Drilling Companies Claim “Right” to drill over the Rights of Broadview Heights Residents

BROADVIEW HEIGHTS, OH: On July 11, the community group Mothers Against Drilling In Our Neighborhoods, Inc (MADION), filed a motion to intervene in a lawsuit filed by Bass Energy, Inc. and Ohio Valley Energy Systems Corporation against the City of Broadview Heights. The lawsuit, pending in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court, seeks to overturn the City’s Community Bill of Rights Charter Amendment, which bans oil and gas drilling and fracking. Bass and Ohio Valley Energy claim that as corporations holding state permits, they have a “right” to drill within Broadview Heights. Residents see things quite differently.

In November 2012, Broadview Heights voters overwhelmingly adopted (67%) the Community Bill of Rights, codifying their constitutional right to local self government, their rights to clean air and water, and the right to a sustainable energy future. The City Charter Amendment prohibits new wells from being drilled in the City as a violation of those rights. The initiative was driven by City residents and members of the local community group MADION.

The national Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF) offered in May to defend Broadview Heights, without charge, in the event of a legal challenge to the Charter Amendment. To date the city has not accepted the offer. According to Attorney Terry Lodge, representing the community group, "The oil companies hope to capitalize on the city's well-known hesitation to put on a real defense of the charter amendment, and that probably explains why they've kept quiet about the lawsuit. So, the citizens are stepping forward to enforce a law that they initiated and passed."

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