MILLFIELD, Ohio — A new report from environmental groups analyzes more than 2,500 oil and gas well incidents Ohio has addressed since 2015. That includes one that I called in along a Wayne National Forest trail in Millfield.
I first noticed a strong smell of natural gas while hiking in the woods near my house back in 2020. I called the phone number on the side of the tank and left a voicemail for the gas operator. They never got back to me.
While continuing to hike in the same area, I continued to observe a strong smell of gas in the years that followed. And then, while working on environmental coverage for the Athens County Independent, I learned there is a way for Ohioans to directly report concerns to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources via Ohio’s One-Call Incident Notification.
I reported the odor to the call line in October 2024.
Per the incident report generated by ODNR:
Nearby resident Dani Kington reports a well is leaking natural gas from a defect on the wellhead. She said that she has been smelling natural gas for some time and that after a rain she noticed bubbling from the wellhead. … A voicemail was left with the operator notifying them of the situation. Enforcement Inspector Aaron Jackson will follow up tomorrow, 10/18/24. There were no evacuations or threats to public health and safety identified.
The incident was classified as minor, and the status of the incident was listed as closed with an internal referral the same day it was called in.
In the report by FracTracker and Buckeye Environmental Network, they argue there are various problems with ODNR’s incident reporting data, including a lack of clarity in some records regarding how incidents were ultimately addressed, and inaccurate information on how long the incidents were considered active.
In this case, although the incident was closed the same day it was called in, the ODNR’s process of addressing issues at the well lasted months.
I continued to hike in the area after reporting the complaint. On Oct. 30, 2024, I observed tire tracks at the site, indicating that inspectors had apparently visited the well, but a strong smell of gas persisted. I got in touch with the ODNR again, and the duty officer informed me that an inspector had visited the well and determined it wasn’t leaking. After I informed the duty officer that the strong gas smell remained, the duty officer told me ODNR would send an inspector back out.
I continued to contact the ODNR several times in the months that followed, sharing video of small amounts of gas bubbling up at the wellhead after a recent rain. After my repeated messages, ODNR eventually determined the bigger issue was actually a gas line leaking near the well.
By Jan. 9, 2025, either ODNR or the operator had apparently visited the site. Disturbed soil revealed that gas was bubbling up near the well into a small stream, which feeds into a creek that ultimately lets out into Sunday Creek. The issue persisted at least as late as Feb. 18, 2025, but eventually, the location of the leak was covered.
I’m not certain that the issue has been fully resolved, however, as I recently observed an oily sheen on the water at that location.
Either way, the issue extended far beyond the timeline reflected in ODNR’s report. While the incident was listed as closed the same day, ODNR took months to assess and eventually address the issue. The result of that process is also not reflected in the incident reporting data.
More information is available in the agency’s investigation reports on the well, although the reports still do not demonstrate whether issues at the well were ever corrected.
The well has been inspected four total times, according to ODNR records. All inspections took place in the months immediately following my call in 2024. The well opened in 1984.
In the final inspection report, on Dec. 26, 2024, the inspector notes, “I was able to smell a strong odor of gas near a gas line marker.” The report does not include a plan on how the issue would be addressed, and no subsequent reports are listed.
The analysis by FracTracker and Buckeye Environmental Network argues ODNR is insufficiently staffed to adequately inspect oil and gas wells. The report further argues that the agency is therefore overly reliant on complaints to the OneCall line, rather than proactively addressing issues before they become bigger problems through routine inspection.
In one case highlighted in the report, a tank exploded at a Columbiana County well. Before the explosion, the well had not been inspected for 12 years. That incident was labeled ‘minor’ in the dataset.
The incident I reported is surely a more minor incident than the explosion. Regardless, the incident reporting data and the investigation reports still don’t reflect the full picture.
