Protesters lined Route 193 near the site of a proposed injection well Monday afternoon.

Kleese Development Associates has a permit to drill at the site, which is close to the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport, but the company does not have approval to conduct injection well operations at the location. The company obtained a permit to drill in 2013.

21 News cameras caught the company moving dirt at the site Monday morning, while those opposed to any type of oil and gas exploration at this location held up signs which read "No New Drilling". 

"We just feel it's a disgrace that there shouldn't be a certain amount of property that's a buffer and it shouldn't be in residential areas," Judy Klepfer said, of Vienna Township. 

Resident and candidate for Vienna township trustee, Mary Swift, helped to organized the Monday protest on neighbor Michelle Garman's property. Garman and Swift worry about KDA's track record and reputation. She continues to question why the state has yet to answer several questions for Vienna Township.

"We have not gotten definite answers to our questions, what happened on Sodom Hutchings?" Swift said.  

Although the company is under criminal investigation, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources confirms no laws prevent them from drilling. Permission to begin injecting frack waste at the Rt. 193 site would have to come from both ODNR and the Federal Aviation Administration. 


KDA applied for a permit through the FAA on August 10. The FAA requires 45 days to review applications before issuing any permits for drilling and injection well sites within 3 miles of an airport. KDA's application indicates its rig would stand 105 feet tall. 

Meantime, protesters want the state to give local government entities some control of where oil and gas exploration takes place in their communities. Swift acknowledges the state agency has overriding authority over fracking and injection well sites and admits she's unimpressed with how ODNR has handled oversight of the industry. 

"They have failed, in my opinion they have failed miserably," she said.