DEAR EDITOR:
I have read the letter that the mayor of Niles, Ralph A. Infante, sent to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources concerning the installation of a brine injection well five blocks from the downtown city of Niles, but it will only be a block from where I and my husband live in a house we bought 19 years ago.
We have spent all these years taking care and maintaining and enjoying our home on a quiet street. I like sitting on our deck on a nice day not having to worry what will harm us in any way, shape or form.
I have asthma. I do not want to struggle for one day of my life trying to breathe from the filthy stench of unknown chemical-laden crap, and have to wonder every day what might eventually become hazardous to my health and the health of everyone in our surrounding communities.
They come into cities and townships, do their dirty work and leave us with what? I will not give up my home to a "love canal" situation. If they would not want this injection well where they live, what makes them think I do? I respect Mayor Infante's letter to the ODNR. His letter was well written and polite. Mine is not. I know Erin Brockovich will be interested in knowing what the ODNR is trying to do to our community.
I wonder where the EPA is when you need them? They seem to be in every other aspect of our lives. How dare they come into our city and use their tactics. Do they think the surrounding communities will not protest this? Will they be around five, 10, 15 years from now?
I want this stopped before it even gets started. If they think they can put one in our city, they will put one in other cities. We have two major reservoirs within 10 miles of the proposed injection sites that will serve thousands of families. Is the ODNR willing to compromise the safety of our drinking water and the private wells in this area that families rely on? How much abuse can this Earth take because man wants to make money. This always seems to be the bottom line whether good or bad. It's the money.
I sat in my house and felt the 4.0 magnitude earthquake. It is not something I ever want to feel again. If people think that living in any surrounding city, Girard, Howland, McDonald, Hubbard, Warren or any township that this will not affect them, they are mistaken. People need to make their voices heard. A copy of this letter is being sent to area politicians. These politicians should be outraged at the very thought of an injection well.
Ruth Lilley
Niles