BLM Sets Sept. Date to Auction 41 Parcels in OH Wayne Nat’l Forest
Last December, MDN brought you the fantastic news that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) had opened a public scoping period to receive public input on 41 oil and gas parcels totaling 2,795 acres that may be included in a September 2026 lease sale in the Wayne National Forest (WNF) located in southeastern Ohio (see BLM Plans Ohio Wayne Nat’l Forest Lease Sale for September 2026). It would be the first lease sale held in WNF since March 2017 (the first Trump administration). The comment period ended Jan. 15, 2026. But then the BLM opened a second public comment period for the same list of properties (see BLM Ready to Auction Land in OH Wayne Nat’l Forest for Drilling). The time for commenting is now over. The BLM set the auction date for September 15. Read More “BLM Sets Sept. Date to Auction 41 Parcels in OH Wayne Nat’l Forest”
Four Washington County, Ohio, Class II injection wells voluntarily stopped operating July 1-2 after state regulators from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) said they may be affecting nearby oil and gas production wells. The wells are Redbird Nos. 4 and 5, American Growers No. 1, and Nichols No. 1-A, although the Nichols owner disputed that operations had ceased at that well. ODNR and operators will develop corrective plans, while a third-party consultant examines nearby private water wells. Activists want broader, long-term groundwater testing, noting that Redbird No. 4 waste has previously migrated more than 5 miles underground. It’s important to note that the alleged migration of fluids affected other (conventional) oil and gas wells, NOT water wells. 
Last November, the Buckeye Environmental Network, backed by lawyers from the controversial Earthjustice, sued the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) over permitting two new shale wastewater injection wells in the Marietta area, claiming the standard used to evaluate the wells was old and out-of-date (see 
Wastewater injection wells are an essential, safe, and highly regulated component of Southeast Ohio’s fracking industry. Banning these wells would trigger an economic catastrophe, leading to job losses and reduced public funding, without providing any actual environmental benefits. Yet that’s exactly what the political leaders of Marietta, OH, in collusion with virulent anti-fossil fuel groups, are attempting to do. Opposing injection wells while supporting fracking (as Marietta’s “leaders” are doing) is contradictory, as the two are inseparable for regional energy production and the area’s continued economic stability. 
In January, a coalition of so-called environmental groups lodged an ethics complaint against Ohio Senator Brian Chavez, alleging that he failed to disclose ownership in five natural gas LLCs while leading the Senate Energy Committee (see 
Since August, we’ve reported about an ongoing war of words between the City of Marietta officials (mostly Republicans) and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) over a permit for a fifth wastewater injection well located close to the city (see 
In August, Marietta, OH, officials, including the city’s Republican mayor, law director, water superintendent, and a majority of city council members, asked the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Oil and Gas to deny a permit application from DeepRock Disposal Solutions for the Stephan #1 injection well, which would be the company’s fifth injection well in the area (see 
The fight in Marietta, OH, over DeepRock Disposal Solutions’ plan to build a fifth shale wastewater injection well is getting heated. Opposition to the well has made for some very strange bedfellows. The Republican City Council is utilizing the legal services of the radicalized Earthjustice green group to challenge a permit issued by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, which would allow the well in Marietta, OH (see 
Two weeks ago, Marietta, OH, officials, including the city’s Republican mayor, law director, water superintendent, and a majority of city council members, asked the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Oil and Gas Chief Eric Vendel to deny a permit application from DeepRock Disposal Solutions for the Stephan #1 injection well, which would be the company’s fifth injection well in the area (see 
Two weeks ago, Marietta, OH, officials, including the city’s Republican mayor, law director, water superintendent, and a majority of city council members, asked the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Oil and Gas Chief Eric Vendel to deny a permit application from DeepRock Disposal Solutions for the Stephan #1 injection well, which would be the company’s fifth injection well in the area (see 
A crew from Monroe Drilling Operations, LLC, was working on an abandoned well located in Wayne National Forest (in Washington County, OH) on Monday morning when natural gas and crude oil traveled up through the well to the surface and ignited, causing an explosion. In addition to the five members of Monroe Drilling, a mineral resources inspector from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) was also on-site. All six people on-site were injured by the blast, with five of the six “critically injured.” Please offer a prayer for those who were injured. 
The war of words continues.