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Buckeye Brine Seeks Permit for 4th Injection Well in Coshocton, OH

Buckeye Brine – Coshocton (click for larger version)

MDN has covered news about wastewater injection well company Buckeye Brine for more than a decade (see our Buckeye Brine stories here). Over the years, the company has drilled and safely operated three injection wells at the same location in Coshocton County, OH. Buckeye recently filed an application with the Ohio EPA to drill and operate a fourth wastewater injection well at the Coshocton location. The OEPA recently held a hearing, and as before, a group of activists and local residents turned up to oppose the plan.
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Ohio Hearing re Making Coshocton Class II Injection Wells Class I

The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (OEPA) will hold a public hearing on April 15 to consider draft permits the agency has floated to allow two frack wastewater injection wells (Class II) in Coshocton County to be reclassified as Class I wells, allowing them to accept waste other than frack waste.
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Ohio EPA Considers Converting Class II Injection Wells to Class I

Buckeye Brine, a relatively young Ohio-based company, owns and operates three shale wastewater injection wells in Coshocton County. Buckeye has operated their three Class II (as they are known) injection wells “flawlessly” for the past five years. No earthquakes. No spills. No leaks back to the surface. Nothing. Buckeye now wants to re-designate two of the three wells as Class I wells, which would allow them to accept non-shale wastewater–from industrial equipment operators, soap manufacturers, food processors, power plants, and municipal wastewater treatment plants. But antis are kicking up a fuss, claiming the change will pollute everything and everyone from here to Timbuktu. Fortunately state regulators are not swayed by such histrionics. The Ohio EPA is accepting public comments on the conversion until Nov. 26. There’s still time to write in and support the project!
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Antis Fight Plan to Convert 2 Class II Injection Wells in OH to Class I

In 2013, Buckeye Brine, a relatively young Ohio-based company, added a second shale wastewater injection well in Coshocton County (see Buckeye Brine Adds Second Injection Well, Business Expands Rapidly). Buckeye later added a third injection well. After an oil or gas well is drilled and fracked, wastewater from fracking flows back out for a week or two. After that, over time (years in most cases) naturally occurring water from deep underground continues to flow. That naturally occurring water contains a lot of dissolved minerals in it, making it much “saltier” than even ocean water–hence the term brine. Buckeye Brine has operated their three Class II (as they are known) injection wells “flawlessly” for the past five years. No earthquakes. No spills. No leaks back to the surface. Nothing. Buckeye now wants to re-designate two of the three wells as Class I wells, which would allow them to accept non-shale wastewater–from industrial equipment operators, soap manufacturers, food processors, power plants, and municipal wastewater treatment plants. The new wastewater sources for a Class I well are considered “nonhazardous.” However, so-called environmental groups are opposing the change from Class II to Class I…
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MDN Exclusive: 2016 Ohio Wastewater Disposal Market Report

We are super excited to bring you an exclusive report that has just been released by MDN subscriber Andrew Kilgore. The report is titled “2016 Ohio Wastewater Disposal Market Report” (full copy below) and it details the wastewater injection well industry in Ohio. Andrew has spent most of his career working in the Appalachian Basin. He is an alumnus of BlueJack Energy (see Wastewater Co. BlueJack Energy Launches with $100M Investment), EnLink Midstream, and co-founder of UM Resources. Andrew authored the report and offered to let MDN be the first media outlet to release it. We thank him! The report finds that in 2016 the total amount of wastewater disposed of in Ohio was 29.4 million barrels–almost 2 million fewer barrels disposed of compared to 2015. The majority of the decline was from wastewater from out-of-state slowing down (i.e. from Pennsylvania and West Virginia). The report outlines a number of reasons for the decline in wastewater volume disposed in OH, with the primary reason being less drilling due to the low commodity price of natural gas. A few quick facts from the report: Washington County, OH saw the most volume of wastewater disposed. Buckeye Brine processed the most wastewater volume. Here’s the full report…
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Buckeye Brine Adds Second Injection Well, Business Expands Rapidly

Buckeye Brine is a relatively new Ohio company that has so far built one brine injection well in Coshocton County, OH and is drilling a second injection now and considering adding a frack wastewater recycling facility. Quick tutorial: After an oil or gas well is drilled and fracked, wastewater from fracking flows back out for a week or two. After that, over time (years in some cases) naturally occurring water from deep underground–not fresh water from near the surface, but water from thousands of feet down–continues to flow from some wells. That naturally occurring water contains a lot of dissolved minerals in it, making it much “saltier” than even ocean water–hence the term brine.

Buckeye injects brine back into the ground. A bit more about Buckeye’s operation to date, and what they have planned…
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