Gas wells multiply in wake of ’04 law

CLEVELAND (AP) — Gas wells have proliferated in Northeast Ohio since the state took regulatory authority for drilling away from local governments in 2004, angering many residents who have little control because of what critics say are some of the most lenient drilling laws in the country.

Critics say residents don’t have much power to keep rigs away because the boards that hear challenges to gas-well locations consist largely of industry representatives. And the Ohio Department of Natural Resources is funded mainly by fees paid by the gas industry and with taxes paid for the gas that’s extracted.

“All the other states I’ve seen, they would have more stringent regulation,” said Bruce Baizel, an attorney for the national Oil & Gas Accountability Project, which pushes for stricter laws. “It reminds me a bit of some states in the West before they strengthened their rules.”

About 1,000 wells have been drilled in urban and suburban areas since 2004, when state lawmakers took regulatory authority away from local governments. Before, cities could turn down drilling applications for the suburbs.

Last year, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources issued 1,296 drilling permits — 120 more than in 2007.

Gas companies in Ohio can drill on land even if it’s opposed by homeowners, don’t have to notify neighbors of imminent drilling and inject chemicals into the ground to fracture the earth and release gas. Wells can also be drilled 100 feet from homes.

Many residents are frustrated by what they consider to be eyesores in their neighborhoods and are worried about the environmental impact.

“It’s absolutely idiotic,” said Fred Braun, a Broadview Heights resident who said he agreed to a well after Ohio Valley Energy misled him about how close it would be to his house.

The drilling industry agreed that Ohio laws are lax but said it has acted responsibly.

“I would maintain vehemently that our environmental and social track record across the board has been very, very, very good,” said Tom Stewart of the Ohio Oil & Gas Association.

The industry points to a 2005 report of the State Review of Oil and Natural Gas Environmental Regulations that called Ohio’s regulatory framework “well-managed and innovative.”

And the industry has been paying for gas- and oil-field emergency training for firefighters.

“But there are social concerns,” Stewart said. “I think it’s prudent that we confront those issues. ... I think it’s the right thing to do.”

Most of Ohio’s drilling laws come from the mid-1980s or before, and the natural-resources department acknowledged that many of the laws are outdated and don’t reflect modern drilling practices.

There are two movements afoot in the Ohio Legislature to update the laws. The department is working with the gas association on new regulations to be proposed by state Sen. Tom Niehaus, the New Richmond Republican who sponsored the 2004 law that made drilling easier in most cities. Another Republican lawmaker, state Sen. Tim Grendell, plans to introduce stricter laws endorsed by a concerned-citizens group called the Northeast Ohio Gas Accountability Project.