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Environmentalists say federal letter says Ohio law out of step with federal disclosure laws
By Marc Kovac
COLUMBUS
Environmental advocates say they’ll sue if lawmakers don’t change a state law related to the oil and gas industry that appears to be out of step with federal disclosure requirements.
And Teresa Mills from the Center for Health, Environment and Justice and others have a letter from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency backing up their stance on increased disclosure of chemicals used in horizontal hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.
“State law should not block regular citizens from obtaining full access to information about chemicals that is guaranteed by federal environmental laws,” Mills said. “By petitioning the U.S. EPA, we have taken the steps to ensure that Ohio laws are not used as a means to hide facts about chemicals in our communities. Ohio citizens have the right to know the truth about chemicals in our environment.”
Mills filed a petition with the U.S. EPA earlier this year about the issue, saying a state law does not meet the federal Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know law.
Under the latter, Mills said, oil and gas drillers should be providing full details of chemicals they use in their operations and stored at well sites to state and local emergency planners and local fire departments. They, in turn, are supposed to use the information to develop plans for responding to incidents at well sites.
Under Ohio law, however, oil and gas companies are allowed to meet the requirement via the annual production reporters they file with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.
Mills and others said those reports do not include full details of chemicals and are not readily available for public review.
And the U.S. EPA, in its letter to Mills, wrote that companies are still required to meet federal law on the issue.
“There’s nothing special or magical about the chemicals used in fracking that should make them exempt from right-to-know laws,” Jed Thorp, manager of the Ohio Sierra Club, said.
“U.S. EPA has determined state law does not supersede federal reporting requirements,” Chris Abbruzzese, an Ohio EPA spokesman, said in a released statement. “The state is reviewing U.S. EPA’s determination, and we will soon be discussing this with the companies affected to ensure they are in compliance with their reporting obligations under state and federal law.”
Mills and other environmental advocates said they would pursue legal action if lawmakers do not act soon.