By JOSEPH KOZIOL JR.
Burton Village Council called on state officials Monday to halt a gas-well drilling process that is just now making its way into Geauga County.
Council unanimously passed a resolution in support of a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, until the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency finishes a study on the process.
The legislation was introduced in October and came up for a final reading Monday.
"The village of Burton, Ohio, calls on the governor and the Ohio state legislature to place a moratorium (or enact a ban) on hyrdraulic fracturing until an adequate environmental study is completed, showing that hydraulic fracturing can be done safely and without impacting local water supplies within the state," the resolution states.
The legislation was put in place as Geauga County is seeing its first of this kind of drilling process at a site in Parkman Township. Geauga County officials established a fund to ensure that any damages caused by drilling equipment or trucks hauling material would be paid for. The village's legislation also raises the issue of damage that can be caused to roads during the drilling process.
Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, involves the injection of water infused with chemicals and sand at high pressure into shale formations to unlock reservoirs of natural gas. Drilling is typically done to a depth of 7,000 to 9,000 feet and then extended horizontally into the shale deposits.
The well in Parkman Township is expected to have five horizontal drillings radiating from the vertical well.
Burton Fiscal Officer Christopher Paquette said a recent interim report by the U.S. EPA had indicated there is cause for concern that the drilling process may impact ground water sources. The village relies on wells to supply the residents and businesses.
The legislation mainly centers on the dangers the process poses to water resources and local roads.
"All aspects of the process pose a risk of contamination to ground water and aquifers that provide us with drinking water individually and collectively," the legislation states.
The legislation states that broken or cracked vertical well casings "have been shown to release natural gas-oil-fracking fluid near the surface of the ground."
In addition, it states, a portion of the spent liquid is extracted and stored or disposed of in above-ground facilities and that chemicals used in the process do not have to be identified under federal law.
"The fluids used in this process contains chemicals, the identity of which often remains unknown due to what is known as the 'Halliburton Loophole,' a clause in the 2005 Energy Bill that stripped the Environmental Protection Agency of the authority to regulate 'hydraulic fracturing.'"
Those factors pose a risk to ground water, the legislation states.
The legislation begins by stating that "water is essential for life, prosperity, sustainability and health of the community."
In addition to protecting water resources, the legislation also notes the process poses a risk to local roads.
"The trucking in and out of mass quantities of water and fluids for this process poses significant risk of damage to municipal roadways," the legislation states.
Geauga County Engineer Robert Phillips estimated that the Parkman site will need 20,000 tons of stone, requiring 1,000 separate loads to be trucked in. Also, an estimated 6 million gallons of water and another 6,000 tons of sand are expected to be brought to the Parkman site, he said.
Burton's legislation calls for the moratorium because local governments have no other avenue to address the issue.
"The Ohio Legislature has vested complete authority over permitting, location and spacing of oil and gas wells and production operations within the state in the division of mineral resource management, leaving local governments with no discretion or regulatory control over oil and gas drilling within their boundaries," the legislation states. "The gas and oil industry has secured broad exemptions from federal regulation under the Clean Water Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act since 2005 and ... the extraction of natural gas by hydraulic fracturing poses a potential threat to the health, safety and welfare of residents living near these operations."
The legislation asks that the moratorium be put in place until the U.S. EPA concludes its study in 2012 on the process's effects on drinking water, public health and environment.