STARK COUNTY OFFICIALS & FIRST RESPONDERS UNPREPARED FOR POSSIBLE FRACKING DISASTER?

Holding elective office can be an ego fulfilling and a generally heady experience.

But it can also be a nightmare!

Because when a calamity happens, it is to elected officials and their top appointees (e.g. directors, chiefs, et cetera) that the public turn to for swift response and effective action.

And they had better have answers!

None of us will forget the immediate days of post-Katrina (2005) the then-President George W. Bush was on television with FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) Chief Mike Brown saying:  "Brownie, you're doing a heckuva job."

Within ten days it became apparent that "Brownie" was not doing a heckuva job and he was abruptly fired by the politician Bush.

Bush likely was fortunate that Katrina did not happen one year earlier or we might well have been talking in 2005 about President John Kerry.

Right now, from Republican Ohio Governor John Kasich down through Democratic Canton Mayor William J. Healy, II; (the self-proclaimer of Canton being "The Utica Capital") are examples of public officials governing within the Marcellus and Utica Shale fields being ga-ga over the  potential jobs and concomitant tax revenues that may be on their way to all levels of state and local government as the oil and gas industry rushes to get up and running with what is called a "fracking" drilling operation to free natural gas encased in the shale.

Because of "the great recession" that began at the end of the Bush years in 2008 and have continued through the Obama administration, government budgets across American have had shortfall after shortfall after shortfall including, of course, Ohio; perhaps worse than other parts of the country.

It is likely that the political need to escape the "doom and gloom" is causative of Kasich, Healy and their like not focusing much on the environmental disaster or two, or three that surely lurk just over the horizon once fracking hits full bore, if not before.

A DeepWater Horizon oil well exploding in the Gulf of Mexico (April 20, 2010), was a shock to Americans in that the industry could not figure out until September 19, 2010 a way to stop the oil leaking from the damaged well that played havoc with the Gulf ecosystem (and the resort economy) including the shorelines of Louisiana, Mississippi and Florida.

It seems highly unlikely that something of the magnitude of Deep Water Horizon could happen from a fracking accident, but nobody really knows.

Recently, the SCPR spoke with a Stark County fire chief who is alarmed that with the onset of fracking in Stark (which the last that The Report knew consists of three wells so far) that little if any fracking well disaster preparedness has occurred.

One Stark County official (unelected) has been trying.  Stark County Local Emergency Planning Committee Director Don McDonald (a former fire captain from Jackson Township) set up a meeting scheduled for this past Saturday (March 10, 2012) at Stark State College, to wit: 

From: SCLEPC [mailto:sclepc@co.stark.oh.us]

Sent: Monday, January 23, 2012 12:14 PM

To: ...

Save the date: March 10, 2012

From: Don McDonald – Program Director Stark County LEPC

A ½ day (morning) Symposium on Natural Resources and Deep Well Development will be conducted on Saturday, March 10 at Stark State College.

Scheduled presenters include representatives from The Ohio Oil and Gas Energy Educational Program (OOGEEP), The Ohio Dept of Natural Resources (ODNR), The Ohio EPA, the Battelle
Corp. and others.  Our intended audience will include elected officials from the county, cities, villages, and townships as well as the fire and police chiefs serving those communities.

This is not a 1st responder training event.  The symposium is intended to provide unbiased information on the issue of hydraulic fracturing to all of these officials so that they may have accurate information to provide to their constituents and to use in policy making decisions that may be impacted by this issue.

More information will be provided in the very near future.  Attendance to this symposium will be by invitation only.  Please save this date as this symposium will be both timely and informative to you and your staff.

Thank you for your time,

Don McDonald, Contact person for the Symposium Planning Committee

Office: 330-451-3907

Good effort, Don McDonald.

But the planned March 10th event never happened.

Why not?

It appears to the SCPR for three reasons.

First, it seems that a number of Stark County elected officials took offense (led, in the opinion of The Report by Plain Township trustee Louis Giavasis) as what they deemed to have been an overreach by McDonald and the "symposium committee" consisting of:

• McDonald, (program director of SCLEPC)
• Representative Christina Hagan, (Republican - 50th House District)
• Fred Bertram, (Dean at Stark State College [SSC], teaches hazardous materials course)
• Ted Heck, (former Jackson fire chief, teaches at SSC)
• Art Murdoch, (chairman of SCLEPC)
• Lance Wilcox,  (VP - Mr Rapid - emergency cleanup services)
• Bart Ray, (Special Investigator / On-scene Coordinator, Ohio EPA)
• Barb Stoll, (U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Ohio)
• Jack Liberator, (Canton Township Fire Dept., - deputy chief)

Second, some interested parties (most Stark County environmentalists) did not think the make up of the presenters of the planned symposium was "unbiased" as advertised, to wit:

Scheduled presenters include representatives from The Ohio Oil and Gas Energy Educational Program (OOGEEP), The Ohio Dept of Natural Resources (ODNR), The Ohio EPA, the Battelle
Corp. and others.

The symposium is intended to provide unbiased information on the issue of hydraulic fracturing to all of these officials so that they may have accurate information to provide to their constituents and to use in policy making decisions that may be impacted by this issue. (emphasis added)

Third, the symposium notice contained "This is not a 1st responder training event."  Really?  Isn't preparing/supporting first responders the first and perhaps only mission of SCLEPC?

In any event, McDonald tells the SCPR that no replacement of the March 10th cancellation will be generated by SCLEPC.  He says that the only thing planned by his organization is to develop opportunities for first responders to have emergency preparedness specific to a fracking accident.

He declined to answer the SCPR's question as to whether or not he had been pressured by Stark County elected officials and their chief appointed fire, police and EMS to call the event off.

The SCPR is convinced that this is exactly what happened.

And that is all well and good, but what do these same officials have in mind in order to get Stark County's first responders to handle a catatrophic-esque fracking event when it happens.

Stark County Engineer Keith Bennett is an example of a local government official who has anticipated the taxing impact that the heavy trucks used in fracking operations will have on Stark County roads.

A week or so ago Engineer Bennett told the SCPR in an interview that there have been instances where these trucks have damaged county roads.  However, do to his anticipation that such would be the case, he has put together an agreement consistent with state of Ohio standards that he requires fracking operators to sign off on before putting their trucks on county roads.

Only oil and gas industry folks and overly optimistic public officials fixed on the financial cure that fracking MIGHT bring to Stark's local governments (the State of Ohio, in the case of Governor Kasich) believe that thousands upon thousands of wells can be drilled without a major, major problem erupting.

The SCPR believes the Stark County fire chief who is concerned about the utter lack of training for first responders to be prepared for and equipped to deal with a disaster when it comes.   The chief agrees with The Report that it is not IF but WHEN.  Moreover, he is concerned as to whether or not the frackers are going to try to stick the tax paying public with the expense of dealing with malfunctioning wells.

The fire chief and Engineer Bennett are examples of local government officials who are doing their respective jobs the way all public officials should be be doing them:  anticipating that there will be problems, identify as precisely as possible as to what they may be, prepare for them and insist that other levels of government facilitate and empower them to deal with the expected problems in an effective manner.

The Report is told by Trustee Giavasis that when an accident occurs, neither first responders nor SCLEPC will be allowed by drillers/well lessees onto the site of the problem initially.

Only when first responders are invited to deal with the calamity by the lessees, can they do anything but deal with off well site problems that threaten residents in those areas.

Many Stark Countians, including yours truly, are reconciled to the reality that fracking is going to happen.

But what we are not comfortable with include:

• the state of Ohio not empowering local emergency forces and local hazardous materials organizations (i.e. LEPCs) to have immediate access to a disaster site,
• the state of Ohio not setting aside funding for forums/hands-on-training-exercises to be utilized by first responders so that they can develop techniques and strategies for coping with a real event,
• the state of Ohio making lessees, operators, drillers and other participants in fracking operations Responsible Parties in terms of indemnification to local governments  which initially bear the cost of calamity remediation,
• the state of Ohio requiring Responsible Parties to carry insurances and bonding at levels that will provide for the indemnification of local governments for the injury to public resources (e.g. potable water, et cetera) and also for individual property owners who sustain injury and damage,
• the Stark County Local Emergency Planning Committee being behind in developing resources and training opportunities for first responders so that they can prepared for a serious fracking mishaps as they occur.

It has come to light that injection wells used to dispose of chemical ladened fracking well waste water was responsible for a series of earthquake tremors that afflicted the Youngstown area recently.

We all remember how the first suggestions of such were laughed off by oil and gas industry principals and their cheerleaders.

But they aren't laughing anymore.

Nor will oil and gas industry officials nor unresponsive public officials be laughing when a fracking disaster strikes and they have to face an outraged public demanding to know why local governments and their first responders were not empowered, prepared, trained and equipped to deal immediately and effectively with an environmental calamity.

"Woe is me!" will be the cry of a public official who is shown to have not put "oil in the lamp" of his/her community in preparation for the inevitable fracking problems which will buffeting our communities in the years to come.

LO & BEHOLD! STATE REP. CHRISTINA HAGAN (R - MARLBORO) GETS A $5,000 CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTION FROM NATURAL GAS FRACKER CHESAPEAKE ENERGY ON 12/05/2011. HMM? ALSO, OTHER INTERESTING REVELATIONS ABOUT HAGAN'S CONTRIBUTORS

 UPDATED:  8:45AM

THE CHESAPEAKE CONTRIBUTION

The SCPR routinely checks the campaign finance reports of area politicians to see who might be influencing them in their public policy decisions.

Tuesday was the filing deadline for Ohio's annual campaign finance report which contains campaign finance activity for the second half of 2011,  so yours truly did some checking yesterday.

Of first interest to yours truly was the report of 50th Ohio House appointee (running for election the first time this coming November) Christina Hagan (R - Marlboro Township).

Ms. Hagan has become increasingly active in oil and gas circles lately on the issue of fracking and the SCPR was just a tad curious as to whether or not the report would show any contributions from primary players from the oil and gas industry in fracking activity.

On November 14, 2011 she sponsored a natural resources development forum at the Alliance location of Robertson Heating Supply.  It just so happens that on the list of speakers was a representative of Chesapeake Energy.

Twenty-one (21) days later Hagan gets a $5,000.00 campaign contribution from Chesapeake.

Hmm?  Interesting?

Undoubtedly, the Hagan reaction and explanation:  a mere co-incidence of timing and she on her own analysis sees great merit in fracking for the economic benefit of Ohio/Stark County and Chesapeake's campaign contribution has nothing to do with the zeal of her support for natural gas production?

This past week the SCPR learned from Don McDonald who heads up the Stark County Local Emergency Planning Committee ("SCLEPC" - Stark's local government responsible for dealing with hazardous materials which gets out into the public domain) that he became familiar with Representative Hagan and her interest in fracking from the Robertson event.

Another interesting development, no?

And a bonus.  Add to her opportunity another venue within which to work for natural gas production interests, to wit:

McDonald arranged with her to participate on a symposium planning committee of SCLEPC that is putting together - according to him - an "unbiased" forum (March 10th) at Stark State College (SSC) for Stark local government officials to provide information on fracking and the dangers of hazardous materials given the fact that some hazardous chemicals (even the industry itself reluctantly but dismissively admits) are used in the fracking process.

Representative Hagan is unbiased, Mr. McDonald?  She will help produce unbiased presenters at the symposium?  And the safety and well-being of Stark Countians may be at stake.  Hmm?

Of course, as director of Stark's hazardous materials prevention effort, the stakes for SCLEPC could not be higher that Stark County's governing officials get a full and complete appreciation, depth and range of the risks so that they can have first responders prepared to deal with any eventuality.

If an incident does occur and Stark County's officials do not come out of the symposium prepared to deal with same, then guess where eyes and full attention will be directed in terms of accountability?

You've got it: the Stark County Local Emergency Planning Committee members, its symposium formation committee and, of course, the director.

While possibility of hazardous materials emanating from fracking is not a direct responsibility of the Stark County commissioners, one can be sure that if an accident occurs they will be up-to-their-eyeballs in dealing with a public demanding answers as to how the accident happened in the first place, what is being done to solve the problem as well as a hoard of other related questions.

A prudent board of commissioners - one would think - will want to monitor very closely who presents at the SSC symposium, what is presented and how thorough, far-ranging and complete the total presentation package is.

Or, will the board want to turn a blind eye and say that SCLEPC's business and ignore the format and the agenda of the March 10th conclave altogether and hope for the best?

Maybe they ought to consider calling Director McDonald in for a public work session for a thoroughgoing discussion on the matter?

OTHER 2011 - SECOND HALF - HAGAN CONTRIBUTIONS

An interesting list, no?  In her 20s and working the PACs as if she were a political veteran.

So young and already well on her way to being a captive of the special interests!

(VIDEOS OF COMMISSONERS/CO. ENGR BENNETT)YESTERDAY THE STARK COMMISSIONERS SIGNED A ROADWAY USE, REPAIR, AND MAINTENANCE AGREEMENT WITH OIL & GAS "FRACKER" CHESAPEAKE EXPLORATION, LLC - DID COMMISSIONERS ADEQUATELY PROTECT STARK COUNTY ROADS?

The "honest to God" reality is that that horizontal fracking is going to occur bigtime in Ohio and, more particularly, in Stark County as the oil and gas industry scales up its operation to extract oil and natural gas deposits (Marcellus and Utica) contained in the rock which underlies Stark.

Here is one definition of fracking:

Hydraulic fracturing or fracking is a means of natural gas extraction employed in deep natural gas well drilling. Once a well is drilled, millions of gallons of water, sand and proprietary chemicals are injected, under high pressure, into a well. The pressure fractures the shale and props open fissures that enable natural gas to flow more freely out of the well.

The SCPR has displeased the local anti-fracking crowd (headed up by Chris Borello of the Concerned Citizens of Stark County) by squaring up with the political realities that have been put in place by the likes of Republican Governor John Kasich.

Fracking is going to happen.  The only thing left for citizens to do is to hold public officials accountable to put in place sufficient protective measures vis-a-vis the oil and gas industry of the water we drink, the air we breathe and the roads we drive on.

Yesterday, the Stark County commissioners approved a Roadway Use, Repair, and Maintenance Agreement (Agreement) with Chesapeake Exploration, LLC (an Oklahoma limited liability agreement) designed to protect Stark Countians from damages to county roads, bridges, culverts, drains, et cetera.

The question:  Did the commissioners (using the services of  Stark County Engineer and the Stark County prosecutor's office) make a proper judgment that the agreement they entered into with Chesapeake on Stark Countians behalf was in the "best interests" of Stark Countians?

For any reader who want a copy of the agreement, contact the Stark County commissioners for a copy for email a request to tramols@att.net.

The SCPR's analysis (from a journalistic perspective; not from a legal perspective) is that they did.

An important part of the agreement requires Chesapeake to post a $200,000 per mile bond on the county roads they use.   Moreover, there are a number of important safeguards contained in the Agreement.

In earlier blogs on fracking, The Report has adopted a strategy of Plain Township Trustee Louis Giavasis to require (as a matter of Ohio statutory law) oil & gas industry drillers to have much higher amounts of liability insurance than presently required (which the SCPR understands to be a mere $3 million to cover all liability eventualities).

Such a bump up of coverage needs to be in place to cover accidents when they DO happen and consequently cause damage to water, air and ground natural resources and, of course, each and every individual person hurt by the accident.

There are deniers (mostly a matter of semantics) within the oil and gas industry who pooh pooh the notion that accidents will happen.

But the SCPR for one, among many who are not connected with environmental activists who are totally against fracking, are not buying.  We remember the "Deep Water Horizon," the "Exxon-Valez" and other accidents which have caused great harm to the environment and to people.

The way to handle the inevitable fracking is to make the industry indemnify and hold harmless on all consequences of an accident whenever the accidents do occur.

Giavasis approached state Representative Kirk Schuring early this year and asked him to sponsor and push legislation.

At last report, Schuring has gotten nothing done on the Giavasis request.  Of course, the SCPR has written ad nauseam that Schuring is mostly mouth and very little action; yet Stark Countians keep electing him.

But the Giavasis approach is the common sense approach that is actually workable.

For all the concerns that citizens have about fracking, the realistic and practical public response should be a la the Agreement, increasing liability and the like to make the oil and gas industry pay the bill for repairing the damages that fracking accidents might do.

One of the reasons that government entities like the Stark County commissioners can negotiate "fair" agreements with the oil and gas industry is because of the "hue and cry" raised by the anti-fracking community.

Being the political savvy people they are, the industry has figured out that they cannot assign the anti-frackers to being a fringe players who have no credibility with the great political middle of America.

While the anti-frackers may be unrealistic in thinking the can actually stop fracking, they certainly have made the oil and gas industry sit up and take notice and make agreements like yesterday's agreement possible.

Next up are two very important videos.

First, is a video of Stark County Engineer Keith Bennett in dialogue, and followed by a second video where in yours truly and Nancy Molnar of the Akron Beacon Journal quiz Bennett about the particulars of the Agreement:

CONGRATS TO THE LAWRENCE TWP TRUSTEES. THEY GET THEIR FRACKING INFORMATIONAL SERIES RIGHT THIS TIME: FAIR & BALANCED

Hydraulic fracturing:

An operation in which a specially blended liquid is pumped down a well and into a formation under pressure high enough to cause the formation to crack open, forming passages through which oil [and natural gas] can flow into the wellbore.


Sand grains, aluminum pellets, glass beads, or similar materials are carried in suspension into the fractures.

When the pressure is released at the surface, the fractures partially close on the proppants, leaving channels for oil  to flow through to the well.

Source:  Oilandgasglossary.com

On August 11th, the Lawrence Township trustees (Stevens & Kamph) to their credit decided to put on a series of meeting which they said were designed to educate their residents about the fracking issue that abounds in Stark County, the state of Ohio and, indeed, across the whole of America (CLICK THIS PARAGRAPH TO LINK TO PRIOR SCPR BLOG ON THE MEETING OF THE 11TH).

Basically, while undoubtedly well-intentioned, the trustees failed on the 11th to have a fair and balanced presentation.  And, The Report's blog on the meeting to the trustee to task fro their failure.

From all reports (e.g. Fracking advocates, opponents make case at forum,

Matthew Rink, The Massillon Independent, September 30th), the trustees did much better at Thursday night's meeting (the 29th).

However, The Report thinks they could have done better by having an alternative to oil and gas spokesperson Rhonda Reda of the Ohio Oil & Gas Energy Education Program (OOGEEP).

Reda from Rink's account appears to have injected a nasty tone into the discussion, to wit:

Rhonda Reda of the Ohio Oil and Gas Energy Education Program, a nonprofit group funded by the energy industry, tried to explain the history of drilling and the processes currently used. The final speaker, Reda said Lincoln and Giavasis presented “disturbing misinformation” and “propaganda.”

For their part, Plain Township Trustee Louis Giavasis and Dan Lincoln did not stoop to the personal insult level that Ms. Reda demonstrated.


In talking with Giavasis today, he said that he felt that the forum was fair and balanced and that he felt he had ample opportunity to tell what he thinks was about 100 persons in attendance that the owed it to themselves to get on the Internet and check out the advisability of fracking for themselves.


Giavasis said that it is his hope that citizens will not take the talking points of the likes of Reda nor necessarily the position of folks like himself to heart in forming an opinion about whether or not to support the continuation of fracking.


It appears to Giavasis that with the support of fracking by Republican Governor John Kasich, the Republican dominated Ohio General Assembly (on the issue of drilling on state park land) who are politically linked to the oil and gas industry, that fracking "is on a roll" and it will take a catastrophic accident before Ohioans have second thoughts about allowing fracking.


He pointed out how at the Lawrence Township meeting Reda wanted to separate the actual - technical - event of "fracking" out of the multi-step fracking process so that she can say as a technical matter there has never been an accident from fracking per se.  Talk about splitting hairs?


The SCPR thinks that such nuancing is evidence that Reda presented "disturbing misinformation" and "propaganda;" not Giavasis and Lincoln, and, that she was merely projecting onto others (i.e. Giavasis and Lincoln) her own agenda.


As reported by Rink, Lincoln made the telling point that destroyed Reda's nuance of fracking per se by pointing out that fracking is a process that can involve faulty materials, to wit:

But Dan Lincoln of the Northeast Ohio Gas Accountability Project would disagree. Lincoln, the first speaker, said fracking itself isn’t necessarily the problem; poor well casings and concrete jobs are.

Anyhow, the SCPR congratulates the Lawrence Township in rectifying the problems of the August 11th meeting.

PLAIN TOWNSHIP TO TAKE ON THE STATE OF OHIO & THE OIL & GAS INDUSTRY ("THE OTHER SIDE") ON TUESDAY?

 

UPDATE:  12/27/2010 AT 10:00 AM

A RESPONSE TO GIAVASIS INITIATIVE

John Fenno, a reader of the SCPR, has submitted a commentary on this blog about Plain Township Trustee Lou Giavasis' plan to offer a resolution to ban fracking at tomorrow night's regular trustee meeting.

Here, in its entirety, is Fenno's view:

Martin:

From SCPR, “The coming week Trustee Giavasis will - at a regular session of the Plain Township Board of Trustees - be offering a resolution that he says is intended to safeguard Plain Township fresh water drinking supply from pollution that some say come from the fracking process.

On January 20th (for pro and anti-fracking forces) and January 27th  (for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources) informational meetings will be held at Oakwood Middle School in Plain Township on the safety of the fracking issue.  The meetings will be hosted by WHBC1480's Ron Ponder of Points to Ponder (10:00 a.m. through Noon, Monday through Friday).”

Martin, now I am confused.  Mr. Giavasis has to know by now that a "resolution” (which carries no authority under Ohio law unless there is an ORC that I am unaware of) gives every appearance as being political posturing.  One would expect a seasoned politician and elected official such as Mr. Giavasis to solicit state assistance if he is sincere in his beliefs and knowledge on this issue. I am also troubled that he would use legal resources, taxpayers' money, to draw up such a meaningless resolution BEFORE the commencement of the two scheduled public meetings. Didn't he allegedly call for one of these meetings personally?  This is also a disservice to Mr. Ron Ponder whom he asked to emcee.  Why would he disregard his commitment to Mr. Ponder, whom I believe has every intention of hearing both sides of this issue?  This only leaves a cloud hanging over this whole discussion.  It gives every appearance as a "rush to judgement" with a resolution before allowing his own scheduled meeting to take place.  It is also unfair to Mr. Ponder in his effort to bring a meaningful dialogue and debate to the citizens of Stark County on this very important issue.

Respectfully,

John Fenno

ORIGINAL BLOG

Plain Township Trustee may end up feeling like The Lone Ranger this week.

How so?

He is and has been for some time the lead in Stark County to stop fracking (especially horizontal fracking) which is designed to release natural gas encased in deep underground rock.  He has had a resolution drawn up by legal counsel which he says he plans to move for adoption by his fellow trustees (Leno and Haws) this coming Tuesday at a regularly scheduled meeting of the Plain trustees.

For a while it appeared that he had an ally in Allen Schulman (president of Canton City Council).  But proponents of anti-fracking legislation being passed at local levels are beginning to doubt that Schulman is truly committed to such a quest in Canton. 

Chris Borello of the Concerned Citizens of Lake Township (CCLT;' now seemingly expanded to Concerned Citizens of Stark County (CCSC), put out this analysis of Schulman's position yesterday, to wit:

Canton City Council is also apparently stalling out now, despite the very strong proactive statements made at a Canton water meeting by Canton Council President, Allen Schulman, captured on Martin Olson's video camera at a water meeting we attended down in Canton ....See "Stark Poltical Report" (sic) by typing this in under google, (sic) and then scroll down...you'll see Shulman's face/video and some direct quotes about there not being a need for a debate or need to hear from both sides if their water is at stake, that the Canton water shed was valued at a billion, and must be protected from contamination at all costs.....Well, now we are hearing he has since gone silent ; isn't reiterating this strong stance for some reason, and so now there is major concern that Canton moving forward on a ban like Plain is being stalled out.....If our sources are correct, WHY has  Mr. Shculman (sic)  now backed away from his strong position suddenly?  We are disheartened, but hope this is only a temporary setback....

While the SCPR would be surprised if Trustee Al Leno (a fellow Democrat with Giavasis) did not end up supporting him, it is certainly possible and probably likely that Trustee Haws will not support him on an up or down vote.

One more thing.

The Report would not be shocked if Giavasis got cold feet between now and Wednesday.

Giavasis has had enormous pressure put on him to slow down the fracking prohibition process.

Readers of the SCPR will recall that Giavasis had originally planned to have a meeting on December 14th with Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR), area governmental officials (including some of the Stark County members of the Ohio General Assembly) and anti-fracking experts to provide information to Plain Township residents, indeed, to all Stark County citizens so than they can make informed input with local officials pro and con on whether or not to prohibit fracking.

Giavasis also invited officials from the oil and gas industry to be present, but they declined.

Before the meeting of the 14th took place, state Senator Kirk Schuring (having been contacted by fellow Republican Scott Haws), intervened to undermine Giavasis' plan to discuss fracking on the 14th by getting ODNR and fellow Republican legislators Oelslager and Snitchler to withdraw.

Plain did have a meeting on the 14th with fracking issue on agenda, but the overwhelming drift of the discussion was anti-fracking.

While all the participants (including Giavasis himself) deny that there is anything political in the maneuvering that has taken place whereby it was arranged to have two meetings (one for the anti-fracking position proponents to inform and the other ODNR and area legislators to inform) to be hosted by Ron Ponder of WHBC's Points to Ponder (now set for January 20th and 27th, having been previously set for the week of the 14th), the SCPR is not buying.

The Report believes that some local Republican elected officials are concerned that the Giavasis move is a "rush to judgment" on the issue and that there is "the other side" of the fracking issue which needs a full airing.  The SCPR thinks there is ample evidence that the Republican Party in general is more comfortable with and allied with the oil and gas industry.  It was former Vice President Dick Cheney (a former Halliburton official) who lobbied Congress to exempt fracking from federal regulation.

Democrats, especially civic activists Democrats left of the political center, tend to be environmentalists and are prone to fight any economic activity that has the mere possibility of harming the environment and do not seem the least bit reluctant to rhetorically diss any attempt to present another point of view.

Chesapeake Energy company officials (the company set to do the fracking in Stark County where hundreds if not thousands of leases have been recorded) met privately with Giavasis on Friday the 17th.  Trustee Giavasis tells The Report that it was a frank discussion, but that his mind is made up and he is determined to push for a fracking prohibition this Tuesday. 

One should not be surprised if additional pressure is not brought on Giavasis to withdraw the resolution between today and tomorrow's meeting to, at the very least, delay a consideration of a resolution until after the Ponder hosted meetings of the 20th and the 27th.

An area civic activist tells the SCPR that when he sought out a copy of the proposed Plain Township resolution, he was initially told that it would not be presented tomorrow night, but rather after the first of the year.  To The Report, such is an indication that "behind the scene" maneuverings are still going on.

So, again, the SCPR will not be shocked if the resolution evaporates at tomorrow night's meeting.

It will be interesting to see what happens in Canton City Council tonight on the issue. 

Will Borello's suspicions on Schulman's commitment be borne out?

Recently, the SCPR received an e-mail from a reader pointing out that there is another side to the fracking issue and on the superior importance of water to oil as expressed on December 16th by Councilman/President Allen Schulman (see quote above).  The theme of "the other side" arguments is that "water is not the new oil."

Among the arguments:

• Oil gets used up, but water is inherently reusable.
• Unlike oil, our planet has a huge stock of water, at mostly known locations.
• Even fresh water, almost ready to drink, is quite abundant.
  Freshwater resources account for just one or two percent of Earth’s water (depending on what you count as a potential resource), but that’s still a huge amount, many times greater than what mankind consumes yearly.
• No substitution.  There’s no “renewable energy” analog in the water market. You can use water more efficiently ...  but you can’t really phase it out in favour of some alternative.
• Water is a local market.  Like energy, water is consumed everywhere. But whereas energy sources, such as oil, can profitably be traded across the world, from oil-rich nations to oil-poor nations, water is just too bulky (or, equivalently, too cheap per volume) to be transported cost-effectively, and thus be a truly global commodity.

Moreover,  the oil and gas industry argues that the fracking process itself is safe (having a safety track record of many decades) and while there have been some accidents; they are at the hand of drillers who do not drill according to regulatory standards and that they are few and far between.

In essence, the argument seem to boil down to, on the one hand, that water is such a vital human need that "no risk" is acceptable in terms of water getting polluted as against a countervailing argument that nothing is life is risk free and that it is critical to a continuance of the American lifestyle that exploration, drilling and production of abundant natural gas supplies be permitted under "reasonable" regulatory supervision at the state - not local - level (e.g. for Ohio, ODNR).

The SCPR believes that "the other side" of the fracking issue will be argued whether or not Trustee Giavasis presents his resolution tomorrow night or not and whether or not it is passed.

The battle over fracking is just beginning in the nation and in Stark County.

And, if it occurs, the passing of the proposed Plain Township resolution tomorrow night will be monumental Stark County event.

However, which side ultimately prevails is far from certain.