Advocacy groups speak out on lack of public accountability
Tuscarawas County Courthouse, New Philadelphia
NEW PHILADELPHIA — “Today, Food & Water Watch and members of the citizen’s advocacy coalition Freshwater Accountability Project convened a protest and a press conference at the Tuscarawas County Courthouse, demanding that the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District (MWCD) protect the health, safety and welfare of watershed district residents by halting all water sales and the leasing of public land for hydraulic fracturing.
…Property owners within the Muskingum Watershed pay an added assessment on their property taxes each year to fund the MWCD, whose stated mission is abatement of flooding and conservation of the district’s resources for beneficial public uses. Although that does include industrial uses of the water, residents argue that the massive withdrawal and permanent contamination of water used in fracking, and the drilling process itself poses an unacceptable risk to the reservoirs that does not benefit the public. ”
— press release, Alison Auciello, Food & Water Watch, Leatra Harper, Freshwater Accountability Project
