This Op-Ed by Bill Lyons appeared in the August issue of the Columbus Free Press.
Most Columbus residents assume that our city is safe from the fracking industry. It is not. There are currently 13 injection wells of toxic radioactive frack waste in the Upper Scioto Watershed area, Columbus’ source water protection area.
This waste contains radium 226, which has a half-life of 1600 years, and up to 700 chemicals. Many of the chemicals we know about – some are hidden as “proprietary secrets” – are carcinogens, neurotoxins and hormone disruptors. Each of these injection wells contain millions of gallons of this toxic stew.
Now comes the Columbus Community Bill of Rights (CCBOR) to the rescue. To prevent Columbus residents from being exposed to these dangers and future polluters, an all-volunteer group of concerned citizens has gathered 18,404 signatures over the course of a year for an initiated Columbus city ordinance that would protect our city’s air, water and soil from frack waste. Members submitted all signatures to City Hall at the end of June. Thereafter, the Franklin County Board of Elections validated more than 12,000 signatures, much more than the 8,890 required to put the ordinance before voters for adoption.
Although protecting our air, water, and soil from toxins seems like a no-brainer, this attempt to get the Columbus Community Bill of Rights on the ballot finally succeeded this year in their third campaign. On Monday, July 23, 2018, Columbus City Council members announced that the CCBOR initiated ordinance, entitled “To Establish a Community Bill of Rights for Water, Soil and Air Protection and to Prohibit Gas and Oil Extraction and Related Activities and Projects” had met the legal sufficiency requirement. MORE…