Ohio Senate Bill 329 would ban the practice of spreading well brine on roads in Ohio. The Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee had a second hearing on the bill in February, but no action since.
Morgan said they met with Sen. Tim Shaffer, who represents Fairfield, Licking and Perry counties.
“ Shaffer gave us a lot of time,” Morgan said.“ He listened to what we had to say and asked questions. To me( Senate Bill 239) should be a non-controversial, nonpartisan issue. It has to do with the health and welfare of everybody that’ s within the environment where this is being spread.”
There are other solutions to control ice and dust on roads besides oilfield brine. Granville Township has switched from oilfield brine to making their own de-icer. Through using a water and road salt mixture, Granville is able to avoid the contaminants in oilfield brine. Morgan said that she wishes other Licking County townships would choose to prioritize health like this.
“ When I see greed being a higher priority than health and welfare, that’ s upsetting,” Morgan said.“ If you’ re getting the benefit of the gas and the oil, then give us the benefit of healthy air to breathe and ground to walk on and vegetables to eat and water to drink.”
On Sept. 19, Quist will be at the Granville Farmers Market to discuss the effects of radium on the body and to connect with parents of children living in areas where oilfield brine is spread in the hopes of talking about their research.
“ People seem interested and curious,” Quist said.
Morgan said that she’ s not sure whether Quist’ s research will change anything about the reality of oilfield brine in Licking County. But she hopes that further knowledge about the brine’ s impact can someday make things better.
“ I hope that it will put another couple of bricks on the scales of justice and reasonable choices for our quality of life and health,” said Morgan.
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This story was originally published by The Reporting Project and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.
Source:
https:// www. washingtonpost. com / national / 2026 / 07 / 31 / ohio-researchers-baby-teeth-oilfieldbrine-health / c215cd8a-8d18-11f1-8912-d71e69d679d7 _ story. html