Friday, April 1, 2016

The disturbing extent of "Brine" Injection Wells

In the face of the newest "brine" injection well in Lenawee County, I was looking for the coordinates of existing injection wells from the EPA and was pointed to the Michigan map server with the below email of the regional permit technician:

EPA does not have a data base with all injection well locations. The information you seek is available from state programs.  EPA has given many states authority to implement the federal Underground Injection Control program for most classes, and I recommend you check with state agencies directly. For Region 5 states (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Wisconsin), check the Region 5 website for state websites and contacts: https://www.epa.gov/uic/underground-injection-control-epa-region-5-il-mi-mn-oh-and-wi#dwa under "Who regulates UIC wells in my state?"  Several states have online well database systems. Though EPA regulates Class II wells in Michigan, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality has an online well database system found at http://www.deq.state.mi.us/GeoWebFace/ which can be searched for brine disposal wells.  While I have information for Region 5 UIC well programs only, other EPA Regions and states have similar information. 

Best regards,

Anna Miller
Environmental Scientist
Underground Injection Control Branch
U.S. EPA Region 5  (WU-16J)
77 W. Jackson
Chicago, IL 60604

(312) 886-7060

I generated the below map in Google Earth restricting the well type to: Brine Disposal Wells (1206 wells!!!!, red markers). See for yourself how frightening many of these wells are in the Lower PI of Michigan alone. Now think that abandoned wells only need to be monitored for a few years. What a time bomb below our feet...


You can download the Google Earth KMZ file: HERE

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