In a trenchant critique of EDL’s Application for Site Plan Approval, City of Oberlin Fire Chief Robert Hanmer stated, “We will likely classify this type of occupancy as a HIGH-Hazard Group H-2 because of the flammable gasses associated with the processes. Because of the amount of fuel/gasses involved I do have a major concern for the location of this type of facility being so close to ignition sources that cannot be controlled and the close proximity to residential development.”

Discounted by the Oberlin Planning Commission, Chief Hanmer’s professional assessment of the risks associated with the operation of EDL’s proposed renewable natural gas facility on Hill Creek Drive has proven to be prescient.

On the other hand, according to the revisionist history crafted by Oberlin City Councilman Ray English in the credulous pages of the Review (“Citizens Share Concerns About EDL Plant At City Council Meeting; Unrelated Resolutions Passed,” The Oberlin Review, Sept. 22, 2023):

“English said that the location and functioning of the EDL plant was discussed and approved in numerous public … planning Commission meetings, at which there were opportunities for the public to comment.” The Oberlin Review, Sept. 22, 2023):

In the case of the sole Oberlin Planning Commission public hearing or meeting concerning EDL, Mr. English is patently inaccurate.

I — residing a stone’s throw from Hill Creek Drive in Oberlin for decades — and another member of the public attended, in person, the entire Nov. 3, 2021, Oberlin Planning Commission meeting and incorporated public hearing at the Oberlin Fire Department regarding site plan review for the proposed EDL renewable gas facility in Oberlin. We arrived early and are clearly visible in the official, municipal video of the meeting and incorporated public hearing.

Despite multiple efforts to be recognized, and Rules of Procedure — adopted by the Oberlin Planning Commission May 6, 2020, and approved by the Oberlin City Council July 6, 2020 — requiring the opportunity for public comment at Oberlin Planning Commission meetings, Oberlin Planning Commission Vice Chair Eric Gaines, presiding in the absence of the Chair, neglected to open the Nov. 3, 2021 meeting and incorporate public hearing for public comment at any time.

Mr. English, the Oberlin City Council liaison to the Oberlin Planning Commission — who repeatedly proffered unsolicited comments at the November 3, 2021, Oberlin Planning Commission public hearing — has, in the immortal words of Abraham Lincoln, “such a great respect for the truth that he uses it sparingly.”