Mad Moms Hopping Mad Over Court Decision re Broadview Heights, OH
In 2012 Broadview Heights, OH, a Cleveland suburb, passed an illegal “Community Bill of Rights” law that bans oil and gas drilling in their township. Ohio law specifically and plainly states that only the state–not local municipalities–have the sole right to regulate the oil and gas industry. The law was promptly thrown out by a lower court, which resulted in anti-drilling groups including the Ohio Community Rights Network (OHCRN) and Mothers Against Drilling in Our Neighborhoods (MADION), with Big Green money backing from the odious PA-based Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF), appealing the decision. It eventually made its way up the chain to the 8th District Court of Appeals. The nutters were so ecstatic when the 8th District agreed to hear the case, they celebrated with “street dramatizations” (see Antis Celebrate OH Appeals Court Hearing with Street Dramatization). They’re not celebrating anymore. The 8th District has ruled against the Broadview Heights law. Not only that, the 8th District is the first court to directly address the so-called “bill of rights” argument. In a crushing blow to the nutters, the 8th District Court said, in essence, “No. Towns don’t have inalienable rights to create laws that supersede the state’s laws.” However, nutters never go away–they blat and bleat and carry on, as they are doing now with this decision. At least we have some resolution in Ohio. This decision is a resounding refutation of the CELDF and their predatory behavior of pressuring towns into passing “bill of rights” laws that ban drilling and fracking…
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A trucking company contracted to haul brine (i.e. naturally occurring water from the depths that comes out of a borehole long after drilling operations are completed) for Gulfport Energy crashed last Wednesday early in the morning and spilled 5,000 gallons of brine onto a field, which found its way into a creek, which emptied into a local reservoir serving Barnesville, OH residents (Belmont County). The trucking company is ECM Energy Services Inc. Barnesville was not drawing any water from the reservoir at the time (they have three local reservoirs from which to draw), so there was no threat to the local human population. Neither was there any impact on the local wildlife population. In fact, it was pretty much a non-event–except for the way it was inaccurately portrayed by media outlets like the Columbus Dispatch, whose reporter either intentionally misrepresented the facts, or was too obtuse to understand the facts…
Here’s what just happened. A family in Dimock, PA admits, under oath on the witness stand, that their water had too much methane in it BEFORE Cabot Oil & Gas began to drill nearby. The same family, the Elys, later built a 22-room, $1 million mansion on the same property AFTER they admit there was trouble with the water. And a jury decides to find Cabot at fault–and award that family $2.75 million. The other family got $1.49 million. That’s called brain-dead. A total miscarriage of justice–stupidity on the same level as the OJ Simpson jury. The AP has written a story trumpeting the verdict, and every liberal backwater newspaper across the continent is now carrying it. It makes no difference that Cabot has asked the judge to set aside the verdict–a very real possibility. It makes no difference that Cabot will appeal the verdict if the judge doesn’t set it aside (there was no evidence in the case!)–and will likely win such an appeal. The damage is now done in the court of public opinion. No-nothings will read the headline and say, “Yep, Josh Fox had it right in Gasland. That nasty gas driller polluted those poor people’s wells in Dimock. Jury said so.” Case closed. This is a dark day in our fight against fossil fuel haters and climate change radicals. They will regurgitate this verdict from now until long after we’re all dead…