Injection Waste Program
Ohio has become a dumping ground for oil and gas waste. Millions of gallons of toxic brine get injected deep underground every year, much of it trucked in from Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Buckeye Environmental Network has spent more than 15 years fighting to hold regulators accountable, protect water resources, and stand with the communities on the frontlines of this crisis.
What Are Injection Wells ?
Injection wells are drilled thousands of feet into the earth to dispose of liquid waste from oil and gas drilling or industrial processes. The waste is pushed underground under high pressure into rock layers known as pore space. There is no underground pool where the waste stays. It spreads out through the rock.
The wastewater from fracking carries hundreds of chemicals. These include surfactants, lubricants, PFAS compounds, volatile organic compounds, heavy metals, and radioactive elements like radium-226 and radium-228. In a Pennsylvania study, radium levels hit 9,330 picocuries per liter. Safe drinking water standards are 5 picocuries per liter.
It takes about 4 million gallons of water to frack a single well, which means millions of gallons of toxic waste have to be dumped somewhere.
Statewide Data (2015–2024)
362,334,052 barrels of waste injected in Ohio, equal to 15.2 billion gallons
That’s around 23,000 Olympic swimming pools worth of toxic waste
206 active wells, 27 inactive, 8 permitted but not drilled, 51 plugged, 7 scheduled for plugging
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources doesn’t track the waste from cradle to grave. Once the trucks leave the well pad, there’s no clear record of where the waste goes or what spills along the way.
The chemicals are classified as “non-hazardous” because of federal loopholes in the 1980 Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. Companies can also keep their chemical formulas secret, so the public can’t even know what’s being pumped beneath them.
Injection Well Failures
Since 2010, multiple injection wells across southeast Ohio have leaked or “migrated” toxic brine far outside their intended zones. In some cases, that waste traveled as far as five miles from the original well site. These aren’t isolated incidents. They’re symptoms of a system that prioritizes disposal over safety.
Seven injection wells have failed in the region. Six of those have been shut down. Every one of them was permitted and operated under outdated rules that regulators still haven’t corrected.
These failures prove that “deep” doesn’t mean “safe.” When pressure builds underground, fluids find pathways through cracks and fault lines. That puts nearby aquifers, soil, and communities at risk.
Buckeye Environmental Network has pushed for transparency on these failures for years. Our team has gathered Chief’s Orders, public records, and firsthand accounts to document what state agencies won’t.
Injection Well Classes
Class II Wells
These wells are primarily for oil and gas production, injecting fluids to enhance recovery.
Class VI Wells
Designed for geologic storage of carbon dioxide, helping to mitigate climate change.
Our Victories
We support local efforts in Ohio and Washington County, pushing for safety and environmental protection.