FILE PHOTO In Carroll County, there now are four wells pumping fuels from shale, with many more planned.
It’s only starting in Carroll County
Drilling companies rush to tap oil, natural gas while state regulators formulate all the rules
By Spencer Hunt THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
No one needs to tell David Miskimen that Carroll County stands at the center of Ohio’s shale-drilling boom. He is the county engineer, and his office provides must-have approvals for oil and gas companies that want to build new roads and reinforce old ones that lead to rural drilling sites. “It’s pretty much a nonstop thing, meeting with the different consultants, and the testing, and the different company reps,” he said. “We’re kind of ground zero at the moment.”
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Of the 127 drilling permits the state so far has approved for natural gas and oil buried in Ohio’s Utica and Marcellus shales, more than one-third are for sites in Carroll County.
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Four wells already are producing oil and gas, and 16 are in various stages of “completion,” meaning they have been drilled; are being drilled; or have been “fracked,” a process in which millions of gallons of water mixed with chemicals and sand are injected down wells to break apart shale and free trapped oil and gas.
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There are an additional 23 well sites in planning stages. Although the flurry of activity indicates Ohio’s drilling boom is well under way, industry officials say this is only the beginning.
“In my opinion, we’re in our infancy,” said Ken Mariana, CEO of Houston-based Enervest Operating Corp., which holds 10 permits to drill in Carroll County. Drilling companies still are testing the Utica shale to see how much oil and gas could be produced, Mariana said. “It will probably take several hundred wells to fully understand or better understand this.”
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Environmental advocates say there still are too many questions about shale drilling to sign off on it and point out that the Ohio Department of Natural Resources has yet to enact rules to strengthen drilling standards and environmental safeguards. “There are 127 wells permitted under regulations that the (agency) already says are inadequate,” said Trent Dougherty, the director of legal affairs for the Ohio Environmental Council.
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Most of the concern is focused on fracking, which industry officials say is safe. Environmental advocates say it’s a threat to soil and groundwater. More than 3,800 natural-gas wells have been drilled into Pennsylvania’s Marcellus shale since 2005. Industry officials and state geologists think that Ohio’s Utica shale contains a potentially vast reservoir of oil, natural gas, propane, butane and ethane. Although oil and gas companies still are testing the Utica, Mariana said geological data indicate the rock beneath Carroll County contains a rich supply of liquids and gas. “It’s most favorable in Carroll County,” he said.
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State officials say they are holding drillers to high standards even though tougher regulations have yet to be approved. The Department of Natural Resources has the authority to require tougher drilling and safety standards as “special conditions” in the drilling permits it approves, said Heidi Hetzel-Evans, an agency spokeswoman. “Ohio’s law has always been flexible.” Well-construction rules intended to prevent leaks to groundwater should be enacted this spring, Hetzel-Evans said. Rules meant to prevent spills of toxic fracking compounds have yet to be unveiled.
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Environmental advocates already have criticized the well-construction rules as too weak and have offered suggestions to strengthen them, including how long cement should be left to set in well casings and how much training state inspectors should receive. “There are a lot of things in those rules, when you get down to specifics, that are lacking,” Dougherty said.
shunt@dispatch.com
