Bowling Green has become a battleground in the conflict over fracking.Fracking,
or hydraulic fracturing, is used to extract oil trapped inside shale deep in the ground.The increased use of
the technology has been behind the boom in natural gas and is a major reason that the United States is
starting to tip the balance in energy independence, supporters say.The technology, opponents say, is behind
an epidemic of health and environmental problem in areas where the exploration is taking place.Those fears
are behind a petition drive now underway to get the city of Bowling Green to ban fracking in its city
limits. The petition calls for voters to weigh in on an amendment to the city’s charter on the November
ballot. The referendum would enact a "citizens bill of rights.""A charter amendment is needed
because the ability of Ohio citizens to protect their own citizens has been stripped away," said Lisa
Kochheiser, of the FreshWater Accountability Project which is behind the Bowling Green petition drive.Leslie
Harper, also of the FreshWater Accountability Project reiterated, local government’s ability to control
developments through zoning "has been taken away from us."A charter amendment would allow
"citizens to enact local protections for their health for their families’ health and their property and
their property values and our environment," Kochheiser said. "Yes we have the right to do that.
… It is one of the only ways that Ohio citizens have of protecting themselves from the onslaught of the
oil and gas industry."Representatives of the Ohio Petroleum Council, a division of the American
Petroleum Institute, take a different stance.The problem with the charter amendment, said Rebecca Heimlich,
the campaign manager for Ohio Petroleum Council’s efforts to defeat referendum drives, is that it gives
people the impression that local laws can trump the state and federal legislation.The charter amendment, she
contended "would not affect fracking." But, she added, "there will be unintended consequences
which would impact the greater business community.""We have to word it so it doesn’t seem to be
solely targeting fracking," Kochheiser said. "Our concern is not targeting existing companies. …
This is mainly to protect you from the possibilities of fracking."And those possibilities, she and
Harper asserted, are not good.

"Allowing fracking around Bowling Green would put every person at risk," Kochheiser
said.Those concerns are wide-ranging including short- and long-term health problems.And the difficulty of
treating those problems is compounded by Ohio law that deems the chemicals used in fracking are proprietary
information, and need not be revealed by companies. "The oil and gas industry is exempt from the Ohio
Emergency Planning and Community Right to know act," Kochheiser said.Carlo LoParo, of Strategic Public
Partners a firm working with the oil and gas industry, responded that Senate Bill 315 approved in 2012 does
provide provisions for revealing the chemicals that make up small percentage of the brine.A summary provided
on the Ohio Department of Natural Resources website states: "The bill requires chemical disclosure
during all aspects of the initial drilling process and during hydraulic fracturing, while adhering to
existing federal and state trade secret/proprietary laws. However, ODNR can upon request obtain proprietary
chemical formulas to conduct an investigation or in response to a spill. Typically, proprietary chemical
formulas comprise less than 0.01 percent of the total fluid used to hydraulically fracture a well."The
site directs the public to fracfocus.org to find the chemical makeup of specific wells. (Clicking the link
on the ODNR site did not work, but going directly to site did.)The companies backing the growth of the gas
drilling say the economic benefits of the industry spread throughout the state whether there’s drilling in
an area or not. Heimlich said there were 38,000 people now employed in the oil and gas industry in Ohio. As
drilling expands from 300 to 400 drills currently to 2,250 by the end of 2015 those jobs will increase.And
those wells will be subject to the "most stringent well construction standards in the
country."That growth is expected to mostly come on the eastern side of the state, Heimlich
said.Kochheiser, however, said agents of gas companies are already trolling through Wood County, getting
landowners to transfer mineral rights to them in anticipation of an expansion of drilling.That heightens
fracking opponents concerns for the locality’s water supply. They fear the migration of the chemical brine
used to flush the oil from rock pores.They also fear the use of a high volume of water will deplete the
area’s aquifer.Through the process, Kochheiser said, "huge amounts of fresh water are turned into an
overwhelming waste stream which there’s no way to dispose of. It’s too contaminated to make safe through
treatment."LoParo said that the companies try to recycle as much brine as possible.Much of the brine is
injected back down into the ground.Heimlich said that the aquifers are well protected by barriers of steel
and cement from any pollution, with the fracturing happening at a depth of 6,000 feet below the surface,
well below the groundwater reservoirs.A recent study done of 141 wells in the vicinity of fracking
operations by Duke University and published in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found
that there was a danger of flammable chemicals leaking into groundwater.LoParo called it a "deeply
flawed study," citing an article posted on energyindepth.org that the study was not properly controlled
and did not prove the methane came from the gas wells.Hydraulic fracturing has been going on since the
1950s, Heimlich said, and she contends no contamination has been proven.Kochheiser and other opponents such
as filmmaker Josh Fox in his documentary "Gasland" describe people who can set water from their
faucets on fire because it has so much methane in it.Heimlich and others in the industry contend methane
naturally occurs in some groundwater, and the flaming faucets are not the result of drilling.Just as Fox
fires another salvo with Monday’s debut of "Gasland 2" on HBO contending the oil and gas industry
has perverted governmental processes, the petition drive in Bowling Green is nearing its last
stages.Kochheiser said the petition drive will be wrapped up later this week. The campaign has until early
August to have the signatures certified so the charter amendment can appear on the Nov. 5 ballot.