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Coalition Again Pushes for Charter Amendment's Defeat
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- A coalition of business, labor and public officials is once again encouraging voters to turn down the proposed Community Bill of Rights charter amendment slated for the city's May 6 primary.
Members of the Mahoning Valley Coalition on Job Growth and Investment say the charter amendment -- which would ban the practice of hydraulic fracturing and deep well injection in the city -- would deter business development and cost the region jobs.
"This charter amendment would serve as a job-killer here in the city of Youngstown," Mayor John McNally told attendees during a press event Thursday at the New Bethel Baptist Church. "It would tell job-creating businesses and their tax dollars that they're not welcome here in our city. It will chase away good-paying manufacturing jobs."
The coalition was formed last year in response to a citizens' drive to ban oil and gas exploration and wastewater disposal within the city. The charter amendment would ban hydraulic fracturing, a process used by energy companies that injects water, sand and chemicals into the ground to free up trapped pockets of natural gas and oil.
The amendment would also ban deep injection wells used to dispose of contaminated frack wastewater, and outlaw the construction of natural gas processing plants in the city.
Activists are concerned that hydraulic fracturing contaminates drinking water, and processing plants discharge pollutants into the atmosphere.
The mayor pointed out that the proposed charter amendment is unenforceable, since Ohio regulates all oil and gas activity in the state, not municipalities such as Youngstown.
"The city of Youngstown is not an enforcement arm of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources," McNally said. "Nor should it be."
McNally noted that the language contained in the charter proposal is too broad, and if passed, would not only impact job creation in Youngstown, but also affect neighboring communities in western Pennsylvania and areas where oil and gas exploration is active.
This is the third time the Community Bill of Rights initiative will appear on the ballot. Twice before, the measure was defeated. During the May 2013 primary, the amendment was defeated by a 57% to 43% margin, and was defeated by a 55% to 45% margin during the November election.
"Two times in the past it's been put on the ballot -- it's been defeated," observed Tom Humphries, president and CEO of the Youngstown-Warren Regional Chamber. "To continue after the same issue, the same way, we do think is a waste of taxpayers' money."
Humphries and coalition members say the oil and gas industry can flourish in this region without compromising safety, and the Youngstown area has already attracted several companies associated with the oil and gas supply chain. One way to squash this momentum is to pass a Community Bill of Rights, he says.
"The industry pays attention to what's going on in our community," Humphries says. "When you close the door and say you're not wanted, I think it'll damage the very thing that we're trying to do, and that's create jobs for the Valley."
Also speaking at the event were Mahoning County Democratic Party Chairman David Betras, New Bethel Church Pastor Rev. Kenneth Simon, Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 396 Business Agent Butch Taylor, Lyden Oil Co. Vice President Paul Lyden, and Jaladah Aslam, staff representative for AFSCME Ohio Council 8.
In the audience were members of FrackFree Mahoning Valley, the organization supporting the amendment and has fought against hydraulic fracturing in the region.
Ray Beiersdorfer, a supporter of the charter amendment and professor of geology at Youngstown State University, said the Community Bill of Rights would not harm a single manufacturing job in the city or elsewhere.
Instead, the proposed amendment targets drilling rigs, injection wells and the processing stations, he clarifies. "It's not going to stop any manufacturing jobs."
Beiersdorfer said officials should focus on clean energy such as solar, wind and renewable energy jobs.
Shale gas extraction poses risks that are just too dangerous, Beiersdorfer observes. "They didn't mention that fatalities have increased over 40% in this industry since the energy boom," he said of the coalition members.
Beiersdorfer referenced an explosion at a well site in Greene County, Pa., in February that killed a worker, plus other studies that have connected birth defects to shale gas.
"This is problem that contaminates air, contaminates water, it lowers property values, and now it's documented that its causing birth defects," he remarked. "We don't want these types of jobs in the city. The citizens of Youngstown need to vote yes" on the charter amendment.
Beiersdorfer said nearly 5,000 people voted in favor of the amendment during the November election. "If those 5,000 people come out and vote in May, this thing will win."
To watch viddeo from press event: CLICK HERE
Copyright 2014 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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