Dear Editor:

On Sept. 19, you ran a letter from a Mr. John Fortney regarding Marietta City Council’s desire to see something done about any more injection wells being forced on the citizens of Washington County. I want to clarify what is at stake in this discussion.

Marietta City Council’s concern is — and always will be — the safety and well-being of the people who live here. The CITIZENS are who we work for. Not special interests. I might question who Mr. Fortney, a resident of Columbus, and Communications Director for the Ohio Senate Majority Caucus, is actually speaking for. But I digress.

Our focus is on protecting clean drinking water, farmland, and public health. These are not partisan issues; they are basic responsibilities of local government.

The City’s objection letter to ODNR raised specific, fact-based concerns about injection wells, including documented brine migration in Washington County and inspection failures. ODNR denied our request for a public hearing and declined to address those points. The potential for legal action is about ensuring that the State follows its own laws and applies the most protective standards on the books.

Any partnership under consideration is not about ideology or national politics. It is about giving our Law Director the resources he needs to stand on equal footing with state-level attorneys in a highly technical case. Our residents deserve that.

This is not a question of left or right. It is a question of whether we, as city leaders, will do everything in our power to protect Marietta’s families, water, and future. To claim that we are “sell-outs” for putting the health and safety concerns of hundreds of citizens above profits that serve a small elite few, is quite laughable. Mr. Fortney might want to do some soul searching and ask himself and his bosses who they are really working for.