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Regular Council Meeting Mi::utes 6-15-09 Page 24 the area between the pipe and the ground, it's this little gap which is supposed to be cemented, the annulus was not properly cemented on that well. Gas escaped when they opened the well into the aquifer. This was a neighborhood that is served by individual water wells, not by central water. The gas permeated the aquifer. Some of us who live on wells have our well taps outside. One particular house in this subdivision had their well capped in their basement. The gas accumulated in the basement and at 2:30 in the morning, it ignited and literally blew the house off its foundation. The miracle is the occupants were home but not injured. The house was destroyed. Also, though, 41 homes in the neighborhood had their water wells polluted by the gas. Those wells today, a year and a half later, are still having in their garages plexi-plastic and plexi-glass tanks of water still trucked in every week and put in those tanks so those people have water that they can actually consume in their homes, 18 months after this incident because the wells are still contaminated. ODNR recently ordered that the driller install a waterline for 20 some of those homes. We are still negotiating when all the homes will get it. Oddly enough, the Bainbridge Police Department was about a mile away from all this. Their water well caught fire that night. The only way it could have caught fire is if tt too had migrating gas coming into it because water doesn't catch fire on a normal day. That water well at the Bainbridge Police Department is still not usable as of today. They are asking to get relief as well. We are working with ODNR trying to get them either on that waterline or some sort of relief. Out of that unfortunate situation has come some opportunity. Senator Grendell can confess to be an opportunist here. That situation was serious enough for Senator Grendell to get some folks' attention in Columbus that something has to give about this loss of control of oil and gas wells at the local level. When they passed House Bi11278, Senator Grendell was assured by the representative of the oil and gas association that the incident in Bainbridge was a one in a billion possibility. So the one in a billion has already come home in less than three years after they passed House Bill 278. We have had other incidents. Gates Mills' fire log is full of incidents dealing with oil and gas well problems that they have had as to maintenance issues and safety issues. In Chesterland, we have had problems with flare-ups and fires . There were some problems in Mentor. There are concerns in Chester about water. So, we sort of have an opportunity to try to get something done. House Bill 278 was introduced and passed by then-Representative Tom Niehaus from Clermont County who is now Senator Niehaus. He is Senate President Pro-Tem. He has assured Senator Grendell he has wanted to get some legislation passed originally by the end of this June, but the budget problem in Columbus has become all-consuming. So now our deadline is to get something passed by the end of this year. Senator Grendell thought he would just give to you the differences as to where we stand. Senator Grendell has a Bill and Senator Niehaus has a Bill. In the Senator Niehaus version