Coalition Urges Voters to Snub Anti-Fracking Petition
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- Members of a coalition composed of business, labor and political leaders today urged residents not to sign a petition supporting a proposed charter amendment that would ban hydraulic fracturing and other oil and gas-related developments in the city.
"This proposed charter is a terrible law," declared Alan Wenger, a partner at Harrington Hoppe and Mitchell in Youngstown and a member of the Mahoning Valley Coalition for Job Growth and Investment. "Having a bad, unenforceable, unconstitutional law takes the eye away from the ball."
Activists representing FrackFree Mahoning Valley are circulating a petition to place a new Community Bill of Rights charter initiative on the ballot in November. A similar measure failed before voters during the May primary by a sizeable margin, 53% to 43%.
The coalition was formed just weeks before the primary election and lobbied against the measure. However this time, the group is telling the community not to sign petitions so it does not receive the necessary signatures to place it on the November ballot.
"We're trying to be proactive," said Thomas Humphries, Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber president and CEO. "If you look at the issue, it hasn't really changed that much."
Humphries said it’s the coalition's objective to remind the public why they voted the amendment down the first time, and consider withholding their signatures. "People didn’t support it the last time, and we encourage them not to support it by signing it," he said.
Wenger said this charter proposal is practically identical to the one that was voted down three months ago.
Aside from a clause that exempts some manufacturing interests, he observed, "Essentially the law is identical to the one that was defeated before."
Under the amendment's broad language, it would make it a criminal offense to operate a gas well in the city, Wenger said. Therefore, well owners such as Cardinal Mooney High School, several churches, or The Boy's Club could be prosecuted. "Any effort to tend or maintain their well would be a crime under this law," he said.
Instead, the measure resembles more of a policy manifesto rather than a law, Wenger continued. "It's no way designed as something that could be enforced."
Mahoning County Democratic Party Chairman David Betras added that the biggest concern of the FrackFree activists is the lack of local control over the oil and gas industry.
"That fight is to be waged in Columbus with the state legislature," he said. "It's not to be waged locally."
Betras called the backers of the amendment a "fringe group who will sacrifice our economic development for bogeyman and non-existent problems."
Both labor and businesses view the amendment as flawed, noting it sends the wrong message to those companies looking to invest and bring new jobs to the Mahoning Valley, Betras said.
"Legislation like this would be a jobs killer," said Paul Lyden of the Lyden Oil Co. "This is economic development for us. We have a billion-dollar steel mill in Vallourec. We have a lot of new businesses coming into town. We have existing businesses experiencing tremendous growth."
Lyden said the shale business has helped his company land contracts with companies new to the Mahoning Valley. "A lot of billing addresses are Oklahoma and Texas now instead of just Ohio."
And, the legislation would hurt those tradesmen and workers who are now employed through the emerging industry.
Jaladah Aslam, local staff representative for AFSCME, said she watched years ago as the steel industry collapsed and the Mahoning Valley decayed.
"For me, this is personal," Aslam said. The oil and gas industry has presented opportunities for black and Hispanic workers that were destroyed when the steel industry retrenched. "This is a real opportunity for people to go to work."
Don Crane, president of the Western Reserve Building Trades Council, said such a charter amendment could impact whether a company decides to locate in the area. "A company wanting to move to the area may feel a little gun shy for fear of any kind of litigation they may have to fight if they propose to drill or even dig in the ground."
Crane said the oil and gas industry is already playing a major role in keeping tradesmen employed. Manufacturers related to the industry, pipeline construction, infrastructure projects such as road rehabilitation, all have provided new opportunities for trades members, he said.
"This is the expansion we're looking for," added Butch Taylor, business agent for Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 396. Four years ago, the trades experienced 40% unemployment. Today, pipefitters are enjoying full employment in the field and in fabrication shops building infrastructure for the oil and gas industry.
Moreover, interest in the trades is on the increase.
"Since this started, we've educated between 160 and 180 who are new to the program," Taylor said. "These are jobs with great pay, great benefits and we're just starting to scratch the surface."
Copyright 2013 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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