Athens News
May 27, 2015
by David DeWitt
Last week, representatives from a variety of counties across Ohio impacted by oil-and-gas waste injection wells met to discuss what can be done, with some suggesting a moratorium and changes to state law. The summit took place at a Trumbull County Commissioners meeting in Warren, Ohio. Athens County Commissioner Lenny Eliason attended the meeting, along with Athens County Fracking Action Network member Roxanne Groff. Groff, a former Athens County commissioner, said in an email Tuesday that the moratorium was suggested by the Trumbull County Commissioners as well as herself.
Recent Ohio court decisions, including a pivotal Ohio Supreme Court decision earlier this year, have backed up the state of Ohio and drilling industry’s contention that the Ohio Department of Natural Resources has primacy over oil and gas regulation (including deep-shale injection wells), basically stating, “what the state allows, local government can’t prohibit.”