Kasich order creates hotline for oil and gas emergencies

COLUMBUS (AP) — Gov. John Kasich today ordered creation of a single-call notification system for oil-and-gas emergencies and authorized two state departments to start setting it up.

The Republican governor’s executive order followed his veto last year of budget language he found inadequate that sought to streamline reporting of spills of oil, brine and other hazardous substances, fires, explosions and other emergencies. Among other things, Ohio had not previously called for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources to be alerted in cases of emergency – though it regulates the industry.

State oil and gas chief Rick Simmers said the new system will allow multiple state entities to coordinate better and respond more quickly. The ODNR and the Ohio Department of Commerce are authorized under Kasich’s order to begin making the system’s rules.

Simmers said the rules are ready to go and they’re tougher than federal requirements and what the oil-and-gas industry had negotiated with the Legislature.