(a) Definitions.
(1) "Chemical Trespass" shall mean the involuntary deposition of toxic or potentially toxic substances within a human body, natural community or ecosystem.
(2) "Corporation" for purposes of this section, shall include any corporation, limited partnership, limited liability partnership, business trust, other business entity, or limited liability company organized under the laws of any state of the United States or under the laws of any country.
(3) "Disposal" shall include, but not be limited to, the depositing, storage, treatment, recycling, injection, or by any other means, the distribution or depositing of brine, produced water, frack water, tailings or any other waste or by-product of corporate gas or oil extraction upon, into, or onto the land, waterways, air or any area within the jurisdiction of the City of Oberlin.
(4) "Ecosystem" shall include, but not be limited to, wetlands, streams, rivers, aquifers, and other water systems, as well as naturally occurring habitats that sustain humans, wildlife, flora and fauna, and soil-dwelling or aquatic organisms.
(5) "Extraction" shall mean the digging or drilling of a well for the purposes of exploring for, developing, or producing gas or oil or other hydrocarbons.
(6) "Extraction, Production and Delivery Infrastructures" shall mean, but not be limited to, pipelines, processing facilities, waste storage structures, compressors, or storage and transportation facilities used to support the corporate extraction, production or distribution of gas or oil. The term shall not apply to the construction, maintenance or repair of infrastructures used for delivery to residential or business retail end-users of gas or oil.
(7) "Gas" shall mean any gaseous substance, either combustible or noncombustible, which is produced in a natural state from the earth and which maintains a gaseous or rarified state at standard temperature or pressure conditions, and/or gaseous components or vapors occurring in, or derived from, petroleum or so-called "natural" gas.
(8) "Natural Communities" shall mean wildlife, flora, fauna, soil-dwelling and aquatic organisms, as well as humans and human communities that have established sustainable interdependencies within a proliferating and diverse matrix of organisms, within an ecosystem.
(9) "Oil" shall mean any petroleum or fossil fuel substance in a liquid, slurry or viscous state found naturally within subterranean geological formations.
(10) "Procurement of fresh water," for purposes of this law, shall include the drawing of fresh water from anywhere within the City of Oberlin or its jurisdiction for the purpose of exploring for, or extraction of, gas and oil.
(11) "Toxic Substances and Potentially Toxic Substances," for purposes of this section, shall include chemicals or chemical compounds, sludge and waste, radioactive ores, mine tailings, millings, waste liquors and radioactive progeny, particulate matter and/or gasses, that have been found to cause adverse effects to animals, humans, or ecosystems, including those chemicals, chemical compounds, sources of radiation, and all other substances deemed to be mutagenic, neurotoxic, carcinogenic, teratogenic, reproductive or developmental toxicants, or any other toxic chemical or hazardous substance identified by the City of Oberlin Council by resolution subject to this section. The phrase shall specifically include, but shall not be limited to, frack water and materials used in, and resulting from, the extraction of gas or oil.
(b) Prohibitions.
(1) It shall be unlawful for any corporation, or any director, officer, owner, or manager of a corporation to use a corporation, to engage in the extraction of gas or oil within the City of Oberlin, with the exception of gas and oil wells installed and operating at the time of enactment of this section, provided that the extraction of gas or oil from those existing wells does not involve any practice or process not previously used for the extraction of gas or oil from those wells at the time of the enactment of this section, and provided that those wells are capped securely when production ceases.
(2) It shall be unlawful for any corporation, or any director, officer, owner, or manager of a corporation to use a corporation, to deposit, store or transport waste water, produced water, frack water, brine or other materials, chemicals or by-products used in the exploration for, or extraction of, gas or oil, within, upon or through the land, air or waters of the City of Oberlin.
(3) It shall be unlawful for any corporation, or any director, officer, owner, or manager of a corporation to use a corporation, to engage in the siting of extraction, production and delivery infrastructures within the City of Oberlin.
(4) Corporations, and persons using corporations, to engage in gas or oil extraction in a neighboring municipality, county or state shall be strictly liable for all harms caused to natural water sources, ecosystems, human and natural communities within the City of Oberlin and for the violation of the rights herein secured.
(5) No permit, license, privilege or charter issued by any State or Federal agency, Commission or Board to any person or any corporation operating under a State charter, or any director, officer, owner, or manager of a corporation operating under a State charter, which would violate the prohibitions of this section or deprive any natural person, natural community, or ecosystem within the City of Oberlin of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by this section, the Ohio Constitution, the United States Constitution, or other laws, shall be deemed valid within the City of Oberlin.
(c) Enforcement.
(1) Any person or corporation that violates any prohibition of this section shall be guilty of a criminal offense and, upon conviction thereof, shall be sentenced to pay the maximum fine allowable under State law for that violation, and shall be imprisoned to the extent allowed by law. A separate offense shall arise for each day or portion thereof in which a violation occurs and for each section of this section found to be violated.
(2) The City of Oberlin may also enforce this section through an action in equity. In such an action, the City of Oberlin shall be entitled to recover, without limitation, all costs of litigation, including, but not limited to, expert and attorney's fees.
(3) Any natural person who is a resident of the City of Oberlin shall have the authority to enforce this section through an action in equity. In such an action, the resident shall be entitled to recover all costs of litigation, including, without limitation, expert and attorney's fees.
(4) Any natural person who brings an action to secure or protect the rights of natural communities or ecosystems within the City of Oberlin shall bring that action in the name of the natural community or ecosystem in a court of competent jurisdiction. Damages shall be measured by the cost of restoring the natural community or ecosystem to its pre-damaged state, and shall be paid to the City of Oberlin or other applicable governmental entity, to be used exclusively for the full and complete restoration of the natural community or ecosystem. Any natural person or group of natural persons shall have standing to bring an action on behalf of affected natural communities or ecosystems, regardless of the lack of a property relationship between those persons and the affected communities or ecosystems.
(5) Corporations in violation of the prohibitions enacted by this section, or seeking to engage in activities prohibited by this section, shall not have the rights of "persons" afforded by the United States and Ohio Constitutions, nor shall those corporations be afforded rights under the 1st or 5th Amendments to the United States Constitution or corresponding sections of the Ohio Constitution, nor shall those corporations be afforded the protections of the commerce or contracts clauses within the United States Constitution or corresponding sections of the Ohio Constitution.
(6) Corporations in violation of the prohibitions enacted by this section, or seeking to engage in activities prohibited by this section, shall not possess the authority or power to enforce State or Federal preemptive law against the people of the City of Oberlin, or to challenge or overturn municipal ordinances adopted by the City of Oberlin, when that enforcement or challenge interferes with the rights asserted by this section or interferes with the authority of the Municipality to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the people or environment of the City of Oberlin.
(d) Amendment. Any attempts to use other units and levels of government to preempt, amend, alter, or overturn this section, or parts of this section, shall require the City Council to hold public meetings that explore the adoption of other measures that expand local control and the ability of the people of the City to protect their fundamental and inalienable right to self-government.
(e) Severability. The provisions of this Law are severable. If any court of competent jurisdiction decides that any section, clause, sentence, part, or provision of this section is illegal, invalid, or unconstitutional, such decision shall not affect, impair, or invalidate any of the remaining sections, clauses, sentences, parts, or provisions of the section. The People of Oberlin hereby declare that in the event of such a decision, and the determination that the court's ruling is legitimate, it would have enacted this Law even without the section, clause, sentence, part, or provision that the court decides is illegal, invalid, or unconstitutional.
(Approved by voters 11-5-13.)