When drillers inject huge volumes of water into horizontal tunnels in the Earth to extract oil and gas, about 20 to 40 percent of that water comes back up. It's called brine because it's salty, but it also contains sand, debris and small quantities of toxic chemicals. In January, Andrew Blocksom's company, Patriot Water Treatment, LLC, opened a $3.5 million dollar plant designed to remove pollutants in brine. From there, the brine goes to the city of Warren's wastewater treatment plant which discharges into the Mahoning River. Former Governor Ted Strickland granted the original permits. On Tuesday, Ohio's Attorney General and the head of the state's EPA said those permits were granted in errorand now wants them revoked. Patriot Water Treatment's Andrew Blocksom says he met informally with Ohio's current Governor John Kasich Tuesday evening, and he's invited the state Attorney General and the head of Ohio's EPA to come and tour his facility.
Andrew Blocksom: We just want them to come and see what we do and get their questions answered versus having opinions from Columbus.
In a statement, the head of Ohio's EPA says under current law, the type of disposal Patriot offers is illegal. The issue now goes to the Ohio Environmental Appeals Commission. Blocksom's company is the first of its kind in Ohio. Patriot Water has also purchased land to build similar water treatment facilities in Steubenville, East Liverpool, Youngstown and Ashtabula.