October 27, 2008- The impact of House Bill 278 in area communities is reflected in incidents tied to drilling for natural gas and oil.
H.B. 278, in effect since September 2004, put the Ohio Department of Natural Resources in charge of issuing permits for natural gas and oil wells in the state. Previously, drillers had to obtain permits from the cities, villages and townships where the wells were to be sunk.
The bill empowers ODNR to set procedures for reporting problems with wells during their installation and operation.
In January, Mentor city officials were startled to learn that a drilling crew hired by Big Sky Energy Inc. of New Concord had set up its rig in the central courtyard of the Deepwood North Apartment complex.
As required by H.B. 278, Deepwood North Co. LLC, owner of the complex, had been notified of the start of drilling by the drilling company. However, the law did not require the company to notify the apartment tenants or the city.
Mentor City Manager John W. Konrad said city officials were taken by surprise when apartment residents called to complain about the rig. They were angered by what they saw after arriving at the apartment complex.
The noise generated by the drilling rig was deafening, Konrad recalled. City officials also were troubled by various safety violations, including a burn-off pipe that was issuing a flame close to parked automobiles with gas in their tanks.
“The conditions were unsafe,” Konrad said. “We felt like we had to do something, especially about the noise. We made them put a muffler in the drilling rig, which reduced the noise from unbearable to really, really annoying.”
Mayor and City Council President Robert M. Shiner said that the Deepwood incident is a textbook illustration of H.B. 278’s most glaring shortcoming.
“Before this law went into effect, we never would have allowed drilling in Deepwood,” Shiner said.
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