WARREN, OHIO
State officials say an injection well facility tied to a
chemical spill in northeast Ohio must submit a cleanup plan as the Ohio
Environmental Protection Agency continues to investigate the spill.
Ohio EPA officials say the Kleese Development Associates
facility, which operates five saltwater injection wells, was instructed to
submit a plan by the end of the week.
Inspectors in April traced the chemical spill in Vienna
Township to the facility after residents reported dead animals near a local
pond and a sheen on the water's surface.
The operations at the facility have stopped and remain under
the oversight of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.
The company has said cleanup efforts have already been
underway since shortly after the spill.
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A local company connected to a chemical spill earlier this
year has until the end of this week to submit a remediation plan to state
officials for the clean up of a local creek.
The address of the wells is 5061 Warren Sharon Rd., Vienna,
Ohio 44473.
A spokesman for the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency
said Tuesday that the investigation into the chemical spill is ongoing.
Matt Kleese, former vice president of operations for
Warren-based Kleese Development Associates, also known has KDA, said he is
confident the company is doing “the best possible job” to resolve the matter
and work with state officials.
Kleese declined to comment on the matter further, he said,
because he recently left the company to pursue his own business. Attempts by
the Tribune Chronicle to reach someone at KDA’s office in Warren were not
successful.
Cleanup efforts have been ongoing since shortly after the
spill, the company has said.
KDA is involved in the oil and gas drilling industry and
operates one of its injection well sites on Sodom Hutchings Road. The company
has been at the center of an investigation to determine what caused a chemical
spill near the Kleese Surface Facility, which is connected to five saltwater
injection wells on Sodom Hutchings Road.
On April 3, Richard J. Simmers, chief of the Ohio Department
of Natural Resource’s Division of Oil and Gas Resources Management, ordered
operations to stop at the Vienna facility after a chemical spill was discovered
in late March.
State inspectors responding to a Vienna resident’s complaint
reported tracing the spill “back to an area near” the KDA facility and
determined it likely was related to operations there, according to Simmers’
order.
Simmers found KDA in violation of several sections of the
Ohio Administrative Code addressing polluting the environment and ordered
operations of the five injection wells at the facility to stop. Operations
there have remained dormant and are under the oversight of the ODNR.
On April 28, the Northeast Ohio Environmental Crimes Task
Force searched KDA’s downtown Warren headquarters and a company site in Vienna.
However, officials have not said what investigators were looking for or if they
collected anything at that time.*
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EPA searches for evidence of environmental crime at Vienna
injection well
Posted: Apr 28, 2015 4:10 PM EST Updated: Jun 16, 2015 11:04
PM EST
VIENNA TWP., Ohio -
The United States Environmental agency executed a search
warrant at a Vienna Township brine disposal business that is the site of a
spill.
According to the Ohio Attorney General's office, agents from
the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation were asked to assist the Northeast
Ohio Environmental Task Force at the Sodum Hutchings Road injection well site
operated by Kleese Development Associates.
“The EPA executed a search warrant seeking evidence of
environmental crime,” according to Phillippa Cannon, Media Relations Team
Leader for the U.S. EPA Region 5.
Asked for more information about what agents were looking
for, Cannon said she could provide no further information and referred 21 News
to the Department of Justice for further information.
Mike Tobin, Public Information Officer for the United States
Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Ohio, said he could not comment
on the investigation.
Ohio EPA spokesperson Heidi Griesman, tells 21 News that
warrants were also executed at KDA's other well site on Parkman Road in Warren
Township. She would not elaborate on the purpose of the search.
The KDA injection wells on Sodom Hutchings Road have been
shut down since earlier this month following the discovery of a spill into
nearby wetlands across the street. Dead fish and other deceased wildlife have
been found in the area.
A spokesperson from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources
confirms the oil-based spill traces back to a storage pad on the Kleese
property.
Neither the exact source of the spill nor the identity of
the substance has been determined.
The ODNR ordered Kleese to temporarily shut down the
Warren Township wells last week after a routine inspection of the facility
found that KDA was injecting fluids into the ground at pressures exceeding acceptable
limits.
According to the Ohio EPA, injection pressure restrictions
prevent injection at pressures which could cause fractures in the rock
formations that limit fluid movement above an injection zone.
The ODNR inspector instructed KDA to correct the pressure
issue.
On Friday, the inspector returned to the site and found that
KDA was still injecting over pressure.
The well operator was instructed to cease operations by the
inspector until the issue was remedied.
On Saturday, the inspector again returned to the site and
found that KDA had installed an automatic shut-off switch and a pressure level
recorder.
According to the ODNR, the action brought the well into
compliance and operations were permitted to resume.
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Disposal Services
KDA Inc. operates seven injection wells at two facilities in
Trumbull County just minutes away from Route 82, 11 and 80. KDA understands the
importance of tight schedules and deadlines and its facilities are open 24
hours and 7 days a week, including holidays. Each facility has the
ability to unload five trucks at a time if needed.
Kleese Facility - Vienna, Ohio
Five of the current injection wells are on the 200-acre
Kleese family farm in Vienna, Ohio. This disposal facility can handle up to
8,000 barrels of fluid injection daily, with two quintiplex pumps. This
facility was recently upgraded with the ability to gravity feed unload up to
ten trucks at one time. It also has a ODNR approved secondary containment
for storing heavy brine.
Natale Facility - Warren,Ohio
The two other injection wells are located conveniently on
State Route 422 in Warren, Ohio. This disposal facility can handle 2,000
barrels of fluid injection daily, with one quintiplex pump. It is a
smaller version of the Kleese Well Facility with the ability to gravity feed
unload five trucks at one time.
COMING SOON: New Mt. Simon Injection Well at Kleese
Facility
The drilling for a new injection well near the Kleese Facility is expected to begin March 2015. With this addition, the facility will be expanding to include a third quintiplex pump.
A permit has also been obtained for an additional Mt.
Simon injection well at the Natale Facility.
Throughout the entire process of constructing a new
injection well, KDA Inc. performs thorough testing to ensure the pipe and
cement seals are in compliance with strict ODNR and EPA regulations.