FRANKLIN COUNTY, Ohio — A lawsuit filed last year seeks to make a fracking waste injection company pay for cleanup costs associated with a 2021 incident in which the company’s waste contaminated Noble County land and waterways, killing hundreds of animals.
According to Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Oil and Gas records, a hazardous byproduct of fracking known as brine traveled underground from fracking waste injection wells owned by DeepRock Disposal Solutions. The brine reached the earth’s surface via an oil and gas production well owned by Genesis Resources. During the brine release, 450 fish, salamanders and frogs died, according to reporting by Cleveland.com.
According to court documents from a previous legal fight, Genesis had not plugged what is known as the Gant Well, even though it had been inactive for 10 years. If the well had been plugged, brine could not have reached the surface — but brine should never have migrated from the DeepRock wells.
ODNR suspended the DeepRock wells in early 2023 as a result of brine migration issues.
At the time of the incident Sen. Brian Chavez, a Republican from Ohio, was DeepRock’s CEO. Chavez was appointed to the Senate in 2023, and his district includes Noble County.
Chavez said in disclosures that he ceased involvement with DeepRock after his appointment to the state senate. However, he remains connected to the company, and public records show he remained employed by DeepRock as recently as 2025.
The state spent $1.28 million to address the 2021 disaster at the Gant Well and pursued reimbursement from Genesis for the cleanup. Genesis fought unsuccessfully to make DeepRock pay instead. In September 2024, Genesis agreed to pay $1.15 million of the nearly $1.28 million the ODNR initially demanded.
Genesis’ insurer, National American Insurance Company, is now seeking reimbursement for its payment to the state from DeepRock, filing suit in the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas in June 2025.
The lawsuit argues that issues with Gant Well would not have mattered if DeepRock’s brine had not migrated beyond the boundaries in which it was supposed to be contained.
“All conduct and activity of Genesis in connection with the Gant Well brine flow was passive and secondary in comparison with the negligence and unlawful conduct of Defendant in the operation of the Injection Wells,” the lawsuit says.
The lawsuit argues Genesis and National American Insurance Company should be “held harmless” for the Noble County incident, and that DeepRock should pay all costs incurred by Genesis and its insurer over the incident, including legal fees.
In a separate count, the lawsuit claims Genesis was asked to pay for a greater share of the cleanup than it was responsible for causing and argues that even if DeepRock isn’t held fully responsible for the incident, the company should be held responsible for at least a share of cleanup costs.
“Plaintiff is now entitled to recoup from the Defendant the excess of its payments to the Division that exceeded its insured’s proportionate share of negligence and liability in connection with the Gant Well brine flow,” the lawsuit says.
In its September 2025 answer to the lawsuit, DeepRock denied all of the lawsuit’s allegations. The company said the case should be dismissed and that it should be reimbursed for associated legal fees.
Neither the attorney for DeepRock nor the attorney for National American Insurance Company responded to the Independent’s requests for comment by press time.
DeepRock currently faces multiple other legal proceedings over its injection well business.
In September 2025, Marietta City Council appealed to the Ohio Oil and Gas Commission an ODNR Division of Oil and Gas Resources Management decision granting a DeepRock permit for a new injection well. Less than two months later, Buckeye Environmental Network sued the division in the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas over its approval of DeepRock permits.
Both cases take issue with the fact that DeepRock’s permits were granted based on outdated administrative rules, arguing that new DeepRock wells would pose a danger to human health and the environment. The cases remain pending.
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