It took the Ohio Oil and Gas Land Management Commission (OGLMC) just 22 minutes Monday to rubber stamp fracking under Keen Wildlife Area and four Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) parcels.
The four-member, unelected commission appointed by Ohio Governor Mike DeWine ignored shouted questions and concerns from Save Ohio Parks audience members about the harms of fracking under Ohio’s state parks and public lands, and did not allow the public to speak either before the meeting or afterward.
EOG Resources, Inc. of Houston, Texas was selected to frack 84 acres of Keen Wildlife Area in Harrison County. The lease bonus is expected to bring in $211,650 to the state, plus royalties of 12.5 percent and an additional amount of 5.5 percent of production, according to an Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) press release.
EOG reported $6 billion in revenue in the second quarter of 2024, with $1.6 billion reported as profit, according to a company press release. Good Jobs First Violation Tracker, a database of more than 600,000 cases in which companies and large nonprofits paid monetary penalties for regulatory violations and other forms of misconduct, reports that EOG Resources has been fined over $1.8 million for 30 gas and oil-related violations from 2008 to 2022.
The commission selected four ODOT parcels for fracking. Three parcels were awarded to Gulfport Appalachia, LLC of Oklahoma City: right-of-way along SR 331 in Flushing Township in Belmont County; right-of-way along SR 26 in Wayne Township, Belmont County; and right-of-way along SR 78 in Summit Township, Monroe County.
A right-of-way along SR 265 in Belmont County was awarded to Tiburon Oil and Gas Ohio, LLC.
Gulfport Appalachia has 447 oil wells in Ohio, according to ShaleXP.com. It has 451 producing wells and 46 permits to drill in Ohio, according to MineralAnswers.com. The Good Jobs First Violation Tracker lists five penalties totaling $5.4 million for environmental violations for Gulfport, including a $3.7 million settlement with the EPA to reduce emissions from oil and gas operations in Ohio in 2020.
Tiburon Oil & Gas was formed in January 2022 and is based in Houston. It does not have fines listed in Good Jobs First Violation Tracker.
A nomination to frack 257 parcels under Salt Fork State Park and Salt Fork Wildlife Area in Guernsey County was withdrawn. Salt Fork is Ohio’s largest state park at nearly 20,000 acres and is often called its most beautiful.
While the Salt Fork withdrawal could be interpreted as a small victory for Save Ohio Parks, a nomination can be resubmitted to the OGLMC.
Nominations to frack another ODOT right of way parcel along SR 265 in Somerset Township, Belmont County, and 30 acres in the Egypt Valley Wildlife Area in Belmont County were approved by the commission and will go out to bid in October, according to the ODNR.
A nomination to frack ODOT right of way along SR 53 in Guernsey County was denied because the economic benefits were deemed too low.
“It’s disturbing that the commission is leasing our beloved parks to oil and gas companies that have broken the law or are affiliated with companies that have done so,” said Jenny Morgan, a Save Ohio Parks steering committee member and longtime environmental and public health advocate. “This is an industry that uses dangerous chemicals, creates billions of gallons of contaminated, often radioactive waste annually nationwide, and is responsible for an accident nearly every day in Ohio. This industry has no business being in, adjacent to, or under our beloved parks.
“How are all of these accidents impacting our Ohio land, creeks, plant and animal habitats, drinking water and health?”
Last month Morgan created the Daily Accident Report - Ohio Oil and Gas (DAR) Facebook page at bit.ly/3Xi236X to publicize ODNR reports on thousands of gas and oil production accidents that have occurred over the last nine years in Ohio. DAR is challenging industry claims that fracking is safe and environmentally friendly, and that accidents are rare.
More than 1,400 accidents related to gas and oil industry have been reported to the ODNR over the last five years. Ted Auch, Midwest program director for FracTracker Alliance, analyzed and mapped the accidents.
FracTracker is a nonprofit that studies, maps, and communicates the risks and impacts of oil, gas, and petrochemical development.
Auch said the ODNR accident trends indicate a troubling pattern of lax regulation along with superficial attempts to clean up oil, gas and radioactive fracking wastewater from lands and water across the state.
Despite these accidents, one pending lawsuit and an appeal, plus a state investigation on the submission of alleged fraudulent pro-fracking emails to the OGLMC, the commission appears determined to keep on fracking.
Public comments to frack two additional parcels totaling 127 acres under Leesville Wildlife Area and Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District Hunting Area are open until Aug. 25.
Those parcels consist of 62 acres (24-DNR-0006) in Monroe Township, Carroll County and 65 acres (24-DNR-0006) in Orange Township, Carroll County. The lands were reclaimed from the effects of mining over the last 30 years and are popular with hunters, birders, anglers and hikers.
Comments should be submitted to the OGLMC website at bit.ly/3wrbp5h. List parcel numbers in the Nomination line.
For more information about Save Ohio Parks, the statewide, volunteer organization concerned about the harms fracking causes to human health, the environment and planet, visit saveohioparks.org.
