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FrackFree Mahoning Valley Turns in Ballot Petitions
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- Anti-fracking activists this afternoon turned in petitions containing the signatures of 2,450 city voters, taking the next step to place the so-called “Community Bill of Rights” on the city’s Nov. 5 ballot.
The signatures they collected exceeded by nearly 900 the required number. The petitions were handed to the clerk of Youngstown City Council who, according to the city’s Home Rule charter, will then take the documents to the Mahoning County Board of Elections for certification.
Should the charter amendment be placed on the ballot, it would be the second time city voters have decided the issue. In the spring primary, it was soundly defeated. If approved, the ballot would ban drilling, hydraulic fracturing and injection wells in the city.
“We will win this time and it will be a win for our neighborhoods,” declared Susie Beiersdorfer, one of the leaders of FrackFree Mahoning Valley, which convened this afternoon’s press conference on the sidewalk outside City Hall.
“Spring [primary] – 17% voter turnout, we only lost by 900 votes," she said. "This is not a one-time thing. We are in this for the long haul."
The activists believe their case against fracking has become stronger since the primary vote, Beiersdorfer said. She cited the loud flaring noises that came from the Kibler well in Lordstown and disturbed nearly residents, and concerns voiced last week by residents of the McKelvey Lake area who fear fracking beneath that water supply.
“We fully expect the well-funded and well-staffed opposition to try again to unfairly drown out the message of the people but they will not succeed because we have science and public opinion on our side,” she said.
Beiersdorfer was referring to the Mahoning Valley Coalition for Job Growth and Investment, a group of business, political civic and labor leaders who support oil and gas development in the Mahoning Valley. At a press event July 30, the coalition urged city voters to snub the FrackFree petition drive.
“Now we are starting phase-two of our campaign to inform the voters of the realities of fracking and the violations of human rights, of civil rights and of their property values and property rights,” Beiersdorfer said.
Beiersdorfer alluded to public records requests and new information that FrackFree would reveal in the weeks to come. “We’ve been collecting public records on things we feel are threats to our public health and safety,” she said.
In the meantime, FrackFree Mahoning Valley will hold a town-hall style meeting Wednesday from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Unitarian Church, 1105 Elm St.
Copyright 2013 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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