Conflict of interest delays hearing to temporarily reinstate D&L Energy's operating permits
An Ohio Oil and Gas Commission hearing to decide whether to "temporarily reinstate the operating permits of D&L Energy" was abruptly cancelled last week when one of the three commission members, Robert Frost of the Cleveland-based law firm Tucker Ellis, recused himself from the proceedings due to a "potential conflict" of interest with a partner at his firm being somehow involved with either D&L Energy or the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Oil and Gas Resources Management, The Vindicator reports (See the Feb 15, 2013 – "Feds charge D&L Energy owner with violating the U.S. Clean Water Act"). With only two votes remaining on a commission that has three currently appointed members, it cannot by law hear any case. Although the law allows the commission to "borrow a temporary commission member" from a wing of ODNR, the issue of rescheduling the hearing will soon be irrelevant since a formal hearing is scheduled for May 22 and 23 to "permanently decide the fate of D&L's waste-disposal operations in the state," the article said. For more, read the full story.