Hillsdale residents attended a Board of Commissioners meeting to discuss AquaBounty on March 28, 2023. Olivia Hajicek | Collegian

A biotechnology company filed an administrative appeal to the Williams County Common Pleas Court in Ohio after the county’s commissioners denied a permit for water lines to its plant in Pioneer, Ohio.

AquaBounty Farms Ohio LLC would use the lines to draw water from the Michindoh Aquifer, one of Hillsdale County’s main water sources, to its genetically-engineered salmon plant in Pioneer. The company could draw 5.25 million gallons of water daily, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.

AquaBounty filed the appeal on April 4, alleging the commissioners’ decision was “unconstitutional, illegal, arbitrary, capricious, unreasonable and/or unsupported by preponderance of substantial, reliable, and probative evidence.”

The commissioners have 28 days to respond to the appeal. According to Bart Westfield, the commissioners’ vice president, no decision has been made yet.

“We are consulting legal counsel as we have been throughout the whole process,” Westfield said.

The commissioners submitted a notice to the court on April 25 declaring Aaron Glasgow and Ryan Spitzer of the Isaac, Wiles, and Buckholder firm in Columbus, Ohio, as counsels of record in the case.

The permit for the water lines was submitted by the town of Pioneer, which has been communicating with AquaBounty. The water and sewer lines were proposed along County Road S. If approved, they would draw water from wells east of County Road 16 and discharge near County Road 15.

According to Williams County Engineer Todd Roth, his department reviewed the plan.

“It can be done physically,” Roth said. “Determining that was our solo job answer, and we forwarded our comments to commissioners. It could be constructed without interfering with utilities.”

The commissioners denied AquaBounty’s permit on March 6 on legal grounds, arguing that a private company could not use the town’s public right-of-way.

“We sought legal counsel, who advised us that we cannot give the permit to a private entity,” Westfield said. “It has to be a public entity, which excludes AquaBounty.”