A unanimous vote by its city council last night made Cincinnati the first city in the state of Ohio to ban injection wells associated with hydraulic fracturing. From CityBeat:
“I’m proud to be on the first City Council to ban injection wells,” said Councilwoman Laure Quinlivan, who submitted the ordinance to council.
“I want to give props to the solicitors … who have come up with a very unusual thing in City Council — a one page ordinance.”
The ordinance, which passed unanimously after being voted out of committee on Tuesday, is aimed at preventing the injection of wastewater from hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, under Cincinnati. Its injection has been linked to a dozen earthquakes in northern Ohio.
Opponents also worry that the chemicals in the water, which is used to drill underground to free up gas and oil, can seep into drinking water.
The rules around fracking are notoriously lax. A recent study from ProPublica determined that injection wells, sites at which the waste water from the fracking process are buried deep in the ground, are alarmingly prone to leaks. As noted above, the process has also been linked to earthquakes.
