Time For Comment

The public comment portion for AquaBounty’s east well field started last week and will continue until Sept. 16. The field will allow AquaBounty to draw a maximum of 5.25 million gallons a day of water from the local, underground aquifer, which the company needs to raise a planned 10,000 metric tons of genetically modified salmon a year. AquaBounty is in the process of building a 479,000-square-foot facility at the Pioneer North Industrial Park. The project would cost the aquaculture facility up to $320 million. Comments can be submitted to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources online. This is the second water withdrawal and consumptive use application the company filed. The first application was approved in March and will be relinquished if this application is approved. The comment period for first application was overwhelmingly against the project with nearly 1,200 comments expressing displeasure with the proposal and only around a dozen in favor.