Ohio protests not stopping ammonia tank

Columbus-The Ohio Department of Agriculture has given the go-ahead for installation of a 12,000-gallon anhydrous ammonia tank at a farm in Medina County, which has drawn objections from township officials who are concerned about safety. “The situation is that Mr. Simmons (Dr. F. Bruce Simmons III, proprietor of South Spring Farms) has filed all the paperwork, completed the application and was determined to be in compliance with our regulations, and at this point he does have approval to construct the system,” Matt Beal, agriculture inspection administrator, told Green Markets. Still, Sharon Township trustees, who have registered their opposition with state agriculture officials, want to make sure measures are in place in case of any problems. The township has no say-so in the application process, Trustee Brian Guccion was quoted as saying in the press. “It’s all up to the Department of Agriculture,” Guccion complained. “Our stand on it is we’re not in favor, but the question is what can we do,” said Township Assistant Fire Chief Michael Stanec, who wants to be sure his department will be able to access the facility in the event of an emergency. But Dave Gorman, department staff counsel, said “from an administration law standpoint they don’t have an avenue for this. They can submit concerns to us, but they don’t have standing to block the permission to install.” Gorman offered that the township could go to court to get “some sort of injunction.” Beal described the Simmons tank as on the smaller size of ammonia installations. “Actually there are 18,000-gallon all the way up to 30,000-gallon, and it’s not unusual to have several 30,000-gallon.” Sharon trustees acknowledged that they had been informed about the Department of Agriculture approving the installation, but emphasized they are still concerned about the location of the tank. “We feel it is truly in a densely populated area (including) a housing development that should not be an appropriate location for this type of chemical,” Trustee Kimberly Bolas Miller told Green Markets. “From what we are told by the Ohio Department of Agriculture, we do not have any input to this decision. In fact, the law does not require for the local entity to even be notified of a tank being installed, which truly concerns us.”