CLEVELAND, Ohio – Hydraulic fracturing has dramatically boosted oil and gas production in the Utica and Marcellus shale formations of eastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania over the past 15 years.

Scores of drilling pads have popped up in the countryside, allowing oil and gas companies to access hard-to-reach deposits using improved technology.

They do so by shooting a mixture of water, sand and chemicals into the ground at high pressure to fracture the shale and release gas and oil.

But along with production comes waste, and Ohio has become the prime repository of that waste throughout the region, which also includes part of West Virginia.

Ohio currently operates 232 active Class II injection wells, which are the ones permitted to receive fracking waste, with approximately 19 more unde

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