Highland Field Services LLC on Monday, Oct. 15, applied for a chief’s order that would allow it to inject waste water from oil and gas drilling operations into a well built along Route 7 in Brookfield between Wyngate Manor Mobile Home Park and Merwin Chase Road.
“Evaluating a request for a Chief’s Order Authorizing Injection includes reviewing the application, drilling records and surface facility’s construction records and our inspection records in consideration of the drilling permit and its conditions, along with the requirements established in Ohio Revised Code 1509 and Ohio Administrative Code 1501:-9-3,” said Steven Irwin, spokesman for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources’ Division of Oil and Gas Resources Management. “There is no time frame for this process.”

A May protest of the injection well as it was being built in Brookfield. Highland Field Services LLC is asking for permission to operate the well.

A May protest of the injection well as it was being built in Brookfield. Highland Field Services LLC is asking for permission to operate the well.

In its application, Highland said the average injection pressure would be 1,736 pounds per square inch. In the letter requesting the chief’s order, the company said it tested the well at 1,906 pounds per square inch on Oct. 9.
The Class II injection well would dispose of waste brine into porous rock 8,000 feet under the ground; the porous rock is sandwiched between two layers of denser rock.
A group called Brookfield Citizens Against Injection Wells has held town-hall meetings and roadside events protesting the well construction, saying it jeopardizes the health and safety of local residents. Jane Spies of Frackfree National Coalition, which has helped the Brookfield group organize, said it will continue to raise awareness of what the group says are the well’s potential hazards, including triggering earthquakes and contaminating ground water.
Meanwhile, the public comment period on a proposal to build an injection well in Hubbard Township at Hubbard Masury Road and Route 62 begins Oct. 20 and lasts for 15 days.
Bobcat Hubbard LLC proposes to build the Hubbard well.