Updated: Aug. 28 at 9:41 a.m.
SALEM, Ohio — Six employees from Monroe Drilling Operations, LLC were injured while plugging an orphan well in Wayne National Forest on Aug. 25.
The orphan well, located in Independence Township, Washington County, was in the process of being plugged when natural gas and crude oil traveled up to the surface, igniting and causing an explosion, according to Karina Cheung, spokesperson for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, the regulatory body for orphan wells in the state.
Multiple fire departments arrived at the scene Monday afternoon, working to put out the fire, including Reno Volunteer Fire Department in Reno, Ohio. Reno firefighters received a call at 11:51 a.m. about the explosion.
According to Reno Fire Chief Jon Bradford, the orphan well was 2 1/2 to 3 miles back in the woods. Crews had to transport water to the fire using side-by-sides and four-wheeler brush trucks with fire pumps via a trail.
Bradford said with the help of six other fire departments — including departments from New Matamoras, Newport, Sardis and Marietta — crews were able to put out the fire within an hour. He added several trees and the plugging equipment was burned, but nothing to cause concern to the public.
ODNR’s Emergency Operations and Response team was also on the scene, investigating the explosion. The six injured employees were transported to a nearby hospital. Four of them were then airlifted via helicopter to other hospitals, Bradford said. The status of the workers is unknown.
Farm and Dairy reached out to Monroe Drilling, but it declined a request to comment on the matter.
Bradford says he’s aware there are a lot of orphan wells in the area, but that this was the fire department’s first time dealing with an explosion of this kind.
“We try to be prepared for everything that comes our way, but anything in the world can happen,” Bradford said, adding that the fire department will be studying the incident to prepare in case of future events with isolated orphan wells.
He also hopes to talk with county and state representatives about funding for more equipment and setting up a training program to prepare firefighters for these isolated incidents, especially as Ohio works to plug more orphan wells.
“There’s a big push on getting these (orphan wells) all sealed up, but now you can see that it’s a dangerous job, and I guess the more training, the better for everybody,” he said, but adding that he is proud of the way fire crews and ODNR officials worked to put out the fire.
Jesse Velazquez, climate justice manager for the Ohio Environmental Council, echoed these safety concerns about orphan wells: “This incident is a sobering reminder that while Ohio is capable of responding to these crises, we must invest in measures to mitigate the known risks. We have tens of thousands of orphan wells across our state in need of capping. The long-term risks to humans and the environment from gas wells throughout their lifecycles are clear,” he said, in a statement.
Ohio has been ramping up its efforts to plug orphan wells in recent years, thanks to an influx of state and federal funding. This includes $25 million in August 2022 and $57.7 million in July 2023, both through the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
The state’s orphan well program was established in 1977. So far, 19,000 wells have been identified and 2,300 have been plugged; the state estimates 36,000 orphan wells exist in Ohio.
(Liz Partsch can be reached at epartsch@farmanddairy.com or 330-337-3419.)
