Workers were busy making repairs to an oil storage tank after it exploded and caught fire Friday morning. Firefighters tell us the tank, off of Knox School Road in northwestern Columbiana County, had just recently been serviced. North Georgetown Fire Chief Ed Reichenbach tells us authorities "really don't have any idea what started it."
Although wells like these are common sights in rural areas, we're seeing more and more of them in cities and towns. One's being installed behind St. Michael's Church in Canfield to provide natural gas to the church and its new social hall to save the parish some money.
The well is being installed by Ohio Valley Energy, one of several drilling firms in the area, all regulated by Ohio's Department of Natural Resources.
Although this site will have dikes to contain potential oil spills from the tank, as well as, a locked fence and gate around it, experts admit it's impossible to keep everyone away. Ohio Valley's Ben Funderburg says, "You always have vandalism caused by, I'll say, stupidity."
Although Canfield's Fire Chief says the ODNR has been doing a good job monitoring and regulating these gas wells and storage tanks, he admits he'd also like to see local authorities have a little more say about them. They lost that control in 2006 when lawmakers turned it all over to the state.
The Chief tells us there are more of those wells around than you might think, especially in areas that were once farmland, but are now turning into housing developments.
