rich 1.0 Action Network https://actionnetwork.org <link href='https://actionnetwork.org/css/style-embed-v3.css' rel='stylesheet' type='text/css' /><script src='https://actionnetwork.org/widgets/v6/petition/no-ngl-storage-next-to-the-ohio-river?format=js&source=widget'></script><div id='can-petition-area-no-ngl-storage-next-to-the-ohio-river' style='width: 100%'><!-- this div is the target for our HTML insertion --></div> Concerned Ohio River Residents https://actionnetwork.org/groups/concerned-ohio-river-residents https://can2-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/groups/default_facebook_images/000/142/963/original/small.png?1584031063 The Mountaineer Storage Facility Puts Ohio Valley Communities at Risk. ODNR Doesn't Seem to Care. This February, more than one thousand community members contacted the Ohio Department of Natural Resources to submit their concerns about Powhatan Salt Company's permit applications to begin constructing the Mountaineer NGL storage facility, which would store flammable, highly explosive natural gas liquids in salt caverns next to the Ohio River. (Read more about the risks of natural gas liquid storage here.) Legal experts also outlined fifty-eight technical deficiencies with the solution mining well applications, pointing out their failure to prove the wells would meet all safety standards and industry-recommended practices for NGL storage in solution-mined salt caverns. Yet, despite overwhelming public concern and glaring technical deficiencies in the company’s application, on March 11, 2021, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) issued a draft permit to Powhatan Salt Company. The official draft permit addressed only eight of the fifty-eight concerns raised by legal experts. Forty-two comments on the safety and technical integrity of the proposed solution mining wells received absolutely no response from ODNR. The comments ignored by ODNR included concerns about the project’s Area of Review and its proximity to underground sources of drinking water. Even after ODNR completed a full review of Powhatan Salt Company’s permit application and issued the company an official draft permit, there is still no proof that the company’s injection wells will not cause or allow the injection of contaminated fluid into an underground source of drinking water, as required by Ohio law. Moreover, ODNR has not responded to concerns that the company has only reviewed a quarter-mile radius around each of the three proposed injection wells, only just meeting the state’s minimum requirements. It’s clear that neither state agencies nor Powhatan Salt Company have adequately considered the effect drilling may have on nearby fracking operations, private wells, or population activities that lie outside the quarter-mile Area of Review. Consequently, it’s impossible to determine the safety of this project and the impact it could have on underground sources of drinking water. ODNR’s failure to respond to -- or even acknowledge -- dozens of technical deficiencies with Powhatan Salt Company’s solution mining well permits undercuts our right to transparent public information about this project and jeopardizes the health and water access of the five million people who rely on the Ohio River for drinking water. How can state regulatory agencies issue permits if they are unable to respond to expert comments on the integrity of these injection wells? We demand ODNR hold a public hearing to address community and expert concerns with this project. Until our comments are acknowledged and answered, ODNR should not issue a final permit to Powhatan Salt Company. https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/no-ngl-storage-next-to-the-ohio-river