Columbus City Council is expected to vote this coming Monday to place a measure on the fall ballot banning fracking activity within city limits.
Local anti-fracking activists have been trying for years without success to place the so-called "Columbus Community Bill of Rights" before the voters. The Franklin County Board of Elections recently validated enough of the 18 thousand peitition signatures gathered by activists to get the measure on the ballot. This past Monday, Council approved legislation stating the city finds the measure legally sufficient. Council president Shannon Hardin:
In 2015, the Ohio Supreme Court uphled a 2004 state law giving the state sole jurisdiction over oil and gas drilling. But co-organizer Carolyn Harding says backers are ready for a legal fight because it should be up to citizens to decide if they want oil and gas drilling in their communities. She says fracking poses a threat to the Columbus water supply.
Voters in other Ohio cities, including Broadview Heights and Mansfield, have approved similar bans.
