Crude oil release found in Ohio creek that flows into state lake
A 160-acre lake in southeast Ohio is contaminated with crude oil from an unknown source, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.
A resident reported on Thursday there was a crude oil leak in Plum Run, which empties into Veto Lake in Washington County.
The spill happened on the edge of the lake, said Bob Lane, 76, of Marietta, who owns oil and gas wells in the area. He was one of the first people on scene.
“People here are totally fed up with this,” he said.
ODNR’S Division of Oil and Gas Resources Management responded to contain the “small amount of oil and remediate any impacts to the area,” said Stephanie O’grady, a media and outreach specialist in an email to The Dispatch. “The division is also working to locate the source of the oil and investigate the cause.”
Lane thinks he may know the cause, noting that there is a well dating back to the 1930s where the spill site is located.
“We talked to a landowner whose family used to own the land where this well is,” he said. The man’s uncle drilled numerous wells in the area including some that would be underwater now at Veto Lake.
“Some of those wells that his uncle drilled, he said, have to be under that lake,” Lane said. In reference to the spill site, there’s an orphan well there, the man said.
“He said there’s no doubt in his mind his uncle drilled that because he remembered him being down there drilling in that area,” Lane said.
Veto Lake was built by ODNR in the 1950s. The lake is home to a plethora of fish populations including largemouth bass, sported bass, bluegill, channel fish and saugeye. According ODNR, there have been no reported impacts on wildlife.
“The Division of Oil and Gas Resources Management uses several varieties of specialized equipment including booms and absorbent material to control the release. O’grady said. “As part of the investigation, our survey team conducted a survey of the area with a magnetometer. The survey showed no flow lines, and at this point the division is proceeding with an investigation to determine if the source is an orphan well.”
Ohio has an unknown number of orphan oil and gas wells that remain unplugged. Before regulations were enacted for the oil and gas industry, conventional wells were not tracked.
In an annual report, Ohio documented as many as 972 abandoned wells with no ownership as of 2020. However, some academic studies have suggested that there are as many as 158,000 to 183,000 abandoned wells in the state. There are numerous scenarios ODNR will have to check for.
“There certainly could be some (abandoned wells) under the lake,” said Amy Townsend-small, an associate professor of environmental science and geology at the University of Cincinnati who conducts research on hydraulic fracturing and its effects on groundwater.
“That could be a source of the oil. Or it could be a leaking orphaned well from one of these wells in Plum Run,” she said.
Orphan wells are a source of natural gas and can leak oil to the surface. They can also become problematic when hydraulic fracturing waste migrates from class II injection wells and channels through the old wells’ casings, spewing waste into the open.
Thursday’s spill is less than a mile away from a class II injection well, Redbird No. 4, that had documented issues in late 2019.
In that case, the hydraulic fracturing waste migrated from formations thousands of feet below ground at the Redbird and flowed into producing oil and gas wells about five miles away.
That incident prompted ODNR to test well water of nearby residents out of fear of contamination, conduct a geological assessment and plug at least one nearby orphan well. The investigation did not find contamination in well water.
There are more than 200 class II injection wells in Ohio. The wells are used to dispose of waste from the hydraulic fracturing process, also known as fracking, which took off about 10 years ago.
Sand, water and chemicals are used to break apart rock layers thousands of feet deep below the surface to release oil and gas. The leftover fluid, which the industry refers to as brine, is a radioactive byproduct that is transported and then stored in injection wells.
It’s unclear whether Redbird is connected to Thursday’s spill.
“At this point in the investigation, the division is not able to say whether this is related to Redbird, an orphan well, or something else,” O’grady said. “If a new well is discovered, it will be properly investigated by the Orphan Well Program.”
Plum Run flows adjacent to the Redbird location, according to oil and gas maps.
Because the fluid from injection wells is incredibly salty, there’s also a possibility that the waste fluid damaged metal casings of oil and gas producing wells when it migrated.
“It could have caused either a surface leak or a subsurface leak of oil. So the leaking Redbird injection water coming up into the producing wells could have caused an oil leak,” Townsend-small said.
People in the community have every right to be worried, she said.
“This is scary. This is sounds like it’s all turning into a bad nightmare,” Townsend-small said.
ODNR’S Division of Wildlife is lowering water levels at the lake to find the contamination source.
“The lake level will be drawn down in a controlled manner until it reaches the level necessary to properly assess the situation and make the needed repair. During and following the drawdown, we will be monitoring the embankments and abutments to ensure the integrity of the dam structure is not impacted,” O’grady said. “Existing gate structures on the lake are controlling the water flow to ensure contaminated water does not travel downstream.”
The Washington County area is across from Dupont de Nemours Inc.’s Washington Works plant in West Virginia. The communities are situated on opposite banks of the Ohio River.
The company continues to face litigation after dumping forever chemicals, also called PFAS — perperfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances or C-8, into the water. The surrounding area has already had to deal with contaminated water from that case.
Now if the water is compromised from radioactive fracturing waste, it would be devastating, Lane said. There’s no way to filter out radioactive waste from drinking water once it’s contaminated, Townsend-small said.
“My concern is our fresh water,” Lane said pausing to note that he’s not anti-oil and gas or anti-drilling. “This (waste) water is going to be in our fresh water if it hasn’t already. I don’t know what you might know or remember about C-8 down here from Dupont. We’re going have something down here that makes that look small if they don’t do something about this.” bharvilla@dispatch.com @Beth_harvilla