Are Ohio regulators biased toward frackers?

Several environmental and community groups claim a state agency is biased toward the oil and gas industry and shouldn't legally be in charge of tracking its chemicals.

This week, nonprofit public policy group ProgressOhio announced 40 community and environmental groups across the state have asked the Environmental Protection Agency to clarify federal rules.

The letter, written by the Center for Health, Environment and Justice, asserts Ohio's law putting the Ohio Department of Natural Resources in charge of chemical reporting management is at odds with the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act.

The groups, which include the Ohio Environmental Council, Cincinnati Green Group, and Coshocton Environmental and Community Awareness, also allege the ODNR is biased in favor of the industry it's tasked to regulate and is not qualified to handle emergencies.

Eric Heis, ODNR public information officer, rejects the notion the agency is biased, saying it is a regulatory agency focused on safety of communities and the environment.

"There's no bias toward or against any industry," Heis said.

However, the groups assert there are recent incidents, such as a June fire and chemical spill in Monroe County, that show the ODNR is not appropriately managing the industry's information.

The groups allege gaps in reporting led to firefighters not knowing what chemicals might be involved in the 54,000 gallons of wastewater that had been dumped into a tributary of the Ohio River. The groups contend the ODNR also didn't arrive on scene until three days later and didn't share necessary information for another two days.

"ODNR was on scene within hours of the fire with trained experts and public health and safety as top priority," Heis countered. "First responders had the Material Safety Data Sheets that list all chemicals on the well pad that night as well. Our intentions and top priority is always public safety and transparency for everyone."

The emergency planning act permits reporting within 60 days after an incident, Heis added, and the ODNR maintains a more comprehensive list of chemicals than required.

Even so, the community groups contend the federal emergency planning act requires the State Emergency Response Commission, as well as local emergency planning committees and fire departments, to receive chemical information.

The ODNR was tapped to manage the chemical reporting and emergency response for the oil and gas industry, Heis said, because it was capable of receiving and relaying the information digitally. The department also regulates the permitting process.

Before 2001, Heis said, the oil and gas industry did submit required chemical information to the emergency response commission, but it was on paper.

Federally mandated hard-copy maps, facility inventory forms and hazard chemical inventory forms are still submitted to the emergency response commission on paper, Heis said.

"Continuing to report to ODNR remains the most efficient way for oil and gas well owners to report the information and will continue to be the fastest and most reliable way to disseminate the information to first responders and others who require access," Heis said.

The letter to the EPA also called attention to House Bill 490, which died in the Senate at year's end. The groups said the bill would have created a set of rules specifically for the oil and gas industry instead of adhering to the emergency planning act.

Heis said the bill was geared toward improvements the agency would like to do such as provide real-time information and require chemical reporting more often than the every 60 days currently required.

jison@gannett.com

Twitter: @JonaIson

What's in the wells?

Ohio uses www.fracfocus.org to inform the public about the hydraulic fracturing fluid compositions used at specific wells.