FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 8, 2026
Six Years After Redbird Injection Well Brine Incident, Well Owners, State Representatives, Scientists, and Water Officials Demand Long-Term Investigation Into Brine Migration
MARIETTA, Ohio —Following the release of a new Buckeye Environmental Network (BEN) report documenting continued pressure increases in wells impacted by the Redbird #4 injection well, impacted oil and gas producers, scientists, water officials, community advocates, and elected leaders gathered Tuesday in Washington County. At a press conference hosted by BEN, speakers called on the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) to launch a long-term investigation into oil and gas waste brine migration across southeastern Ohio.
Speakers included oil well producers Bob Wilson, Bobby Anderson, and Bob Lane; geologist Dr. David Jeffrey; Little Hocking Water Association representative John Rauch; Buckeye Environmental Network Advisory Board Member and former Athens County Commissioner Roxanne Groff; State Rep. Tristan Rader himself and on the behalf of State Rep. Sean Brennan; and BEN organizer Bev Reed.
Together, they argued that six years after the state confirmed brine migration from the Redbird #4 injection well, major questions remain unanswered about what is happening underground and what it could mean for Washington County’s drinking water sources.
Following the press conference, speakers led members of the media on a tour of impacted production wells and the Redbird #4 injection well, where well owners demonstrated the continued pressure increases and described the lasting impacts on their businesses.
Bob Wilson, owner of Wilson Energy, said his company once operated 171 conventional oil and gas wells. Today, roughly 50 of those wells no longer produce because of the ongoing problems he attributes to brine migration.
“I had 171 wells,” Wilson said. “Today, about 50 of them don’t work. I started losing wells, three or four a week. I called ODNR and told them I believe injection water was infiltrating my wells….They told me that wasn’t possible. [And they hung up.] They don’t want to talk about it.”
Wilson said he has spent years dealing with the consequences while continuing to watch pressures rise on several of his wells.
“They never paid me for the damage. It’s business as usual. They keep permitting more wells, and it’s still happening. I lost 2-3 wells in the last couple of weeks.”
Dr. David Jeffrey, a geologist who spoke at the event and gave a chart presentation illustrating brine migration, said the pressure increases documented in the affected wells are inconsistent with how conventional oil and gas wells normally behave.
“These kinds of pressure increases are not what you expect in a normal oil and gas well. Normally, pressure declines over time,” Jeffrey said.
He explained that the geology itself raises serious concerns.
“These rock layers are supposed to be very impermeable. We should not have fluids flowing up through them. But we do.” Jeffrey said allowing radioactive oil and gas waste to migrate underground could create an expensive, long-term engineering challenge.
“You’re going to have hundreds of geotechnical experts and engineers trying to install interceptor wells and track down every bit of that radioactive fluid. It’s going to cost millions, tens or hundreds of millions of dollars to make sure those fluids do not reach our aquifers.”
State Rep. Tristan Rader said the state has failed to respond with the urgency the situation deserves.
“It boggles my mind that we’re not listening to the voices of the people who are actually experiencing these problems,” Rader said. “It’s either willful ignorance or complete incompetence at the state level.”
Rader said Ohio’s response must prioritize local communities over industry interests. “Clearly, we’re at the precipice of an emergency… Economies are being shut down because of these wells, aquifers are being threatened.… It’s been too long that we’ve made choices that favor Wall Street and billionaires over our local businesses.”
He added that responsibility ultimately rests with state leaders. “We’re talking about legislation that would give ODNR more authority, but at the end of the day it’s the Governor and these state agencies that need to do their jobs. They need to properly regulate these wells.”
“The Redbird #4 leak should have been a wake-up call,” said Bev Reed, Oil and Gas Waste Organizer with Buckeye Environmental Network. “Instead, Ohio continues permitting injection wells while unanswered questions about brine migration remain. Until the state commits to a long-term investigation and fully understands the threat to our aquifers and drinking water, it is gambling with the future of southeastern Ohio.”
Buckeye Environmental Network is calling on ODNR to:
- Immediately suspend injection operations in the area and monitor for changes after injection has ceased
- Launch a long-term, systemic investigation into brine waste migration across southeastern Ohio, not just at Redbird
- Apply consistent pressure monitoring and reporting standards to every well with a history of migration concerns
- Test private water wells within at least five miles of any injection well suspected of migration in a long-term, systemic way
Full Press Conference Video
Oil and Gas Well Demonstration Video
Downloadable version of videos – media has permission to use videos in reporting
About Buckeye Environmental Network: Buckeye Environmental Network is a grassroots organization dedicated to protecting the health and future of Ohio communities. We believe that every neighbor has the right to clean air, safe drinking water, and a say in the industrial practices that affect their home.
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