Mayor Richard Edwards announced at city council this Monday the success of a discussion session he and several other Bowling Green city leaders had with Ohio Environmental Protection Agency Director Craig Butler regarding safety concerns over the NEXUS pipeline.
Reading from a reply letter sent to Butler, Edwards said, “Against the backdrop of the recent Rover pipeline mishaps in southeast Ohio, we take comfort in knowing that you and the members of the Ohio EPA staff with personnel from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commissions will aggressively monitor and provide oversight of the project to ensure strict compliance with Ohio’s environmental regulations.”
Edwards brought Butler’s attention to several of the concerns raised revolving around NEXUS, and the Ohio EPA along with the Ohio Department for Natural Resources composed responses to each concern.
Worries were raised over the integrity of the pipeline being built over the Bowling Green fault, which, if it ever became active, could destroy the pipeline and cause a leakage that would contaminate the local water supply. However, ODNR pointed out the fault has shown no significant activity for over 11,000 years, concluding that it could not be a threat to the pipeline or the community.
In addition, ODNR said the NEXUS pipeline route will be installed a sufficient distance away from the city of Bowling Green’s upland reservoir and that it will not impact it in anyway. They said one key fact to acknowledge is history has shown these pipelines almost inevitably leak. The Dakota Access Pipeline sprung a leak before it was even fully operational in May. These leaks could cause devastating harm to the surrounding environment.
However, Edwards expressed his content with the EPA’s promises of on-site oversight and inspections of the NEXUS building process, as well as their ensurance that all FERC-permitted projects strictly follow the guidelines of Ohio’s environmental regulations.
BGSU Environmental Action Group president Brad Holmes addressed the successful implementation of the BG charter amendment on the November voting ballot, which calls for the right to a healthy environment and livable climate while also granting more power to Bowling Green residents in legislative decisions regarding key topics like NEXUS.
Councilman Robert McOmber cautioned the initiative to alter Bowling Green’s charter, however, citing that it would set a bad precedent in allowing “special interest groups” to continually change the city’s charter and in turn make it messy and unorganized.
“The charter route is a mistake,” said McOmber. “And this isn’t going to make any difference to NEXUS.”
Holmes and Lisa Kochheiser, a Bowling Green resident working in partnership with EAG, argued the only long-term solution for the city to prevent more projects like NEXUS from impacting the city is to change the charter.
“If we tried to pass it as an ordinance, then city council could change it at any moment,” said Kochheiser.
City Council president Michael Aspacher concluded the meeting by saying all Bowling Green residents are encouraged to review the city’s charter on the city website so they can make a fully informed vote in November.
