Letters to the Editor for 12.05.12

Dear Edi­tor,

I am writ­ing to help inform the res­i­dents of Gilead Town­ship S.E. of the recent Pub­lic Notice in the clas­si­fied ads of the Mor­row County Sen­tinel 11/14, 21, 28 and this week 12/5 and next 12/12, inform­ing the Mor­row County res­i­dents of an appli­ca­tion to per­mit a Class II injec­tion well at the E. Dum­b­augh SWD #1 site.

The Ohio Depart­ment of Nat­ural Resources cur­rently per­mits, reg­u­lates, and mon­i­tors oil/gas and injec­tion wells, of which there are 13 injec­tion wells in Mor­row County. The approx­i­mately 30 inspec­tors for the 200,000+ wells in the state and the fact that Penn­syl­va­nia and West Vir­ginia hydrofrack­ing flow­back “brine” is being injected into Mor­row County wells con­cerns me.

We can encour­age the fol­low­ing; R&D for renew­able energy, reuse of pro­duc­tion water from flow­back, man­date safe­guards be in place before unsafe con­di­tions occur, full dis­clo­sure of all chem­i­cals used in the brine to bet­ter pro­tect nearby res­i­dents and first respon­ders, and request that Houghton Invest­ments test the water wells within a 1/2 mile radius of the pro­posed well by a Peer III EPA cer­ti­fied laboratory.

We must ensure that best prac­tices are being used to pro­tect our under­ground fresh water sup­ply. I encour­age you to respond to ODNR within the spec­i­fied time. A pub­lic hear­ing is pos­si­ble if cit­i­zens voice their ques­tions and concerns.

Thank You, Judith McKir­gan, Mt. Gilead

To the Pub­lic from the Editor,

A Mor­row County res­i­dent con­tacted me with a con­cern about tire dump­ing. The cit­i­zen wanted to vent with­out fear of retal­i­a­tion (by using their name). Typ­i­cally I would not do this in a Let­ter to The Edi­tor, but the con­cern is, in my opin­ion, legit­i­mate, so I am print­ing the mes­sage on their behalf:

To All Tire Repair Busi­nesses and Their Customers:

More than 100 scrap tires were recently ille­gally dumped on pri­vate prop­erty south of Mount Gilead. If you deal with a hauler who is offer­ing below-market rates to dis­pose of your tires, you may be con­tribut­ing to an ille­gal activ­ity that makes your county, where your cus­tomers live, a less wel­come place.

Many peo­ple move to Mor­row County in part so that they can be left alone. This inde­pen­dent spirit should include respect for neigh­bors, and it should not include the ille­gal dump­ing of trash, which pro­duc­tive cit­i­zens must then spend time and money to clean up. Please make sure that your own scrap tires are dis­posed of legally, and do your part to stop unli­censed scrap tire haulers and ille­gal tire disposal.

Posted by Randa Wagner on Dec 5 2012. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS Feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.