A meeting for the Ohio Oil and Gas Land Management Commission (OGLMC) to
decide to permit or deny fracking four Ohio state parks and wildlife areas
will be held Wednesday, November 15 at the Ohio Department of Natural
Resources (ODNR) office, 2045 Morse Road in Columbus.

Save Ohio Parks will host a press conference outside the ODNR building on a
grassy area at 9:30 a.m., just before the 10:30 a.m. meeting. The public is
invited.

"The OGLMC has had almost a year to educate itself on the human health
effects, environmental impacts and climate concerns that would likely affect
citizens, Ohio state parks and the world should these fracking leases be
granted," said Randi Pokladnik, steering committee member of Save Ohio
Parks. "We and other environmental groups and citizens have inundated the
commission with thousands of emails, citing research, peer-reviewed health
studies and climate data associated with fracking. Now it's up to them to do
the right thing for Ohioans by denying leases to frack under our state parks
and public lands."

The OGLMC, made up of five people appointed by Gov. Mike DeWine is tasked
with this decision. Members are mostly attorneys, not climate scientists,
geologists, hazardous materials experts or physicians.

The commission consists of: Ryan Richardson of Columbus, ODNR attorney and
OGLMC chair; Stephen Buehrer of Columbus, attorney and partner with
Carpenter, Lipps & Leland; Jim McGregor of Gahanna, owner of BlueGill
Property Management; Matthew Warnock of Cleveland, attorney with One Energy;
and Michael Wise of Cleveland, attorney and co-chair of energy practice at
McDonald Hopkins.

"No one on the commission lives in the Appalachian region of Ohio, a region
that sits on top of Utica and Marcellus shale gas deposits," said Pokladnik.
"They do not witness the destruction of the landscape on a daily basis like
I do. The beautiful, rural areas near my home are turned into industrial
zones by fracking and fracking infrastructure. Their children and
grandchildren's health are not put at risk by exposure to water and air
pollutants released into the environment."

The United Nations and Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
agree that earth is on track to reach 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 F) warming
within four years. Last summer was ranked the hottest summer on record
globally, with droughts, hurricanes and severe flooding across the world;
Canadian wildfires that consumed an area the size of North Dakota and are
still burning; and a wildfire that destroyed the city of Lahaina, Hawaii.

Climate scientists and environmentalists agree that all new fossil fuel
projects must be stopped, and green energies like solar, wind and hydropower
implemented at a much more rapid pace.

Climate Trace, a global consortium of 80,000 climate scientists who track
and inventory greenhouse gas emissions in real time via satellite, rates the
Utica and Marcellus shale gas, including Ohio's contribution, to be the
second-largest emitter in the U.S.-- and the fourth-largest emitter
worldwide.

Fracking operations drain tens of millions of gallons of water from lakes,
rivers and streams, mixing it with unregulated toxic chemicals and sand to
free methane gas trapped deep below the ground. Fracking also entails
clearcutting forests, destroying plant, animal and insect habitats, and
requires thousands of truck trips to bring in chemicals and transport
wastewater from well pads.

Fracking wastewater must be injected into Class III injection wells and
stored, as it is unfit for human contact. Air pollution, noise, and light
pollution from fracking is also incompatible with family and tourist park
activities.

Save Ohio Parks asks the public to contact DeWine's office and tell him to
deny fracking leases under our Ohio state parks and public lands. His office
phone number is (614) 644-4357 or 614-466-3555. His email address is:
Governor.Ohio.gov/contact.

For more information about fracking under Ohio state parks and public lands,
visit https://www.saveohioparks.org.