Martins Ferry Not Getting Answers on Frack Waste Facility Cleanup
Austin Master Services (AMS) is a radiological waste management solutions company operating in Martins Ferry (Belmont County), OH, close to the Ohio River. Media accounts report that AMS has stored at least 10,000 tons of fracking waste (drill cuttings with low radioactivity) at the facility. The facility is rated and permitted to hold 600 tons. In March, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost asked the Belmont County Common Pleas Court to block AMS from receiving more waste and order it to clean up and comply with its rating. The court granted both requests with a deadline of April 17 to comply (see Court Orders Austin Master to Clean Up Martins Ferry Frack Waste). The deadline came and went without compliance. Martins Ferry officials want answers from the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR), which permitted and is supposed to oversee the facility, about when it will be cleaned up.
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Last week, the Baker Hughes U.S. rig count lost another two rigs, down to 603, the lowest the count has been since January of 2022. Since last October, the national count had gone as low as 616 and as high as 629, and that was it — a fairly narrow band. That is, until three weeks when it crashed through the floor and went lower, down to 613. Then, two weeks ago, it was down to 605. And now, it has gone even lower, down to 603. Will we see it go lower than 600?
Two weeks ago, during the week of April 22 – 28, there were 26 new permits issued to drill in the Marcellus/Utica. Last week, for April 29 – May 5, there were just 16 new permits issued. Encino Energy was the top receiver of permits with 7 permits between two counties: Carroll and Harrison, both in Ohio. EQT (mainly under its Rice Drilling name) received 5 permits between Fayette and Greene counties in Pennsylvania. INR picked up 2 new permits in Guernsey County, OH. Both LOLA Energy and Chesapeake Energy picked up 1 new permit for Butler and Sullivan counties in Pennsylvania.
EOG Resources, one of the largest oil and gas drillers in the U.S. (with international operations in Trinidad and China), owns a huge 430,000+ acres of leases in the Ohio Utica. EOG calls its position the “Ohio Utica combo play” and now considers it one of the company’s “premium plays.” EOG concentrates on oil drilling in the Utica. As part of the company’s first quarter 2024 update, Keith Trasko, Senior VP for Exploration and Production at EOG, said Utica wells “compete with the best plays in America, very comparable to the Permian on a production per foot basis.” Wow! High praise indeed. The Utica is the new Permian…we like the sound of that!
Two more tracts of Ohio public lands designated as “wildlife areas” have been nominated by shale companies to be drilled and fracked under (not on), which has the anti-fossil fuel group Save Ohio Parks up in arms. The tagline for Save Ohio Parks is “No fracking on public lands.” The thing is, there isn’t any fracking on public lands in Ohio. It’s UNDER, not ON. Well pads and equipment would be erected on PRIVATE land adjacent to the public land. There is no disturbance of any kind on top of Ohio’s public lands. The new parcels nominated include 84 acres in the Keen Wildlife Area in Washington Township (Harrison County). A second parcel of 30 acres has also been nominated for the Egypt Valley Wildlife Area in Flushing Township (Belmont County).
Last Thursday, MDN brought you the news that Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost asked a Belmont County judge to find Austin Master Services (AMS) and Brad D. Domitrovitsch, who is in control of the company (both CEO and CFO), in contempt for “failing to meet the court’s deadline to clean up the illegal levels of fracking waste stored at its recycling facility in Martins Ferry” (see 
The Cleveland Plain Dealer has the long knives out for Ohio State Senator Brian Chavez (Republican) and Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (also a Republican). The Plain Dealer is accusing DeWine’s Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) of corruption in not charging an injection well company owned by Chavez called DeepRock Disposal $1.3 million for cleaning up wastewater that migrated from a DeepRock injection well to a nearby conventional production well in Noble County. Instead, says the Plain Dealer, the ODNR sent the bill to the conventional well operator!
Last week, the Baker Hughes U.S. rig count lost another eight rigs, down to 605, the lowest the count has been since January of 2022. Since last October, the national count had gone as low as 616 and as high as 629, and that was it. No higher and no lower. That is, until two weeks when it crashed through the floor and went lower, down to 613. And now, it has gone even lower, down to 605. The Marcellus/Utica remained even at 40 rigs after losing one rig two weeks ago. Pennsylvania operates 21 rigs; Ohio operates 11 active rigs; and West Virginia operates 8 rigs.
Gulfport Energy, the third-largest driller in the Ohio Utica Shale (by the number of wells drilled), reported its first quarter 2024 numbers earlier this week. The company drills Utica *and* Marcellus wells in Ohio. It also has an active drilling program in the Oklahoma SCOOP shale play. Gulfport’s net daily production for 1Q24 averaged 1,053.7 MMcfe/d, down just a shade from 1Q23’s average of 1,057.4 MMcfe/d. Production in 1Q consisted of 831.3 MMcfe/d in the Utica/Marcellus (79%) and 222.4 MMcfe/d in the SCOOP (21%). The production mix was comprised of approximately 92% natural gas, 6% natural gas liquids (NGLs), and 2% oil and condensate.
Encino Energy published its annual Community Progress Report for 2023 yesterday. The report provides insight into the company’s achievements through its Community Partnership Program and highlights its investments in the communities in which it operates. In five years of active operations in Ohio, Encino has donated more than $2 million to 145 community groups and organizations in the state. In addition, Encino employees have donated more than 2,000 hours of time to volunteer. Recipients include first responders at fire and police departments, seniors groups, 4H, hospitals, and many more.
One month ago, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost took legal action seeking to force Austin Master Services (AMS), a radiological waste management solutions company operating in Belmont County, OH, to correct “egregious violations of Ohio law” regarding the storage of oil and gas waste that he says threatens the Ohio River and Martins Ferry’s drinking water supply (see