OHIO – Save Ohio Parks and 29 environmental and advocacy organizations from across
the state delivered a letter to Gov. Mike DeWine demanding a moratorium
on new or pending nominations, bids and leases to frack under Ohio’s state parks and public lands, according to a press release from the group on Monday.
“The Oil and Gas Land Management Commission has never discussed in a public
meeting nine criteria it is mandated by statute to considered in deciding
whether to frack Ohio’s state parks, wildlife areas and other public lands,”
said Cathy Cowan Becker, president of the board at Save Ohio Parks. “An
explosion last month at Gulfport well pad just five miles from Salt Fork
State Park demonstrates how dangerous this industry can be. Public records
show an average of 250 reported gas and oil accidents per year since 2015-
one every 1.5 days.”
Save Ohio Parks is a statewide 501c(4) organization dedicated to educating
the public about fracking under state parks and public lands. A lawsuit
challenging the constitutionality of a 2023 law requiring fracking under
Ohio public lands has not yet been decided.
The moratorium letter outlined six reasons to halt nominations, bids and
leases to frack state parks, wildlife areas and public lands. They include:
- Lax enforcement in investigating and mitigating health and
environmental harms at gas and oil industry accidents, including the Jan. 2
well pad explosion, fire and evacuation in Antrim, Ohio - Allowance of alleged unidentified and unregulated volatile and toxic
chemicals used in the fracking process. Save Ohio Parks says these chemicals cause cancer and other serious illnesses - Downplaying nearly 2,000 gas and oil incidents reported by the gas
and oil industry to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources from 2015 to
2023 - Poor gas and oil industry waste management practices, including
disposal and storage of billions of gallons of radioactive “produced water”
under Ohio soils, where it can migrate into abandoned oil wells and
contaminate rural drinking water wells - No statewide studies about the health effects and risks to people
living and visiting near gas and oil facilities in Ohio - Inadequate communication and evacuation plans for citizens and
tourists when explosions, burning toxic chemical particulate and emissions,
methane leaks, or other Ohio gas and oil accidents occur.
“Our state parks and public lands belong to the people of Ohio, not one
political administration or one industry,” said Cowan Becker. “All Ohioans
deserve clean air, water and soils, for they are essential to life. The ODNR
has abnegated its prime responsibility, which is to protect our beautiful
state parks and public lands for the enjoyment and leisure of our children
and grandchildren, not industrialize and monetize them as a revenue source.”
Read and download a copy of the letter from 30 environmental and advocacy
organizations to Gov. Mike DeWine at https://bit.ly/42MTx2l
Organizations supporting the moratorium on new and pending nominations,
leases and bids to frack Ohio public lands include:
Save Ohio Parks; Athens Conservancy; Athens County’s Future Action Network
(ACFAN); Between the Waters; Buckeye Environmental Network; Clintonville
Green Team;
Columbus Community Bill of Rights; Concerned Ohio River Residents;
Communities United for Action (CUFA); Dayton Energy Collaborative; Faith
Communities Together for a Sustainable Future (FaCT); FracTracker Alliance;
FreshWater Accountability Project Ohio; Green Sanctuary Committee;
Heartwood; First Unitarian Universalist Society of Marietta; The Leave No
Child Inside Central Ohio Collaborative; Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action;
Mill Creek Alliance; Move to Amend Ohio Network;
Nature Can Heal; Ohio Nuclear Free Network; Ohio Valley Allies; Ohio Youth
for Climate Justice; Sierra Club Ohio; Solid Waste Caucus; Sunrise Columbus;
Sunrise Movement – Athens; Sunrise Oberlin; Sustainable Medina County; and
Th!rd Act Ohio.
