Ohio communities have been living with leaking injection wells, spills in and around the facilities. We also know that  loading and unloading of oil and gas liquid waste causes one of the highest levels of toxic air emissions during the entire fracking process. Right now the Ohio Department of Natural Resources is writing new rules for the class two injection well program. These rules are totally inadequate to protect our families or our water. For example, the rules provide for a setback of only 100 feet from private drinking water wells, rivers and streams, and wetlands. This is not enough to protect our drinking water or aquatic life. 

This is some of why we feel it is critical that our next step is for all of you to help us demand that ODNR rescind the rules from JCARR in order for our concerns with the rules be addressed to be resubmitted next year. 

Contact Chief Eric Vendel  Eric.Vendel@dnr.ohio.gov   (614) 265-6631

Here is a draft email/script

Dear .Mr. Vendel:

Monday, November 22, 12noon, this on-line event requires advance registration

Strategy is the art of working with what you have to get what you want. When we are clear about our strategy the work of building our organizations becomes easier. It is easier to recruit leaders, and to develop an effective and democratic membership structure. It is easier to raise money and to tell your story.

Is your organization starting to think about your strategy and goals for next year? Join a conversation with James Hayes, Co-Director of Ohio Voice, about how to approach strategic planning for next year and beyond.

James is Ohio Voice’s Co-Director, working to meet organizational goals and budgets, develop strong relationships with partners and other stakeholders, and more.

In 2012, James co-founded the Ohio Student Association (OSA) where he served as Co-Director for four years. In 2015, James was named to the Root 100 as one of the one hundred most influential Black leaders in the country.

Sunday, November 21, 2021, 5:00 - 7:00 PM
We collect, pack, and send books to Ohio prisoners every 1st and 3rd Sunday.  Location: Thirdhand Bike Coop, 979 East 5th Ave, Columbus. Please wear a mask, and please don't park in front of the building.

I begin with a partial disclaimer. My knowledge about the failures of Columbus city government comes largely from the middle-to upper-middle-level officials with whom I have the pleasure of speaking with. They strive to make a deeply flawed “system” work as well as it does.  

My efforts since last winter to stimulate more responsive and responsible actions, including enforcement and revision of existing laws, led to my collaboration with City Council legislative aides, the City Attorney and his office, Neighborhoods Engagement, Zoning/Code Enforcement, 311, and the Columbus Police Department (CPD).  

The connections are primarily through personal contacts with individuals and their programs; they are selective and not systematic. The degree of disconnection, however, defies comprehension. City Councilmember and city departments are poorly aligned. Departments are not well connected. Therein lay multiple clues to the problems. 

“Earlier this afternoon, Kyle Rittenhouse was found not guilty of killing two men in Kenosha, Wisconsin during last year’s racial justice protests, mere days after the shooting of Jacob Blake. This verdict represents the latest in a disappointing trend in which the American judicial system preferences white agency at the expense of true equity. It is yet another instance demonstrating the longstanding issues of structural racism and inherent bias that inform the operation of this nation. A nation where liberty and justice purportedly for all is shown to be false and hypocritical.
 

Those who have been victimized for centuries by these structures are again forced to bear the burden. America will not move in the direction of becoming the most just version herself if we are not willing to be honest about her misgivings. The verdict that was passed in Wisconsin is not a sign of justice, nor is it a representation of the standards that we should hold our judicial system to. This moment is not one of fairness but of pain for our communities. This is not a matter of politics; it is a matter of ethics.