A group of local anti-fracking activists petitioned the Athens County Commissioners Tuesday to help get a public hearing with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.
A dozen members of the Athens County Fracking Action Network attended the commissioners’ meeting to express their concern with the department’s policies about hydraulic fracturing injection wells in Athens County.
The group wrote letters to ODNR asking for a public hearing and, after receiving unsatisfactory responses, the activists — led by Roxanne Groff and Madeline ffitch — asked for help from the commissioners.
“We all get this absurd little form note from the ODNR that has no reflection of anybody having read the letters,” Groff said.
The group has been active in protesting the controversial drilling technique as well as the injection of waste fluid from the process into Athens County ground.
In recent weeks, ffitch fought court charges after she chained herself to concrete-filled barrels outside the Ginsburg injection-well site on Ladd Ridge Road in June.
If a public hearing were granted, it would enable anti-fracking protesters to express their complaints about the dangers of hydraulic fracturing in Ohio to the department, which could, in turn, create stricter fracking restrictions and penalties.
Groff spoke about injection wells and the need for a public hearing, and ffitch spoke about the Ginsburg injection well, which has gained notoriety for “spotty and inconsistent” monitoring, she said.
The ODNR was not able to take tests from August through January, ffitch said, so the entire period is missing from its inspection reports.
“It’s outrageous, it’s dangerous, it’s clearly a threat to public safety,” she said, “and it deserves a response.”
All three of the Athens County commissioners said they support the protesters’ request, and Commissioner Lenny Eliason said the commissioners’ requests have also been ignored by the department.
“Protecting the public is clearly being ignored in this case, so you need to raise the stakes through the (Columbus) Dispatch and through Columbus television, because that’s the things that ODNR pays the most attention to,” Eliason said. “We’re not there yet, but at least were making that progress.”
Commissioner Larry Payne also spoke of his frustrations with ODNR, saying its employees are frequently out of town or in a meeting when he tries to contact them.
“I’m really just frustrated with the process,” he said. “I’m not doing this for the pressure (from fracking opponents), I’m doing this for the safety for our residents.”
The Athens County Fracking Action Network is fed up with its ignored requests, and its members plan to take action if they see no changes in the future, ffitch said.
“We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” she said. “The community’s concerns won’t be easily dismissed.”
az346610@ohiou.edu
