Possible Injection Well Raises Traffic Concerns
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ST. CLAIRSVILLE -- Since receiving word in April that an energy company hopes to place an injection well in their vicinity, residents near the site have pushed back several times, in several venues.
This past week has seen a presentation at Ohio University Eastern where residents voiced fears of contamination and health risks, as well as damage to the environment, but many have also raised issues of the heavy traffic in the area near the intersection of U.S. 40 and Ohio 331.
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources is currently reviewing the permit application. The proposed location, a field off of Pickering Road, is a focus of traffic from U.S. 70, U.S. 40, and Ohio 331. The location is near a college, a vocational school, county government buildings, the Belmont Correctional Institution and several businesses.
Richland Township Trustees took action to block the project Tuesday by indefinitely tabling the approval of a permit allowing Omni Energy Group ingress from U.S. 40 onto Pickering Road. They also indefinitely tabled a road use maintenance agreement.
Gerard Russomagno, CEO of the New Jersey-based Omni Energy Group, LLC, said in May that the well site would see somewhere between six and eight trucks per hour. Omni Energy Group is the business seeking the placement of the well.
Margie Young of St. Clairsville was one of many residents who spoke to the Belmont County Board of Commissioners Wednesday, when a crowd asked for the board's opposition to the well. She speculated about the difficulties such a well-traveled area might face should a disaster occur.
"Think about how a major interstate would be shut down. (U.S.) 40 would have to be shut down," she said. "How are you going to evacuate quickly a prison, colleges, schools, residences? It's almost impossible to get people evacuated in an area that shuts off major highways. Think about what could happen if this comes to fruition."
She also said there may be difficulties evacuating the Belmont Career Center, which educates students from multiple districts.
"We appreciate those comments and we take them to heart," Commissioner Josh Meyer said.
Meyer said the commissioners would send a letter of opposition to the state. Richland and other townships and the City of St. Clairsville are also drafting resolutions.
Adam Schroeder, public information officer for ODNR, said traffic concerns are considered during the evaluation, but are not ODNR's main focus.
"The jurisdiction over the roads lies with ODOT, and also with the local road authority. We have a general public health and safety component to the permit that is part of our review process," he said. "Although we are in regular communication with ODOT and talk to them about their processes...Where it is on the road and how trucks would get in and out and things like that, that is part of ODOT's jurisdiction but it is something that we're obviously going to think about and something we consider, and that's why we communicate regularly with the road authorities."
"It's something we take into account, but the road authority is the one that would make the decision of this proposed business can use this road and can put ingress and egress points at certain spots. We don't make that decision, but the decision that's made by somebody else is a factor that we look at and review as part of the process."
"Lots of folks have called us and have given this as a concern that folks have there, and that concern is something that we can consider as part of the general health and safety," Mark Bruce, public information officer for ODOT, said.
Lauren Borell, public information officer with the Ohio Department of Transportation, commented on the situation and the impact of Richland Township's efforts to block the well.
"We have received a request for a permit application," she said. "We can grant egress, with ingress being on Pickering Road, and that is based upon the signing approval from the township. We would need them to sign off on that, and since they didn't, we go back to the permitting process and (Omni) can propose another way for ingress and egress to their property, and we can either approve it or deny it based on our highway access manual."
She said Omni has not requested a traffic study at the location, only an applied for access in and out of the property.
"I know that there's further concerns. Folks have come to us to express their concerns," Borell said. "Per our access manual, we cannot deny someone access to a property...Nothing in this manual shall deny the property owner their right to reasonable access to the general public street system, however the access rights of the property owner are subject to regulation for public health, safety and welfare, are subordinate to the public's right to a safe, sufficient highway. The right of an owner of property to access state highway or to a particular means of access state highway or to a particular means of access may be restricted if reasonable alternative access is available or can be obtained for the general public street system."
Borell added that so far ODOT has no safety concerns. The department has recently completed a major improvement project in that area, involving widening U.S. 40, Ohio 331 and Hammond Road, installing a new connector between Ohio 331 and Hammond Road, an improved roadway and interchange design, replacement of the Ohio 331 bridge over I-70, twin bridge deck replacements on I-70 over U.S. 40 and pedestrian facilities within the project limits.
"They're in the permitting process. … They put in what they're proposing, and we look at what will work out for safety and the traffic counts in the area as far as what they're proposing to do for their permit, for access in and out of their proposed location," she said.
Borell emphasized that safety was ODOT's first priority.
"We're not going to grant access to something that is going to cause safety concerns for the traveling public."