The Williams County Board of County Commissioners on Oct. 7 approved a series of conditional use permits allowing freshwater holding ponds for oilfield water storage and reissued permits for two special-waste landfills acquired by Select Water Solutions LLC.

County planning staff described pond projects that will store freshwater for use in oil-well development and detailed construction measures. For LUDash0075Dash25 the subject property is about 121 acres; the proposed pond will be about 500 by 419 feet, 15 feet deep, with a volume of about 49 acre-feet. Water for that pond will be provided under water permit 6281. For LUDash0076Dash25 staff said the parent parcel is about 151 acres, with a pond of roughly 49.9 acre-feet, about 500 by 235 feet, lined with a plastic liner and fenced; the water source was listed as a Blue Ridge Industrial Water Well. The applicants stated the ponds will be used to store freshwater to support oil well development; planning and zoning recommended approval on the items (votes reported as 7–0 or 8–0 depending on the hearing).

Separately, Select Water Solutions LLC applied to reissue conditional use permits for existing special-waste landfill sites (LUDash0077Dash25 and LUDash0078Dash25). Planning staff said the landfill property totals about 639 acres, of which roughly 100 acres are used for the special-waste landfill; the site has been in use since the 1990s and has an existing stormwater management plan recorded in 2019. Select Water Solutions must complete state permit transfers (county staff said permit numbers under state review) to move state permits into its name.

Public comment and county response: a neighbor, Susan Zimmerman, told commissioners she and other neighbors were “concerned forever about the, you know, the material that they accept and what they do,” and said she worried about seepage through nearby coal veins and the possibility of frack fluids or other proprietary mixtures contaminating groundwater. “I just want you to be aware that the neighbors really are concerned about this facility,” she told the board, and said private testing for broad contaminants could cost about $1,200. County staff and development services representatives clarified jurisdictional limits: Cameron Heimer of Development Services said the saltwater disposal well portion is regulated by the NDIC and is outside the county’s permitting authority for injection wells, while the county may add conditions to the special-waste landfill CUP itself.

After discussion, commissioners added a condition to permit approvals addressing road impacts. The board instructed staff to include a condition requiring permit holders to keep public roadways free of mud, rocks, dirt and debris “as determined by county highway.” Commissioners inserted the requirement during the meeting and then approved the CUPs with that condition. The board also approved the Select Water Solutions reissuance applications with the same road‑cleaning condition.

Why it matters: the pond projects and waste-site reissuances support oilfield operations that involve large movements of water and heavy truck traffic; neighbors raised environmental and safety concerns. County officials noted that testing requirements for the landfill are set by state regulators and that the county can place operational conditions on the county-level CUPs for public‑safety and nuisance issues.

Quotes from the meeting: “The actual saltwater disposal well is regulated by the NDIC, so we're not able to permit that or add conditions on that portion of it,” Cameron Heimer, development services, told the board.

What the board voted: motions to approve the CUPs and reissued permits passed by roll call at the Oct. 7 meeting; planning and zoning votes and the board roll calls were recorded for each item.

Ending: County staff said applicants must complete state permit transfers where required and that the county will monitor CUP conditions, including road cleanup, and enforce them through the county’s permit process if needed.