The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency has come under fire recently for practices that critics argue speed up some permit application processes related to hydraulic fracturing.
The agency rushed to approve at least seven permits last year, according to a report in the Columbus Dispatch last month. That has some local officials worried about how the fast tracking of fracking permits will impact Athens.
“The analogy I’ve been told, and I’m not a great person for analogies, is if you have a cup of tea (or) a cup of coffee, and you run with it, the more likely it is that you’ll spill it,” Athens Mayor Paul Wiehl said. He added that he’s heard concern from others in Athens as well.
“I don’t think they’re looking at the possibilities of damage to the environment or to our neighborhoods,” Wiehl said.
The Dispatch article highlighted the shale-gas company NiSource, which wanted to obtain a pollution permit from the state within a four-month timeframe so that it could build a refinery in Mahoning County — an approximately 200-mile drive from Athens.
After applying for the permit in February 2013, the shale-gas company told the agency it needed the permit by June 2013 so it could have the refinery up and running by the end of the year.
NiSource got the permit on June 5 and completed the refinery on Dec. 31 last year, according to the Dispatch.
“That’s the way they’ve been doing things,” Athens County Commissioner Chris Chmiel said.
Wiehl, who said he doesn’t think many would be surprised by the Dispatch’s revelations, had a hunch as to why the state was apparently fast-tracking applications.
“It’s a gold rush and they want people to get in and out fast before the rest caves in,” he said.
Wiehl said he’d like to see more facts come to light about fracking rather than more rhetoric.
“Right now, there is a lot of hyperbole both pro and con, saying this is great, it will increase jobs and this is going to be safe as soft butter,” he said. “The fact is the other side is saying it will all go to hell, so there is a lot of noise. Getting the facts is a little more difficult. There is a lot of hype.”
Ohio Sen. Lou Gentile, D-Steubenville, said he doesn’t want to see the state moving too quickly.
He called for the state to properly do its due diligence and follow established rules before issuing a permit, for the sake of Ohioans’ health and safety.
“It wouldn’t please me to know they were expediting these permits and just trying to get it turned around because the industry is in a rush,” Gentile said.
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