August 20, 2020: On August 20, Sierra Club and partners filed a lawsuit in the Tenth District Court of Appeals against the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) for issuing permits to construct three mining wells without public notice, the issuance of draft permits, or a public comment period, in violation of their own regulations.
The proposed solution mining wells would be used to create an underground fracked gas liquids storage cavern called the Mountaineer Storage Hub that would hold fracked gas liquids for easy use by petrochemical manufacturers. It would be an essential part of what the oil and gas industry is calling the “Appalachian Storage Hub,” a mega-infrastructure project that would lock the Appalachian region into a polluting, carbon-intensive fossil fuel economy for decades. The Mountaineer Storage Hub, which is currently stalled, would emit an estimated 1.7 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions every year if it’s built. Located only a mile from the nearest drinking water well, it would also pose serious risks to the Ohio River, groundwater, local threatened and endangered species, and the health and safety of the residents in the surrounding area.
Sierra Club, along with our partners (including Concerned Ohio River Residents, FreshWater Accountability Project, Buckeye Environmental Network, and Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition) is represented by Earthjustice in this lawsuit. Sierra Club is playing an important role in the litigation, showing that the plaintiffs have a legal right to sue, and in organizing the community to oppose this project.