Ohio Code § 1509.12

§ 1509.12.

(A)(1) No person shall construct or operate a well, that causes damage to other permeable

strata, underground sources of drinking water, or the surface of the land or that

threatens the public health and safety or the environment. (2) No owner of a well shall permit a well to leak fluids or gases. (3) Upon the discovery that the casing in a well is defective or that a well was not

adequately constructed, the person that owns the well or that is responsible for the

well shall notify the chief of the division of oil and gas resources management within

twenty-four hours of the discovery, and shall immediately repair the casing, correct

the construction inadequacies, or plug and abandon the well. (B) When the chief finds that a well should be plugged, the chief shall issue an order

to the person that owns the well or that is responsible for the well to plug the well

and shall specify in the order a reasonable time within which to comply.  No person shall fail or refuse to plug a well within the time specified in the order.  Each day on which such a well remains unplugged thereafter constitutes a separate

offense. Where the plugging method prescribed by rules adopted pursuant to section 1509.15 of the Revised Code cannot be applied or if applied would be ineffective in carrying out the protection

that the law is meant to give, the chief may designate a different method of plugging.  The abandonment report shall show the manner in which the well was plugged. (C) In case of oil or gas wells abandoned prior to September 1, 1978, the board of county

commissioners of the county in which the wells are located may submit to the electors

of the county the question of establishing a special fund, by general levy, by general

bond issue, or out of current funds, which shall be approved by a majority of the

electors voting upon that question for the purpose of plugging the wells.  The fund shall be administered by the board and the plugging of oil and gas wells

shall be under the supervision of the chief, and the board shall let contracts for

that purpose, provided that the fund shall not be used for the purpose of plugging

oil and gas wells that were abandoned subsequent to September 1, 1978.