreds of jobs and pull other industries and manufacturers into its orbit. Shell has said only that it plans to build in either West Virginia, Pennsylvania or Ohio, three states that overlay ancient shale beds rich in natural gas.

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The plant needs hundreds of acres of land, according to Dan Carlson, Shell Chemical's general manager of new business development in the Americas. Shell would also like access to railroads, river barges, a skilled workforce and university researchers, Carlson said via email.

"What we're looking for is cost-effectiveness and ease in moving this project forward quickly," he added.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich flew to Houston in late November to make a personal pitch to Shell executives and the state has provided written appeals from the governor's Republican allies and Democratic rivals alike, including Democratic House Minority Leader Armond Budish of Beachwood and U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown.

http://www.cleveland.com/shalegas/index.ssf/2012/01/gas-rich_ohio_is_in_the_runnin.html

Ohio House subcommittee will hold a hearing in the Valley on oil and gas drilling

EVENT: State Representative Sean O'Brien says the hearing will be January 17th at 10:00 a.m. at Youngstown State University

http://www.wfmj.com/story/16458424/ohio-house-subcommitte-will-hold-a-hearing-in-the-valley-on-oil-and-gas-drilling