Democratic Sen. Michael Skindell of Lakewood say his bills don’t ban fracking, but impose a halt until the USEPA finishes a study in two years, and would put in rules on disclosing chemicals in fracking water, and on where that water can be disposed of.
“We believe that the moratorium on this process until we get a report from the EPA is responsible.”
But Tom Stewart with the Ohio Oil and Gas Association says to ask the companies that have leases in Ohio to wait for two years is unacceptable.
“They have a huge stake in this. And to tell them to wait and to tell people standing in unemployment lines to wait is not reasonable.”
Stewart says a law signed last year deals with many of the concerns of environmentalists, and that Skindell is – using Stewart’s words – a well hater. Skindell says he feels natural gas isn’t a sustainable energy resource and he backs the wind industry.