Letter: Approach Providing Services to Fracking with Caution
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Portage County's plans for a bulk water station to provide water for hydraulic fracturing gas producers should be approached with caution.
The primary concern should be, "How much water is available through the existing system?" A news article Dec. 2 said, "The drilling company needs up to a million gallons ... per well." In fact, a deep well to the Utica shale may need 5 million gallons, and land leased for gas drilling in Portage County may involve up to 800 wells, which calculates to 4 trillion gallons. This is the amount that should be compared to the total volume of water that Portage County's existing water system is designed to produce per year at maximum output, less the amount presently used for current non-drilling customers.
A secondary concern should be the statement, "We'll have a location they can come out and get water at any time." This suggests a vision of a continuous line of tanker trucks (manufactured at the new MAC facility in Kent) idling through the night for their turns to load up water to transport to wellheads throughout Northern Ohio. One imagines that if Portage County water is bargain-priced and available 24/7, it will be transported off to drill wells in Trumbull and Stark counties.
Another concern is the price structure. It seems counter-productive to price water, that is not limitlessly available, so that the more a customer uses, the less it costs per unit. This encourages waste and penalizes the residential customer and local business which attempts to use its water wisely and sparingly. At the very least, the cost per gallon should not decrease when the volume purchased is greater. It would seem reasonable to increase the cost per gallon as the usage increases because increased use initially causes a strain on the system and ultimately requires expenses for maintenance and capital improvements to the water system.
It should not be expected that the residents and long-time business users should bear the cost of increasing system capacity to service the drilling industry throughout Ohio.
Christopher Mallin
Member, Kent Environmental Council
Jody Byrne
12:15 pm on Wednesday, December 7, 2011
How did this issue get this far along without some sort of vote? Shouldn't the residents of Portage County be ASKED if we even want a bulk water station in our county?
L Babbey
12:53 pm on Friday, December 9, 2011
I agree with Mr. Mallin's statements. Our elected officials took an oath to protect the health, safety and welfare of the citizens (and taxpayers) of Portage County...NOT the drilling industry. Fresh, clean water is not a limitless resource, therefore, we must protect the aquifers and wells available to us.
Rick Hawksley
1:38 pm on Friday, December 9, 2011
I think Mr. Mallin's idea for charging the base residential rate for volume sales is a good one. I understand the concept of an industrial rate as a way of encouraging economic development, but when we decide to use the commonwealth to enhance the wealth of individuals and corporations, there needs to be some accountability built in.
While we may have abundant water resources, we need to adopt water rates that encourage conservation rather than exploitation. The production of water and processing of waste water are very energy intensive and contribute to climate gases and for that reason alone we need to reduce the amount of water processed rather than increase it.
We are accustomed to water being cheap, but given the threat to our ancient water supplies for a quick buck, we need to charge its real cost. Yes we will have less money to spend on cheap stuff from China...oh well.