Brine spreading on roads has become a very popular practice in certain parts of Ohio as a dust suppressor and a deicing source. Brine is an additional product produced consisting of water, oil and salts that rises out of the earth when oil and gas are drawn out from drilling or welling sites. The different types of brine that are spread throughout Ohio can have an impact on both health and the environment that, ultimately, have been the foundation of a debate over the use of it.
One of the two main things brine spreading is used for is deicing of roads. In this scenario, the chemicals are placed on the road during the winter season in order to help limit the amount of ice on roads by melting it or breaking it up1.[1] Using chemicals on icy roads is vital in getting them back to provide the most safety to drivers, pedestrians, and any other people traveling on the road. Dust suppression is the other main use for brine spreading. It has been believed that spreading brine on dust roads helps just as well as commercial dust suppressors because of the chemical makeup that is similar between the two.[2] Despite this, recent studies have shown the use of brine as a dust suppressant may not even actually control dust.[3]
A view of a truck spreading Brine on a road.
Scope and scale
Since 2005, the state of Ohio has seen a significant increase in the amount of brine spread, injection wells and brine haulers.[4] Specifically, the majority of this is all happening in areas east of Columbus and south of Cleveland.[4] Brine is used on roads in over 28 counties in the state of Ohio.[5] Every year, large amounts of brine are put into the injection wells of Ohio and spread on roads for deicing and dust suppressant.[4] These numbers are in the millions of gallons and can reach as high as billions.[4]
Potential impacts
Environmental impacts
Brine is a constant threat to the soil and can easily contaminate it.[6] The high amounts of salt in brine have significant impacts on soil by causing it to increase in size and spread.[6] Along with this, soil contaminated with heavy levels of salt makes it very difficult, and sometimes impossible for plants to absorb water.[6] Overall, this will lead to plants becoming very dry and failing to grow to produce vegetation. Alternatively, brine does not have the high polluting impacts that road salts do that are used to deice.[7]
Health impacts
The metals including lead and radium that are in brine are very toxic for drinking water.[3] Studies done have shown that rain can easily carry compounds such as brine off of roads and possibly into bodies of water.[3] Therefore, these salt chemicals can find their way into the sources for drinking water.[3] Tests by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) in 2017 found that a large amount of the samples from wells contained levels of radium that are above the legal limit for drinking water.[8]
Legislation
The state of Ohio has implemented laws regarding brine spreading on roads.[9] According to the Ohio Revised Code, the application of brine on roads is only allowed if a board or legislator of a county adopts a resolution allowing this.[10] In addition to this, brine is allowed to be applied to a road or surface if it is from a well that is not drilled horizontally.[10] In 2022, a bill was proposed to prohibit the use of brine on roads in the state of Ohio, but it only made it to the In House Committee.[11] Specifically, the bill hit a hold up in the Natural Resources Committee and never became an official law.[12]
AquaSalina
A type of deicer made from gases and oils from wells that has been raising concerns amongst many in Ohio the past few years is AquaSalina.[13] In the winter of 2018, the amount of this product sprayed on highways exceeded into a six figure value of gallons.[14] The ODNR found that AquaSalina contains more than 300 times as much radium as the amount the federal government has identified as safe drinking water.[14]Radium is a metal that can lead to multiple types of illnesses including bone, liver and breast cancers.[13]
Activism
Individuals and groups including the Ohio Brine Task For Brine and the Ohio Community Rights Network have taken charge in an attempt to end oil and gas brine spreading in the state.[4] Many of these activists are faced with a lot of adversity from the Republicans of the state who are very fond of the use of fossil fuels in the environment.[7] Other groups, such as the Buckeye Environmental Network have held events at which they display their fears of the effects brine spreading can have on future generations using individuals with personal experience of being affected and studies done.[15]
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