The Athens County Bill of Rights Committee filed a petition Wednesday that would give county commissioners the ability to write ordinances and ban injection wells.
Some Athens County residents have proposed a bill that would simultaneously give the Athens County Commissioners more legislative power and ban injection wells in the county.
Members of the Athens County Bill of Rights Committee filed a 2,111-signature petition to the Athens County Board of Elections on Wednesday that would create a Bill of Rights for the county.
If passed, the bill would become a ballot issue in the November 4 election.
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Dick McGinn, a member of the Bill of Rights Committee, said the main purpose of the proposed bill of rights is to prohibit fracking waste from being dumped in the county.
Athens County is one of the largest counties that accepts fracking waste in Ohio, according to previous Post reports.
“We’re seeking to ban injection wells (and) the use of our water,” McGinn said.
The bill of rights would make Athens County a charter county, meaning county commissioners would have the right to pass ordinances affecting the county.
Athens is currently a statutory county, meaning the state has the ultimate authority to make laws in the county.
“All kinds of things that come under (state) regulation would now become available to county commissioners,” McGinn said. “The commissioners really can’t do anything unless the state allows them to.”
County Commissioner Lenny Eliason said the charter wouldn’t have much effect on the day to day duties of the commissioners.
“What it does is it gives the county municipal powers to pass ordinances,” he said.
Committee members began planning for the bill of rights last December and began circulating petitions in April, McGinn said.
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“We really are very encouraged by the fact that we had 35 different people collecting signatures and that we had signatures from all 14 townships,” McGinn said.
McGinn said there has been no real input from the commissioners on the petition up until this point.
“We consulted with them, but we don’t frankly know their opinion,” he said. “In a way we’re erecting a structure that affects their jobs, but they’ve certainly been friendly.”
Eliason said the committee has its own legal counsel and that the commissioners are waiting for Athens County Prosecutor Keller Blackburn to review the petition and consult with state officials over its legality.
Even if the bill of rights passes, Eliason pointed out that the county will still be subject to state oversight.
“Municipalities are creatures of the state,” he said. “They can only add law to what is not contradictory to state code.”
The Athens County Board of Elections, which is currently reviewing the petition, declined to comment until after the board meeting Monday.
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McGinn said if the petition is approved, the committee plans to engage in a “14 township strategy” in order to garner public support for the bill.
He said they hope to hold town meetings in each of the townships in Athens County by November.
“(The bill) gives us local self government,” he said. “This is now suddenly a community that’s coming of age.”
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