May 19, 2011- Munroe Falls loses battle to block Beck Energy permit for natural gas well
MUNROE FALLS: Three times, Beck Energy sought to drill a natural gas well in the city.
Three times, the city found cause to object.
The first two encounters ended up in court. The state decided the third Wednesday.
John Husted, chief of the Ohio Department of Natural Resource’s Division of Mineral Resources Management, ruled that Beck Energy is entitled to a permit for a new well at 144 S. River Road despite Munroe Falls’ objection to city property being part of the pool.
The city has 30 days to appeal.
Beck Energy requested what is called ”mandatory pooling” because it had collected leases from 21 landowners, accounting for 39.59 acres of the 40 acres required for a permit.
To get the other half-acre, Beck Energy needed to include a city road, but the city refused to sign the lease.
That led to a hearing with a state
technical advisory council last week.
”We do not wish to extract the oil and gas from that area at this time,” Mayor Frank Larson said, ”and most assuredly we did not want to have any business dealings with Beck Energy because of their past performances, a number of violations they have, and their unwillingness to follow city ordinances.”
The panel recommended the city property be counted anyway, and Husted agreed.
Local judges had to weigh in the first two times Beck Energy tried to drill in Munroe Falls.
In those cases, the city complained that the company had not taken out required zoning permits and a performance bond.
The permits would not have stopped the drilling but rather monitored work related to putting in a road for transporting drilling equipment, erecting fencing around the construction site and with landscaping.
The company argued that the state already regulates such activity through its permit. ODNR backed up Beck Energy in court, saying the state trumps local legislation.
The first well eventually was drilled; the second was stopped last month by a Summit County Common Pleas Court injunction that said Munroe Falls has a right to oversee the construction process.
Beck Energy’s attorney is preparing an appeal to that ruling.
Company responds
David Beck, land manager of the company owned by his father, Raymond, said it’s a matter of principle and precedent.
”If I go and do everything that they want and answer every one of those permits, then what is the purpose of the state law?” Beck said.
”Those people who work for ODNR’s Division of Mineral Resources are oil and gas people. This is what they do. I don’t think Mayor Larson has the expertise to tell me what to do.”
Beck said dealing with Munroe Falls has been frustrating.
”We’ve never had the resistance in any community that we’ve had in Munroe Falls,” Beck said. ”We have wells in Ravenna, Cuyahoga Falls, wells on golf courses and churches and other sensitive areas, but no [where else] — with a capital’N-O’ — have we had this kind of resistance.”
Larson said he’s concerned that all three wells Beck has sought to drill go through an aquifer that provides drinking water for his city and neighboring Cuyahoga Falls.
If a well were to leak, it could ruin the water source for years to come, Larson said.
Beck says he’s confident in the technology and in the procedures Ohio has set out for drilling wells.
Ohio law requires ”several layers of pipe casing and several layers of cement, so we’re very confident we’ll be fine. We’ve done this before, in other aquifers,” and have never had an accident in an aquifer, Beck said.
He noted that two wells Beck Energy installed going through the city of Kent’s aquifer have been without incident since 1988, and Kent has won national competitions for the taste of its water.
”There is this misconception that we’re this free-wheeling, do-whatever-we-want operation, but the state of Ohio is one of the most regulated states in the country,” Beck said.
Other hurdles
While the state might have ruled in Beck Energy’s favor, Larson said the company still has some hurdles to clear.
The city will not permit the driller to transport equipment on Castle Drive, which has a 3.5-ton weight limit.
”Castle Drive would not hold up under that equipment,” Larson said.
That means Beck Energy would have to enter on South River Road and traverse a stream on the property, and Larson said he believes the approval of the Army Corps of Engineers would be required.
Larson said the area is also a habitat for an endangered species, the Indiana bat, so cutting down trees could draw complaints.
”He’s got some things he’s going to have to do to make this happen,” Larson said.
Despite the obstacles, Beck Energy is intent in working the Munroe Falls area, Beck said.
”It’s a productive area,” he said. The first well in Munroe Falls, installed at Twin Falls United Methodist Church in 2008, is performing well.
”It’s hard to find good places to drill, and we proved it with that well that this is a decent area,” Beck said.
Many people have asked Beck Energy why the company doesn’t drill on farmland and stay away from populated areas, Beck said.
But those open areas have already been drilled, Beck said, so the trend has been to look in urban neighborhoods. There are drills in downtown Akron, he said, and on school property.
Beck Energy has also been seeking to drill a well in Stow at Stow Community United Church of Christ.
ODNR delayed issuing that permit last year because of violations at a well in southeastern Ohio. Beck agreed to pay a $66,435 fine and clean up the Monroe County site.
”Stow is still on hold,” Beck said. ”We’re still discussing things with the church and it hasn’t been decided.”
By Paula Schleis who can be reached at 330-996-3741 orpschleis@thebeaconjournal.com.
Read original source: http://www.ohio.com/news/122216118.html
