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Ohio hearing on carbon sequestration draws widespread opposition over safety, groundwater and property-rights concerns
Summary
At a third hearing on House Bill 170, dozens of opponents warned lawmakers that giving the Ohio Department of Natural Resources primacy over class 6 carbon sequestration wells risks groundwater contamination, seismic incidents, forced pooling and taxpayer liabilities; witnesses urged mandatory monitoring, stronger landowner protections and higher forced-pooling thresholds.
The House Natural Resources Committee held the third hearing on House Bill 170, a proposal to give the Ohio Department of Natural Resources authority to permit and regulate geologic carbon sequestration (class 6) wells rather than leave primacy with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Multiple scientists, county officials, farmers and environmental advocates urged lawmakers to pause or amend the bill, arguing Ohio’s geology, existing orphan wells and a history of injection-well problems make CCS risky. Dr. Randy Pekladnik, an environmental scientist who testified, said "This is not safe," citing peer‑reviewed studies, orphan wells, and chemical hazards tied to capture and storage.
Professional engineer Joel Paladnick told the committee that CCS remains expensive and limited in scale, noting federal support for CCS research and the 45Q tax credit. "Without enormous taxpayer subsidies and tax incentives, CCS is not affordable for industry," he said, and cited Congressional Budget Office figures and the current $85-per-ton tax credit under 45Q.
County residents and landowners described personal harms they said resulted from prior oil, gas and disposal-well activity. John (Mick) Luber recounted a pipeline threat to his family farm and said promised economic benefits failed to materialize. Producers Robert Lane and Robert Wilson said disposal and brine injection problems in Washington County had caused contamination and expressed distrust in ODNR’s ability to manage expanded permitting.
Former Athens County commissioner Roxanne Groff and other witnesses urged mandatory seismic and groundwater monitoring, stronger transparency and public participation procedures comparable to EPA oversight, and more inspectors rather than shifting primacy without new resources. Bev Reed of Buckeye Environmental Network told the committee HB170 would enable "forced pooling" that could compel nonconsenting landowners to host CO2 storage and warned that liability transfer provisions could leave taxpayers responsible for long‑term cleanup costs.
Evan Calicoat of the Ohio Farm Bureau suggested targeted amendments to protect landowners: require surface use agreements, raise the statutory consolidation threshold for forced pooling from 70% to at least 75%, and prefer locating physical wells only on voluntarily participating landowners’ property. Committee members pressed witnesses on eminent domain, project acreage (witnesses referenced potential projects up to 80,000 acres), and whether existing fee language funds adequate oversight.
No committee vote was taken at the hearing. The record shows broad public concern about safety, monitoring, water and property rights; witnesses asked the committee to slow the process, require more robust monitoring and public notice, and strengthen landowner protections before any transfer of primacy to ODNR.
