WEATHERSFIELD — AWMS Water Solutions of Howland, the company that owns two oil and gas wastewater injection wells along state Route 169 in Weathersfield Township just north of Niles, says the outcome of its case being heard by the Ohio Oil and Gas Commission will set precedent in Ohio for regulations governing seismic activity associated with injection wells.

Seismic activity refers to earthquakes produced by injection wells, which inject the wastewater from the oil and gas industry deep underground as a means of disposal. The Ohio Oil and Gas Commission is reviewing the parameters set by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources under which the injection well will operate when it reopens.

On May 21, 2021, Eric Vendel, chief of the ODNR Division of Oil and Gas Resources, issued orders stating after the AWMS well reopens, it must shut down again if an earthquake of a magnitude 2.1 or greater occurs within a 3-mile radius of the facility, as occurred in 2014 not long after it first opened.

“AWMS also shall depressurize and not resume operations until a full evaluation of the data from the seismic event is performed by AWMS,” the orders state. The orders indicate they can be appealed to the Ohio Oil and Gas Commission — which AWMS did.

The company’s appeal focuses on the requirement that the well close again if an earthquake of magnitude 2.1 or larger occurs, which AWMS found to be too restrictive.

An appeal hearing took place in Columbus in February, and the company and ODNR filed followup briefs in March in which they again debated the parameters under which the well would reopen.

The Ohio Oil and Gas Commission continues to review the issues but has not issued a ruling. AWMS Water Solutions, LLC. Is a wholly owned subsidiary of Avalon Holdings Corp. of One American Way in Howland.

HISTORY

The AWMS No. 2 well was shut down in September 2014 after it caused multiple earthquakes, including a magnitude 1.7 earthquake July 28, 2014, about two months after the well started operation, and a magnitude 2.1 quake Aug. 31, 2014, according to ODNR.

AWMS Water Solutions says ODNR set the level at which the facility would be shut down at 2.1 magnitude “arbitrarily.”

The ODNR filing states that it chose 2.1 magnitude because that is the level where an earthquake “may be felt by the community and raise anxiety over safety.”

The company’s brief, filed by attorney Matthew Vansuch, cites testimony from the hearing in which ODNR expert witness and consultant Ivan Wong testified that there was “nothing magical” about the 2.1 magnitude level ODNR has selected. Vansuch is also a Howland Township trustee.

Wong testified that when the 2.1 magnitude earthquake took place Aug. 31, 2014, at or near the AWMS facility, it was felt by one person.

“So that’s our threshold. You know, it’s not to say that we have another 2.1 no one feels it, 10 people feel it. You know, every earthquake is different,” the AWMS filing states, quoting Wong. “But based on what’s happened at the well, we think — you know, I told the chief (Vendel) that I thought 2.1 was a reasonable threshold.”

Vansuch stated that testimony at the hearing and “accepted seismological science” are consistent in the belief that people are not going to feel an earthquake of up to 2.5 magnitude.

“None of these levels are going to cause the ground to shake such that there is a concern for persons or property,” Vansuch stated.

He added that it is important that the Ohio Oil and Gas Commission set the level appropriately because,”This case is important for setting precedent. Should the (oil and gas commission) approve this low level (2.1 magnitude), a level below what is normally going to be felt by most people, then the commission is giving the division the green light to stop all oil and gas activities that could (and often do) cause the ground to shake.”

He added, “Injection wells, blasting and fracking are allowed to occur at levels that cause the ground to shake, as long as they don’t exceed some acceptable level of tolerance,’ Vansuch stated. “Ohio has said it is OK for people to feel those activities without those activities being stopped.”

He referenced “dozens of (earthquakes) at and above” 2.1-magnitude outside of the city of Marietta in southern Ohio. Vansuch stated that the ODNR did not shut down an injection well near Marietta when a 2.4 magnitude earthquake took place there in March 2015. Instead, ODNR only “sent an email to the operator to ‘turn the well down” after that earthquake, Vansuch stated.

3.0 MAGNITUDE

AWMS has asked that the magnitude level at which the AWMS well will have to shut down be set at 3.0.

But the ODNR brief says there is a significant difference between the geology of Marietta compared with that of the Youngstown-Warren area. Marietta in Washington County “has rock structures at and near the surface that are far more resistant to shaking compared to loose material in the Mahoning River Valley” in the Youngtown-Warren area.

“In addition, the wells in Washington County are in rural areas, not the urban setting that AWMS chose for constructing its well, with greater population density and infrastructure.

“Further, AWMS is located close to the old Mineral Ridge dam and Meander Reservoir. As a result, at any given magnitude, earthquakes caused by (the AWMS injection well in Weathersfield Township) pose a greater threat to more people,” ODNR stated.

ODNR added that the Ohio Supreme Court listened to AWMS’s argument that the Marietta and Mahoning Valley situations were equivalent “and found it baseless.”

Vansuch’s filing asks that the ODNR give AWMS “objective standards … to keep the (Division of Oil and Gas) accountable and responsive in the event of a suspension or shutdown or AWMS’s operations.”

The ODNR brief goes heavily into references to the Meander dam in Mineral Ridge, which is scheduled for $45 million in upgrades in the coming years, some of the changes specifically designed to address the need for the dam to withstand earthquakes that might result from injection wells in the Youngstown-Warren area.

CHOOSING 2.1

ODNR stated that the May 21, 2021, order setting the limit for earthquakes before a shutdown at 2.1 was reached to avoid earthquakes that can be felt by the public, in part because feeling an earthquake can cause anxiety among residents.

“His order considers the significant uncertainty about the nature of man-made earthquakes and the current science and technology, which cannot reliably prevent man-made earthquakes from escalating to a damaging level,” the ODNR filing states.

“The chief’s order imposes an appropriately conservative margin for safety in the face of great hazard to the well-being, lives and property of innocent people,” it states.

Allowing the threshold to be 3.0 “will subject the community to repeated grounds shaking,” ODNR states.

ODNR says the subsurface conditions in Northeast Ohio require that only low-level earthquakes be allowed to happen because in Northeast Ohio, “earthquakes begin to be felt at lower magnitudes … This is due to the underlying soil and geologic conditions in the Mahoning River Valley.”

It states that a magnitude 4.0 earthquake “will almost certainly be felt by thousands. At a moderate intensity level, people would feel the earthquake outdoors and would be awakened from their sleep, small objects would move, doors would swing or open or close, and shutters and pictures would move,” the filing states.

The Youngstown-Warren area experienced a magnitude 4.0 earthquake Dec. 30, 2011, as a result of the activities of the Northstar injection well on Ohio Works Drive on the north side of Youngstown. The earthquake led to the shutdown of that well.

The filing states that if there were a 4.5 magnitude earthquake at the AWMS injection well, “there could be significant damage to the Mineral Ridge dam, even if the dam would not completely fail.” The statement referenced Wong’s testimony at the February 2022 hearing.

TRAFFIC LIGHT SYSTEM

AWMS is proposing that the state adopt a “traffic light system” that would activate yellow if a 2.35 magnitude earthquake occurs, and a red light at 3.0 magnitude.

The yellow light would indicate that the injection well would need to adjust its operating parameters by reducing its injection capacity by 10 percent and reducing its maximum weekly pressure to 1,350 pounds per square inch, the AWMS filing states.

If an earthquake of magnitude 3.0 occurred, then AWMS would “cease injection” for 20 days, after which it could resume injections but only at a capacity that is 20 percent below average and at a maximum pressure of 1,350 pounds per square inch.

AWMS is proposing that if the ODNR determines that AWMR injections are likely to be causing earthquakes and are “reasonably believed” to be harmful to persons or property, then ODNR can order AWMS to depressurize the well and “not resume operations until a full evaluation of data” is performed, its filing states.

erunyan@vindy.com