ohio fracking regulations Groups continue to voice concerns as bill proceeds
By Marc Kovac
COLUMBUS
Environmental groups continue to voice concern about fracking-related legislation that’s expected to be finalized by lawmakers this week.
The Ohio Environmental Council, the Sierra Club and Environment Ohio are urging an Ohio House committee considering the bill to require more water sampling near new oil and gas wells, permit citizens to appeal drilling-permit decisions, increase public disclosure of chemicals used in horizontal hydraulic fracturing and authorize state officials to shut down wells that pose imminent threats to public health or safety.
“State regulators expect more than 2,000 shale wells to be fracked in the next three years in Ohio, but state lawmakers may be leaving only 72 more hours to get the protections right,” said Trent Dougherty, director of legal affairs for the Ohio Environmental Council. “Our lawmakers should take their time, because Ohio still doesn’t have adequate safeguards in place — not by a long shot.”
The groups offered their criticism during a Monday morning press conference near the Statehouse, just before the House’s public- utilities committee was to continue deliberations on Senate Bill 315, midbiennium policy revisions offered to lawmakers by Gov. John Kasich.
The Ohio Senate passed the bill on a bipartisan vote last week, and the Ohio House is expected to make revisions and pass its version this week, likely sending it to Kasich for his signature shortly thereafter.
The bill includes numerous provisions related to the state’s energy laws, with language related to conservation, alternative-fuel programming and wastewater treatment.
Supporters say it would implement some of the most stringent fracking-related regulations in the country, requiring increased disclosure of fracking chemicals and water usage, water-well sampling within 1,500 feet of proposed horizontal wells and so-called “cradle-to-grave” documentation and tracking of oil and gas wells from the time they’re started until they are capped.
But environmental groups said Monday that the legislation doesn’t go far enough to protect the public and Ohio’s natural surroundings, allowing companies to keep proprietary fracking- fluid mixtures secret and barring citizens from appealing permits issued by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, among other issues.
The groups are calling for more public disclosure of drilling permits, water testing within 3,000 feet of horizontal wells, air-emission controls on all phases of oil and gas production and state certification of well casings and disposal sites.