Ohio House OKs use of oil and gas brine for de-icing

But concern over level of dangerous chemicals in brine.

— The Ohio COLUMBUS

House of Representatives last week passed legislation allowing brine from vertical oil and gas drilling to be used for road de-icing, despite concerns that the salty liquid contains dangerous and radioactive chemicals.

House Bill 393, which heads to the Senate after passing the House 52-31, is touted by supporters as a way to promote the use of a product that is a safer and less corrosive alternative than rock salt to keep roads ice-free.

State Rep. Anthony DeVitis noted that for more than a decade, the Ohio Department of Transportation used brine from drilling operations.

However, in 2014, state lawmakers imposed restrictions on the sale of fracking byproducts that inadvertently applied to vertical wells too. DeVitis said this bill, which would not apply to brine used in horizontal “fracking” drilling operations, would rectify that move.

“It encourages recycling. It encourages protecting our environment. It encourages small businesses to invest, do research and establish business in Ohio,” said DeVitis, a Republican from Green.

No one spoke on the House floor against the legislation.

However, the bill has been opposed by a number of environmental groups, which point to a state report showing the salty liquid has radium levels up to 500 times higher than federal drinking-water limits.

According to the 2017 memo from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, state officials found high radium levels in samples taken from a suburban Akron company, as well as from de-icers purchased at nearby stores.

The disclosure of the report led state Rep. Michael O’Brien, a Warren Democrat, to remove himself as a lead co-sponsor of the bill. O’Brien told cleveland.com earlier this year that the brine’s radioactivity was “concerning.”

O’Brien, along with most House Democrats and handful of Republicans, voted against the bill.