Why Not Youngstown? Massillon officials call public hearing on gas drilling.

[iwasthere]

citizens in action too bad ytown residents did not react that way at the recent ytown crime summit

[irishbobcat]

Massillon officials call public hearing on gas drilling. .By Matthew Rink
IndeOnline.com staff writer
Posted Jun 27, 2011 @ 11:38 PM

   
MASSILLON — A heated debate over natural-gas drilling in the city broke out at City Council's work session Monday, prompting council to call a public hearing for 6 p.m. July 5.

The city has been asked by Ohio Valley Energy to contribute 52.5 acres of city streets and 8.3 acres of city-owned land as part of a larger drilling area. The company wants to drill two wells in the parking lot of the Towne Plaza on Federal Avenue and one well at the Masonic Lodge on Second Street SW.

But the company also is asking southeast-side residents to sign lease agreements for another potential well — one that doesn't involve city-owned land — on Marion Avenue SE.

A vocal group of residents from the 4th Ward turned out at council's work session to protest the possible well, even though council has no say. They expressed concern about safety for children and potential environmental hazards.

"I don't want it," resident Kathleen Spencer said. "Are we going to sell our souls for a dollar, just so these people can drill out there? We don't need it. ...We don't want it in our neighborhood."

As part of the Towne Plaza-Masonic Lodge lease, Ohio Valley will give the city a $50,000 signing bonus and pay it 12.5 percent in royalties for up to 10 years.

Ben Funderburg, vice president for land for Ohio Valley, told council that it would use directional "conventional" drilling to tap the Clinton formation.

"It's like a number of wells already existing in the city of Massillon," he said.

Funderburg said the type of drilling uses only a tenth of the water that is involved in the controversial horizontal hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, of certain shale formations, specifically the Utica and Marcellus.

There are more than 125 wells already in Massillon and more than 6,400 in Stark County. Horizontal hydrofracking has prompted a debate in Ohio, Pennsylvania and several other states. Opponents say it is risky, while energy companies tout the financial rewards.

Gene Boerner, a Massillon resident and partner with Lake Region Oil, a separate company, said the oil industry is getting a bad rap.

"I urge you all to understand fracking," he said, before pointing to the crowd behind him. "Because what they're saying is absolutely wrong."

Councilman Gary Anderson, chairman of the public utilities committee, initially told about 15 residents that he would not allow them to speak, but was met with an outpouring of objections from the audience and council members alike.

"You invited these people to talk, but you won't let the citizens talk," said Jim Woods, a southeast-side resident who has been approached by Ohio Valley Energy.

Councilmen Donnie Peters and Larry Slagle, among others on council, argued that residents — not "advocate groups" as Peters put it — should be given a chance to address council.

Anderson limited conversation to 15 minutes. When residents requested more time, Slagle proposed a public hearing. Anderson hesitated, but later agreed to the idea at the urging of his council colleagues.