Environmental group urges county testing after citing ODNR study showing elevated radium in brine

Representatives of the Buckeye Environmental Network told Morrow County commissioners on Sept. 9 that oil-and-gas brine used on county and township roads can contain long-lived radium isotopes and may pose a lasting contamination risk to soil and groundwater. Anton Kreider, who said he works for the Buckeye Environmental Network, presented a packet describing state studies and a Guernsey County resolution that stopped brine use in that county.

"It will end up in our ground water, in our soil and that's something to be concerned about," Anton Kreider said as he described the migration of oil-and-gas waste when it is applied to roadways. He cited ODNR (Ohio Department of Natural Resources) studies from 2017–2019 that found elevated radium levels in produced brines and noted ODNR's and other agencies' policy changes: "ODOT and the Turnpike Commission discontinued the use in 2021," he said.

Greg Pace, a Buckeye Environmental Network board member, told the board that Morrow County contains a cluster of legacy injection wells and said many of those wells sit atop the Columbus watershed source-water protection area, which supplies Hoover Reservoir. He urged testing of roads that have been treated with brine and suggested public presentations to raise awareness.

During public comment a resident, who self-identified as Kirk Powlett, described living on a road that was repeatedly sprayed with saltwater-brine and asked the county to sample affected roads for radium and dust contamination. Commissioners agreed to forward the materials and concerns to the county engineer for review and potential sampling plans.