Hiram – Around 30 residents from Hiram and Mantua Townships attended a community meeting last Saturday to share their concerns about how a local storage well is affecting their lives, their roads and their families. At the meeting, citizens voiced concerns over the ill affects of the increase in 18-wheeled tanker truck traffic near their homes. Individuals provided photos taken on local roads of tanker trucks bringing fracking waste to the area for disposal at the storage well from as far away as Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Texas.
Issues of concern included road damage and how repairs will be funded, as well as safety issues resulting from increased truck traffic to the storage well located on the west end of Allyn Road in Hiram Township. Other issues included air and water safety, as well as noise issues. The group is discussing how to negotiate better road use maintenance agreements, air and water monitoring, and proposing more appropriate hours of operation of the storage facility. The well is located upstream from the Cuyahoga River, so water monitoring is also of concern.
Impacted areas include Sheldon Road, Allyn Road, Winchell Road, Hidden Hill, Washburn, Abbott, Thrasher and State Route 82. The group will meet again at the Hiram Christian Church at the corner of State Routes 82 & 700 on Saturday, March 22 from 10 am to 11 am. Residents are encouraged to attend.
