Press
Featured Stories
BEN & Partners News Coverage
Marietta residents fight fracking brine disposal, call it ‘Russian roulette’
August 20, 2026
Since 2025, residents, activists and local organizers have sounded the alarm about the possibility that toxic, radioactive wastewater stored thousands of feet underground could migrate into the region’s drinking water…
Read more: The Columbus Dispatch
Washington County Commissioner calls for moratorium on injection wells
August 14, 2026
MARIETTA – Washington County Commissioner Greg Nohe’s motion to prepare a moratorium on…
Read more: Marietta Times, Parkersburg News and Sentinel
Washington County Commissioner calls for moratorium on injection wells
August 14, 2026
MARIETTA – Washington County Commissioner Greg Nohe’s motion to prepare a moratorium on…
Read more: Marietta Times, Parkersburg News and Sentinel
Thousands of acres of land in Wayne National Forest to be opened up to oil and gas drilling
August 13, 2026
WASHINGTON COUNTY, Ohio — A Trump administration plan to lease lands in the Wayne National Forest for oil and gas development has raised the ire of environmentalists…
Read more: Athens Messenger
The Sound of Ideas – 8-13-2026
August 13, 2026
This program highlights concerns around injection wells in Ohio and the bipartisan fight for better regulations. This episode features Rep. Tristan Rader, Marietta City Council President Susan Vessels, Cleveland State University Biological and Geological Science Professor Kevin Mueller, and a call from our Advisory Board Member Roxanne Groff, who shares more of the history of the fight.…
Watch here: The Sound of Ideas
More Ohio communities fighting air pollution from pyrolysis facilities
August 12, 2026
After a pyrolysis facility in Hebron, Ohio, shut down, leaving behind a string of environmental violations, other communities across the state are paying closer attention to the public health threat posed by plastic incineration….
Read more: Public News Service, Big News Network
Marietta forced into a toxic game. I am a Republican. Ramaswamy sees us as whiners | Opinion
August 10, 2026
The state of Ohio is forcing my hometown, Marietta, to play an unnerving game of Russian roulette. One wrong move, and our drinking water aquifer could be contaminated with radioactive, toxic and extremely salty fracking wastewater…
Read more: The Columbus Dispatch, AOL
Injection well concerns bubbling up
August 10, 2026
MARIETTA – Injection wells have become a national flashpoint following an article in the New York Times, which references events in and around Marietta…..
Read more: The Inter-Mountain
Wayne fracking permits OK’d despite pending legal dispute
August 6, 2026
MONROE COUNTY, Ohio — A group of environmental organizations filed documents in federal court July 21, arguing that federal agencies violated a 2021 court order by approving fracking permits for the Wayne National Forest’s Marietta Unit earlier this year……
Read more: Athens County Independent
Commissioners adopt anti-data center resolution
August 6, 2026
ATHENS, Ohio — The Athens County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday adopted a resolution declaring that “the county cannot support the building of or the resources needed to fulfill the needs of the development of Data Centers”…..
Read more: Athens County Independent
Athens County Commission: Commissioners pass resolution opposing construction of data centers
August 5, 2026
On Tuesday, the Athens County Board of Commissioners unanimously passed a resolution opposing the construction of data centers in Athens County…
Read more: The Athens Messenger
Ohioans want comment period extended for state oil and gas rules
August 4, 2026
Ohio regulators said the state’s existing rules for the oil and gas industry do not need any changes but environmental groups disagree…
Read more: Public News Service, WCSM Radio
Ohio should treat the threat of radioactive fracking waste like the emergency that it is
August 4, 2026
Southeastern Ohio has a serious problem underground. Now that problem is reaching the surface and threatening our drinking water…
Read more: Ohio Capital Journal, News From the States
Toenail clippings, baby teeth requested for Ohio State study about oilfield brine
August 3, 2026
HEATH, Ohio — Should a material that contains known carcinogens and radioactive isotopes be legal to spray where children play, farmers grow food and families drive every day? …
Read more: 10 WBNS
Reminder: last chance to submit a comment on Oil & Gas rules
August 3, 2026
Once every five years, ODNR is required to update its Oil and Gas rules. The agency has begun its latest review and is holding a two-week public comment period that ends tomorrow…
Read more: Columbus Free Press
Toxic wastewater found bubbling up from ground in Ohio, reports ‘NYT’
July 31, 2026
There are more than 240 injection wells for the disposal of oil and gas waste here in Ohio. That’s because decades ago, our state received permission from the federal government to regulate our own injection wells…
Why do these researchers want your baby teeth?
July 30, 2026
For more than four decades, oilfield brine has been spread across Ohio roadways, but its radioactive contents are known to cause serious health issues…
Read more: The Reporting Project, AP News, Chicago Tribune, US News and World Report, The Washington Post, WOSU, Newsday, The Canadian Press, Spectrum News, Star Beacon, Daily Corinthian, WKYC, 10 WBNS, CT Insider, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Mineral News and Tribune, WINK News
Local residents speak out against data center
July 30, 2026
ATHENS, Ohio — Both the Athens County Commissioners and the Athens Township Trustees showed support for anti-data center measures at their respective regular meetings on Tuesday….
Read more: Athens County Independent
Brian Chavez is Republican rule in rural Ohio
July 30, 2026
The average Ohio State Senator sees themselves somewhere between Alexander the Great and Cicero in civilization’s pantheon of Real Serious Guys. Senator Brian Chavez (R-Marietta) is one such example…
Read more: The Rooster
Athens County Commission: Commissioners support resolution opposing data centers
July 29, 2026
On Tuesday, the Athens County Board of Commissioners were presented with a draft resolution from a group of concerned citizens opposing the construction of data centers in Athens County…
Read more: The Athens Messenger
In Ohio, Toxic Wastewater Is Bubbling Up Out of the Ground
July 29, 2026
The state is a major importer of fracking wastewater, which gets pumped underground but doesn’t always stay there. The city of Marietta is fighting back….
Read more: The New York Times
Ohio Town: Toxic Fracking Wastewater Surfacing From Wells
July 29, 2026
Residents and local officials in southeastern Ohio are warning that underground disposal wells used for radioactive oil and gas wastewater could eventually threaten the drinking water supply for thousands of people, prompting renewed calls for state regulators to halt new permits….
Read more: Newsmax
Columbus Residents Overwhelmingly Demand Data Center Moratorium and Stronger Environmental Protections
July 24, 2026
Twenty-four people provided testimony on draft data center policy proposed by Columbus City Council’s Public Utilities and Sustainability Committee Wednesday night. The community overwhelmingly called for a moratorium and stronger protections….
Read more: Columbus Free Press
Brine migration poses threat to oil and natural gas wells, drinking water in Washington County
July 24, 2026
WASHINGTON COUNTY, Ohio — A coalition of concerned Ohioans achieved a significant victory after four injection wells in Washington County were shut down earlier this month….
Read more: The Athens Messenger
Columbus looks to regulate data center developments
July 23, 2026
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — With rapid data center development in central Ohio, Columbus City Council is drafting policies that would regulate how they can operate in the future…..
Read more: NBC 4
Columbus City Council to pursue data center regulations instead of ban despite community demands
July 23, 2026
Columbus City Council put forth some new ideas for data center regulations, but residents responding to these ideas at a public hearing Wednesday say the city should be doing much more, with many calling for a moratorium……
Read more: WOSU
Columbus residents urge council to impose tight restrictions on potential data centers in city limits
July 23, 2026
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Columbus residents voiced concerns over the impact of large data centers during a nearly three-hour public hearing before Columbus City Council…….
Read more: 10 WBNS
Data center opponents say Columbus proposal is a start, but falls short
July 22, 2026
Some residents and environmental advocates are urging Columbus to take a harder line on data centers, calling for a ban, moratorium or stronger regulations than those proposed by City Councilmember Christopher Wyche…
Read more: The Columbus Dispatch
Opinion: To meet climate goals, Columbus leaders must address data centers
July 21, 2026
With the City Council presenting its draft proposal for municipal data center policy this week, residents must seize the moment to demand meaningful safeguards that will actually minimize the climate impacts of data centers…
Read more: Matter News
Ohio injection well operations stop after suspected leaks
July 21, 2026
The owners of several injection wells in Washington County voluntarily agreed to stop using them after state officials warned they could be leaking…
Read more: Public News Service
Leaking Ohio injection wells spark fears radioactive brine will reach drinking water
July 19, 2026
After fracking waste from one disposal well was found to have moved underground for miles, residents in southeastern Ohio say the leak signals a threat to Marietta’s drinking water…
Read more: The Cool Down, Yahoo News
Out of Sight, Out of Mind’ was always a fantasy: Ohio’s fracking waste crisis is here
July 17, 2026
For years, critics warned that Ohio’s solution to fracking waste was not a solution at all. Pump millions of gallons of toxic, radioactive brine thousands of feet underground, apply massive pressure, and just hope it stays put…
Read more: Cleveland.com
Google is building a $500 million data center in rural Ohio. Neighbors are furious
July 16, 2026
AMERICAN TOWNSHIP, Ohio – Over 373 acres of pancake flat, former farmland, Google is building a $500 million data center here, about seven miles northwest of the county seat of Lima…
Read more: Signal Ohio
ODNR details process before Washington County injection well shutdown
July 16, 2026
WASHINGTON COUNTY, Ohio (WTAP) – New information released by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources details how the agency arrived at last week’s decision to halt operations at four Washington County injection wells — a process the agency said started months before the wells were shut down…
Read more: WTAP
Ohio prompts closure of 4 fracking waste wells as fears mount over water supply contamination
July 16, 2026
CLEVELAND, Ohio — Ohio regulators spurred four Washington County injection wells that receive fracking waste to stop operating after determining they may be tainting nearby oil and gas wells….
Read more: Cleveland.com
Ohio asks 4 injection wells to shut down, suspects frack wastewater is migrating to other wells
July 14, 2026
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) requested that the owners of four disposal wells in Washington County for wastewater from oil and gas drilling temporarily cease operations…
Read more: The Allegheny Front
‘The precipice of an emergency.’ Marietta residents worry drinking water could become contaminated.
July 14, 2026
Washington County residents are raising concerns that injection wells in southeastern Ohio leaking brine waste will eventually pollute Marietta’s drinking water…
Read more: Ohio Capital Journal, The Repository
Four Washington County injection wells stop operating over concerns of migrating waste
July 13, 2026
The owners of four injection wells, which store waste from oil and natural gas production, voluntarily stopped their operations in Washington County earlier this month, at the request of state regulators…
Read more: The Ohio Newsroom
Four injection wells in Washington County shut down due to brine migration
July 10, 2026
SALEM, Ohio — Four class II injection wells in Washington County, Ohio, were recently shut down due to migration of brine waste, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Oil and Gas Resource Management….
Read more: Farm and Dairy
Washington County injection wells stop operating amid migration concerns
July 10, 2026
WASHINGTON COUNTY, Ohio — Four Washington County fracking waste injection wells have ceased operations following a request from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Oil and Gas Resources Management, according to a statement from ODNR…
Read more: Athens County Independent
ODNR: Four injection wells cease operations amid brine migration concerns
July 10, 2026
WASHINGTON COUNTY, Ohio (WTAP) – The Ohio Department of Natural Resources says four injection wells in Washington County have stopped operating — years after local residents started raising concerns and months after local governments in Washington County asked for a moratorium on the wells…
Read more: WTAP
Advanced Recycling Hits a Rough Patch
July 9, 2026
Nationwide, less than 10 percent of discarded plastic gets recycled. A lot of plastic products are tricky to recycle. Most of it goes straight to the landfill…..
Read more: The New York Times
Buckeye Environmental Network calls for ODNR action on Washington County injection wells after brine migration concerns
July 9, 2026
Buckeye Environmental Network called on state officials to suspend injection operations in part of Washington County and conduct a broader investigation into brine migration during a press conference focused on the Redbird #4 Class II injection well and nearby conventional oil and gas wells…
Read more: The Marietta Times, Parkersburg News and Sentinel
Rader, Environmental Groups, Oil/Gas Drillers Call for State Action on Injection Drilling Waste Brine
July 8, 2026
Environmental activists, conventional oil and gas producers and at least one member of the Ohio House called on the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) on Tuesday to launch a long-term investigation into the effects of underground migration of waste brine from injection oil and gas wells in Southeast Ohio into conventional oil and gas wells as well as the region’s water supply….
Read more: Ohio House of Representatives
Brine contamination hurting local economy, environment, group contends
July 7, 2026
Reports of brine contamination in Washington County are catching the eye of one House Democrat. The Buckeye Environmental Network detailed in a new report that injections of brine waste into an oil and gas disposal well have effectively caused production to grind to a halt…
Read more: Gongwer Ohio
Episode 17: Plastic Pyrolysis = Green Washing!
June 30, 2026
In this episode of Green Arenas, host Robert Carrillo speaks with Cat Adams of Buckeye Environmental Network about the hidden dangers of plastic pyrolysis, a technology often marketed as “chemical recycling”…
Listen Here: Green Arenas Podcast
Pyrolysis plan for downtown Youngstown is dead
June 25, 2026
Pyrolysis — the process that converts rubber tire chips into energy — is officially dead in downtown Youngstown…
Read More: WFMJ
Her Son Died of a Rare Bone Cancer. Could Radioactive Fracking Waste Be to Blame?
June 18, 2026
As Janice Blanock peered through the chain link fence running along a popular bike and walking trail near her home in the Pittsburgh suburbs, she wondered if she was looking at something connected to her teen son Luke’s death from a rare cancer a decade ago: a large oil and gas industry storage yard filled with used pipes and discarded hoses, the ground strewn with flakes of rusting metal…
Read More: The Rolling Stone, DeSmog
Tech Tuesday: Central Ohio recycling plant pauses operations after multiple EPA violations
June 16, 2026
There are many different methods that companies use to recycle those plastic water bottles you toss in the blue bin. One of those ways is called chemical recycling…
Read More: WOSU
Ohio environmental and activist organizations call on PUCO to freeze electricity rate increases
June 15, 2026
Representatives from several organizations across Ohio held a press conference outside of the Columbus Convention Center Monday afternoon to demand the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) to make utilities more affordable…
Read More: WOSU
Residents rejoice as recycling plant announces closure
June 15, 2026
HEBRON, Ohio (WCMH) — A Licking County recycling plant announced it is shutting down operations in July…
Read More: NBC 4
Advocates push for utility affordability reforms
June 15, 2026
COLUMBUS, Ohio — As utility bills continue to climb across Ohio, advocates from around the state are calling for action…
Read More: Spectrum News 1
How plastic recycled in Louisville may have gone up in smoke in Ohio
June 11, 2026
For more than two years, some plastics collected and sorted in Louisville’s recycling program were shipped to a controversial “chemical recycling” plant near Hebron, Ohio, which struggled to successfully recycle the plastics it took in ― and coughed up plumes of black smoke and toxic fumes in the process…
Read More: Courier Journal, AOL
Freepoint Eco-Systems shuts down controversial plastics pyrolysis plant
June 11, 2026
Under pressure from activists and state environmental authorities, Freepoint Eco-Systems has suspended operations at its new plastics pyrolysis plant in Hebron, Ohio…
Read More: Chemical & Engineering News
Freepoint Eco-Systems suspends operations after 18 months with its goals to change plastic recycling unmet
June 9, 2026
When Freepoint Eco-Systems broke ground on its plastic “chemical recycling” plant in the Newark Industrial Park of Hebron in 2022, the company promised to provide a “game-changing approach” to managing plastic waste…
Read More: The Reporting Project
Freepoint Eco-Systems Plastics Incinerator to cease operations
June 8, 2026
Freepoint Eco-Systems notified the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency that it would suspend “advanced recycling” operations at its facility in Licking County, Ohio…
Read More: American Recycler
Freepoint Eco-Systems suspends recycling operations at Hebron plant
June 4, 2026
Freepoint Eco-Systems has suspended advanced plastics recycling operations at its Hebron facility amid environmental concerns from local residents and alleged EPA violations…
Read More: Newark Advocate
Freepoint to close Hebron plastic recycling plant plagued by complaints, investigations
June 2, 2026
Freepoint Eco-Systems, a plastic recycling facility on Milliken Drive between Heath and Hebron, will suspend operations at the site after more than a year of complaints from neighboring residents and ongoing investigations from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency…
Read More: The Reporting Project
Ohio EPA probes Freepoint chemical recycling plant over pyrolysis claims
May 26, 2026
A Freepoint Eco-Systems chemical recycling plant in Ohio is facing probes from environmental regulators for failing to process enough plastic waste to get a coveted designation as a recycling facility and for violating air pollution regulations…
Read More: Plastic News
Report details repeated violations at Dennison Disposal injection wells
May 11, 2026
A new report from the Buckeye Environmental Network alleges repeated environmental violations, delayed enforcement and worsening contamination at Dennison Disposal’s Class II injection well facility in Tuscarawas County over the course of a year…
Read More: Your Ohio News
Time for full transparency on Ohio’s fracking waste practices: editorial
April 29, 2026
In February of last year, state Rep. Sean Patrick Brennan of Parma introduced a bill to require owners of all hydraulic fracturing (fracking) oil and gas well operations drilling in state parks “to disclose the chemical components of the materials used in the drilling operation”…
Read More: Cleveland.com
Washington County injection well opponents face setbacks
April 23, 2026
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Challengers to new Washington County injection wells faced two setbacks in the courts last week, with one case dismissed and another recommended for dismissal by a magistrate…
Read More: Athens County Independent
Ohio lawmaker demands transparency on 2015 oil spill
April 22, 2026
COLUMBUS, Ohio—State Rep. Sean Brennan is seeking answers from state environmental officials about unanswered questions surrounding a 2015 oil and gas spill in Trumbull County…
Read More: Cleveland.com
Rep. Brennan Requests Meeting with ODNR on Unanswered Questions from Trumbull County Contamination Event
April 20, 2026
COLUMBUS – State Rep. Sean Patrick Brennan (D–Parma) today formally requested a meeting with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources to seek answers regarding unresolved questions tied to a 2015 oil and gas waste spill in Trumbull County…
Read More: Ohio House of Representatives
As a Plastic Waste Plant Violates Pollution Rules, Its Owner Makes the Case for a Second Location
April 20, 2026
Belching smoke from a new plastic waste processing plant in central Ohio has stirred opposition to an even larger “chemical recycling” factory planned for Arizona by the same company…
Read More: Inside Climate News
Letter to the Editor: We can do better
March 21, 2026
I am the owner and operator of 180 conventional oil and gas wells. As an industry, we can do better…
Read More: The Marietta Times
Letter to the Editor: Marietta without injection wells response
March 18, 2026
Recently (March 10th), the Times printed a Viewpoint titled, “What does Marietta look like without injection wells?” I’d like to respond to Mr Dole of the Accountability Project…
Read More: The Marietta Times
Ohio attorney general sues Cleveland-Cliffs, local oil and gas company over brine plant closure
March 13, 2026
CLEVELAND, Ohio – Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost has sued steel company Cleveland-Cliffs and local oil and gas company Duck Creek Energy over the way they closed a plant that made deicing brine near the Cuyahoga River….
Read More: Cleveland.com
Columbus City Council meeting debates the local impact of data centers
March 12, 2026
Attendees at Wednesday’s City Council hearing disagreed over the basic facts: how much water would data centers need; how many long-term jobs they would create…
Read More: Matter News
Washington County water utilities join fight to stop injection wells
March 10, 2026
SALEM, Ohio — Calls for a moratorium on permitting new injection wells in southeast Ohio are getting louder as more local governments and utility boards join in the effort to protect local water supplies from fracking wastewater contamination…
Read More: Farm and Dairy
13-day Great Ohio Climate March will pass through Salt Fork State Park
March 10, 2026
Great Ohio Climate March participants will pass through Salt Fork State Park during the 13-day hike. The purpose of the march is to educate people about fracking, as well as present examples of cheap, emissions-free, and reliable clean renewable energy production in Ohio…
Read More: The Daily Jeff
Rural Ohioans finally fight against poisonous fracking waste the legislature has welcomed
March 10, 2026
A long-overdue rebellion is brewing in southeast Ohio — one directed squarely at the fracking wastewater industry, and at the state lawmakers who have spent years letting it hollow out the ground beneath rural communities…
Read More: Cleveland.com
Listen Here: Today in Ohio Cleveland.com Podcast
Water districts in Ohio join call for injection well moratorium
March 9, 2026
Five water districts and several municipalities in southeastern Ohio submitted a letter to Gov. Mike DeWine and state legislators on last week calling for a three-year pause on new waste injection wells in Washington County…
Read More: WESA
Opinion: Local citizens or paid consultant?
March 7, 2026
In his recent Viewpoint, “Local Columnist” Daniel McKenzie failed to share his credentials, and he did not say how long, if ever, he has lived in our community…
Read More: Marietta Times
Opponents organize to fight data center’s permit
March 7, 2026
LIMA — People opposed to a proposed data center need to focus on what the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency can do about it with a public hearing on the horizon Wednesday, an advocate said during a Saturday meeting…
Read More: The Lima News
Water districts in Ohio join call for injection well moratorium
March 6, 2026
Five water districts and several municipalities in southeastern Ohio submitted a letter to Governor Mike DeWine and state legislators on Thursday calling for a 3-year pause on new waste injection wells in Washington County….
Read More: The Allegheny Front
Southeast Ohio officials seek ban on injecting fracking wastewater underground
March 6, 2026
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Nearly 3 billion gallons of oil and gas wastewater have been injected underground in southeastern Ohio — pumped deep beneath the feet of residents who say they’ve had little say in the process…
Read More: Cleveland.com
Protest at Hilton Easton of Columbus Chavez Oilfield Patriot Award
March 6, 2026
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WTAP) – A coalition of activists from Southeastern Ohio picketed outside the Easton Hilton Hotel in Columbus on Thursday as the 79th annual meeting of the Ohio Oil and Gas Association got underway inside…
Read More: WTAP
Water boards, local officials call for moratorium on injection wells ahead of trip to Columbus
March 5, 2026
Representatives from several Washington County water systems, local governments and citizen advocacy groups met Wednesday to discuss concerns about oil and gas wastewater injection wells and to sign resolutions calling on state leaders to enact a temporary moratorium…
Read More: The Marietta Times
Washington County officials, residents demand moratorium on injection wells
March 4, 2026
PARKERSBURG, W.Va. (WTAP) – Officials from multiple local governments and water boards have joined in a combined effort to call for a three-year moratorium on injection wells and a study of the impacts of those wells on drinking water safety…
Read More: WTAP
Local officials, water boards to call for injection well moratorium at Marietta meeting
March 3, 2026
MARIETTA, Ohio (WTAP) – Officials from numerous local governments and water boards are set to gather Wednesday evening in a combined effort to call for a moratorium on injection wells…
Read more: WTAP
Washington County Water Boards Unite in an Unprecedented Way to Call for Moratorium on Injection Wells to Protect Clean Water from Injection Wells
February 28, 2026
MARIETTA, OH — On Tuesday evening, an unprecedented coalition of five independent water boards, local townships, and the City of Marietta will hold a press conference to demand a three-year moratorium on Class I and Class II waste injection wells and a comprehensive study on the impacts to nearby geology and water resources…
Read more: The Malaysian Reserve
Letter to the Editor: It’s about safe drinking water
February 27, 2026
In response to the letter to the editor written by Dan McKenzie, research director for Accountability Project Institute, published Feb. 21: Washington County for Safe Drinking Water was founded here in Marietta by and for residents of the Mid-Ohio Valley in response to threats posed by injection wells, existing and proposed, within two miles of our aquifers along the Muskingum and Ohio rivers. …
Read more: The Marietta Times
Ohio EPA to begin ‘pursuing enforcement’ against Freepoint Eco-Systems after air quality violations
February 26, 2026
Shawn Jones took his 8-year-old son to Evans Park in Hebron for football practice. Hundreds of kids sprinted across the field, and Jones hoped to help out the coaches where he could. Then black smoke distracted him…
Read more: The Reporting Project
Opinion: Earthjustice and Buckeye Environmental Network want to end the mining industry
February 21, 2026
Injection wells have been a hot topic in Marietta lately. Fear-mongering, misinformation, and straight-up lies have been vomited by environmental activist groups such as Earthjustice and Buckeye Environmental Network (BEN)…
Read more: The Marietta Times
Lawsuit: Fracking waste company should pay for 2021 disaster
February 19, 2026
FRANKLIN COUNTY, Ohio — A lawsuit filed last year seeks to make a fracking waste injection company pay for cleanup costs associated with a 2021 incident in which the company’s waste contaminated Noble County land and waterways, killing hundreds of animals…
Read more: Athens County Independent
Opinion: It’s Not Over Yet
February 14, 2026
In November 2025, I became a member of Washington County for Safe Drinking Water (WCFSDW). Before joining the group I had never been involved locally but felt motivated after educating myself on the risks to our drinking water…
Read more: The Marietta Times
Ethics complaint against Republican Ohio state Sen. Brian Chavez does not go forward
February 11, 2026
The Ohio Joint Legislative Ethics Committee has decided not to move forward with an ethics complaint filed against Republican Ohio state Sen. Brian Chavez over alleged oil and gas conflicts…
Read more: Ohio Capital Journal
Environmental groups file ethics complaint against Sen. Chavez
February 11, 2026
A coalition of Ohio environmental organizations filed an ethics complaint against Republican Sen. Brian Chavez on Jan. 20, alleging that he used his position within the Senate to influence policies and benefit financially, according to the ethics complaint…
Read more: The Post
Ethics committee could still investigate Sen. Chavez despite GOP claims
February 11, 2026
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio Senate Republican leadership last week described alleged ethics violations submitted against Ohio Senator Brian Chavez as having “failed,” but the Joint Legislative Ethics Committee could still investigate the allegations…
Read more: Athens County Independent
Ethics complaint filed against Sen. Brian Chavez by environmental group
February 5, 2026
On Jan. 20, Washington County for Safe Drinking Water filed an ethics complaint against Sen. Brian Chavez (R-Marietta). The complaint alleges Chavez has ties to a company – DeepRock Disposal Solutions LLC – that stands to benefit from a bill overhauling the laws surrounding Ohio’s oil and gas industry…
Read more: The Athens Messenger
Letter to the Editor: Sen. Brian Chavez, it’s time to put people over profit
February 5, 2026
As a recent graduate from Ohio University and a new resident of the area, I wanted to write in response to Dani Kington and Eric Boll’s article on Senator Brian Chavez and the Ethics Complaint filed against him…
Read more: Athens County Independent