Medina, Ohio-Medina County attorneys will be in Licking County Court May 26 in the latest chapter of a dispute between Sharon Township and the Ohio Department of Agriculture over the safety of storing anhydrous ammonia. “We’re saying it is the responsibility of the state to regulate these tanks and that the state’s regulations themselves do not adequately address the safety of the general public,” said Tom Karris, assistant county prosecutor. Sharon Township and state agriculture officials have been at odds since a Medina County farmer received the go-ahead for installation of a 12,000-gallon tank based on state requirements that township trustees said do not limit its size, require a background check of the installer, or consider the township’s ability to respond if the chemical were released. “Our complaint is limited to permanent stationary tanks (and) is not about nurse tanks,” Karris explained. “We don’t have an issue with those. Our issue is with the location and the installation of stationary storage tanks. We certainly are not attacking the use of anhydrous ammonia by farmers (who) buy just enough to apply to their crops and don’t generally store on their farms.” He said he expects an early ruling on the state’s motion that township trustees overstepped their bounds by asking the Licking County judge for an injunction to stop use of a chemical storage tank, but declined to speculate on what would be the effect of the court ruling against larger tanks in the state.
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