At least half of the crowd were Bainbridge residents, whose homes, water, and lives have been completely and totally disrupted by "urban frac drilling" conducted by Ohio Valley Energy (OVE) in their Bainbridge neighborhood.
As Logan admitted, ODNR doesn't have the staff to actually supervise the drilling of gas wells in residential neighborhoods--or to conduct regular inspections of them either.
According to Logan, OVE violated industry safety standards in drillng the Bainbridge well, which caused gas to travel along the shale and into the acquifer (underground water pool) beneath these residents' homes. The gas has seeped into homes, already causing one house to explode. Others have had to be evacuated, due to the continuing seepages of gas accumulating in homes.
And OVE's take on the situation? In a letter sent to a Highland Heights resident last month, OVE said:
All of Northeast Ohio is aware of the incident in Bainbridge. ODNR has issued a thorough report concluding the invasion of high pressure gas in the surface-production casing. This resulted in a gas eruption in one dwelling with no injuries. Two pages of this report praised OVE for their response and "taking care" of the problem. OVE has not been issued any violations relating to this incident and has been told by ODNR that many operators would have simply "walked away".
A "gas eruption"-- not an explosion? Liar, liar, pants on fire.
An order issued by ODNR on April 16th contains these findings:
The Geauga County Emergency Management Agency notified ODNR, Division of Mineral Resources Management (DMRM) that there had been a explosion that damaged a home (in Bainbridge Township).
After completing an investigation, DMRM determined that accumulation and confinement of deep, high-pressure gas in surface-production casing annulus...resulted in over-pressurization of the annulus...which resulted in the invasion, or migration, of natural gas...into natural fractures in the bedrock...This gas migrated vertically through fractures into the overlying acquifers, discharged or exited the acquifers through local water wells, and entered some inhabited structures in the area...
As a proximate result thereof, a public water well ...was substantially disrupted by contamination, dimunition, or interuption by Ohio Valley Energy Corporation's operation of ...(the) well.
OVE has "taken care" of the problem? Liar, liar, pants on fire.
The Bainbridge house expoded in December 2007. Many residents in that neighborhood have been unable to use their water wells since that time. They have huge water tanks sitting in their garages, with visible and unsightly hoses bringing water into their homes. These residents also live with gas detection monitors placed throughout their homes, and those monitors continue to register at unsafe (and unhealthy) levels. Some residents have to open a window or turn on an exhaust fan every time they take a shower or do laundry--or whenever the gas meters in their basements start registering too high---winter be darned.
This is their life---thanks to OVE and ODNR.
OVE and ODNR have been talking for a year about getting the residents hooked up to city water---a new expense for homeowners who, up until OVE conducted urban frac drilling in their neighborhood, only had to pay the cost of electricity to pump water from their own wells.
Logan's big announcement was that they were about to issue an order, requiring OVE to provide city water to some of the impacted residents.
Maybe OVE and ODNR thinks that is sufficient to "take care" of the "problem." But the Bainbridge residents would disagree.
As one woman pointed out, she is a complete victim of OVE and ODNR. She did not consent to the drilling in her neighborhood; she didnt even know it was happening. Yet, the value of her house has diminished so much, as a result of the damage done by the OVE well, that she can't even refinance her mortgage. He bank told her no, because her home has no marketable value.
When Logan was asked what the State of Ohio intended to do for these Bainbridge residents, whose homes and lives have been so traumatically impacted by the OVE well---which ODNR approved but never supervised---he merely shrugged and said
ODNR was powerless to do anything. It couldn't shut down the OVE Bainbridge well, it couldn't refuse to issue new permits to OVE, and most importantly, it couldn't do anything to make sure that Bainbridge doesn't happen again---in my neighborhood, or in yours.
Liar, liar, pants on fire.
Ohio Revised Code § 1509.02 states:
The division of mineral resources management has sole and exclusive authority to regulate the permitting, location, and spacing of oil and gas wells within the state. The regulation of oil and gas activities is a matter of general statewide interest that requires uniform statewide regulation, and this chapter and rules adopted under it constitute a comprehensive plan with respect to all aspects of the locating, drilling, and operating of oil and gas wells within this state, including site restoration and disposal of wastes from those wells.
As the ODNR inspectors (all 3 of them for the 3000+ wells in Cuyahoga County) repeatedly tell cities and citizens alike, ODNR has complete and total authority over gas drilling and gas wells in the State of Ohio---and there is nothing we ordinary citizens can do about it.
ODNR helpless? Liar, Liar, pants on fire.
ODNR helpless? It gets to write all the rules.
ODNR = Oh Do Not Regulate
# # #
