Given its prior misclassification of two-tenths of an acre of land behind the Days Inn on Route 6, we’re not sure the Warren City Council had much of a choice when it came to approving a non-surface horizontal drilling proposal for the site.

The city had already been in court over the site once after telling the developer the land was for zoned residential use despite a mistake on the city’s zoning maps indicating the land was zoned for industrial use. It was made pretty clear during court arguments leading up to the city’s March 10 special meeting to approve a settlement with the developer that the site was going to be used for oil and gas drilling. Given there had already been legal action and the end use was known, it’s hard to believe the city was in position to deny the developer the ability to move forward. It’s quite likely the city would have found itself back in court had it denied city approval for the project.

This ball was always going to end up in the state Department of Environmental Protection’s court because the city didn’t have much of a legal leg to stand on to delay the project or deny the city’s approval for the project given its prior mistake.

The real approval for oil and gas drilling underneath Betts Park will be the one that comes from the state Department of Environmental Protection when it decides permitting for the project. We would expect the permits to be approved given the state’s longstanding stance on oil and gas drilling, but we hope DEP officials give a careful look at possible impacts to those who use Betts Park or to the park itself. In our opinion the state should give a thorough review of the project without being an obstruction that drags the approval process out too long. We realize it’s quite a tightrope we’re asking the state to walk, but drilling permit applications near a public park shouldn’t simply be a rubber stamp, nor should the project disappear into bureaucratic limbo.

The project will bring some economic benefit to the city that should take some pressure off of taxpayers. As long as that benefit can be obtained safely, then this project should move ahead.

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