| More than 5 million people get their drinking water from the Ohio River.
West Virginia is ready to let companies drill for oil and natural gas deep beneath the river, which the state owns on their border.
This week, state commerce officials unveiled bids on a northern West Virginia section of the river.
Triad Hunter submitted a bid for 14 miles of the river, proposing to pay the state $17.8 million for a five-year lease, plus 18 percent royalties on the extractions.
Noble Energy, Gastar Exploration and Statoil also submitted bids for smaller sections of the river.
The state will announce the winning bids next week.
Environmental groups have expressed concerns that the state won't sufficiently safeguard against releases that could harm water supplies, issuing risk factors.
The companies will be using millions of gallons of water from the river for each drilling operation, saving huge sums of money for obtaining water supplies.
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