COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Some environmental groups and eastern
Ohio residents say the state is hurrying permits for gas processing
plants amid the shale drilling boom.
They say fast-tracking some
permit requests and trying too hard to help the operations prevent close
examination of local concerns about air and water pollution from
refineries and the fracking process that frees the gas.
Ohio
Environmental Council lobbyist Jack Shaner said the state is putting the
industry over its concerned citizens.
"Ohio has bent over
backward to accommodate this industry and run roughshod over citizen
rights to know and comment on the impact to their air and water
quality," he said.
The Columbus Dispatch reports (http://bit.ly/19VPF06 ) that demands for a public
hearing in Mahoning County on a processing
plant permit application last year were rejected by officials trying to
avoid lengthy delays. Instead, the company got its permit in about four
months. The Dispatch also reported Sunday that Ohio Environment
Protection Agency emails and documents show that the regulators stay
aware of company construction schedules as they handle permit requests.
State
environmental officials say they are taking the right steps to protect
residents and the environment. Operations with major pollution issues
undergo much more scrutiny, The Dispatch reported.
"If it goes
through our process, we don’t think there is going to be any type of
health issue associated with it," said Mike Hopkins, assistant chief of
air permitting for the Ohio EPA.
Those projects identified as
major pollution sources can take months, even years, of review because
of public comment requirements, responses, and federal review.
With
the shale drilling offering cheaper energy supplies and regional
economic boosts, gas-processing companies are moving to add capacity.
They "are now in a race to keep ahead of the drilling activity and put
the (processing) in place," said Tom Stewart, vice president of the Ohio
Oil and Gas Association.
The NiSource plant that The Dispatch
reported about is a $375 million project on 95 acres near the
Pennsylvania border that will be able to refine enough natural gas in
one day to fuel nearly 2,800 homes for a year. The Hickory Bend
processing plant was considered a minor-source polluter and the Ohio EPA
decided that an informational meeting, rather than a full public
hearing, was called for. The permit was approved two weeks after the
meeting.
Bob Orr, a Springfield Township trustee, said the Hickory
Bend plant is bringing good-pay jobs into the region, and he doesn’t
believe there are major pollution or safety risks.
"We’ve been
hard-pressed for jobs here for a long time," Orr said. "We’ve had over
200 contractors a day working there over the last year, and the average
pay is $32 an hour."
Critics say that as more minor-source operations are permitted, their combined output will worsen overall
air quality.
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