Over 8,000 acres Hydraulic fracturing has been approved for more than 500 acres of land in Egypt Valley Wildlife Refuge and Salt Fork State Park. Friday’s The Ohio Oil and Gas Land Management Commission meeting lasted less than 20 minutes.
Four different bid selections were approved for portions of the Egyptian Valley Wildlife Refuge in Belmont County: 3,846 acres, 2,792 acres, 849 acres and 746 acres.
One of the proposed bids for 513 acres of Salt Fork State Park in Guernsey County has been approved.
The lease is expected to be tendered in the next calendar quarter.
Activists who advocate protecting Ohio’s public lands from exploitation and devastation slammed the approval.
“The toxic fruits of hydraulic fracturing will now be growing in everyone’s backyards,” Save Ohio Parks said in a statement.
Several people booed and shouted in protest as the commission voted to approve the bid.
Asked how much public comment would be taken into account, committee chairwoman Theresa White said: “We take into account all the factors that the statute requires, and certainly public comment is one of them.”
Fracking is the process of extracting oil or gas by injecting liquid into the ground at high pressure.
Texas based EOG Resources Co., Ltd. It was selected to crush approximately 3.6 acres of the Valley Run Wildlife Refuge in Carroll County and less than an acre of potentially passable land along it. Ohio Route 151 in Harrison County.
The only bidder for both was EOG Resources. You need a commission to choose “Highest bid amount and highest bid amount” Pursuant to Ohio law.
According to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, the lease bonus for Valley Run Wildlife Refuge is $12,754 and includes 12.5% royalty.
The lease bonus for the Harrison County land is $2,446.50 and includes a 12.5% royalty, according to ODNR.
The land in the roadside right-of-way is less than 1 acre. Ohio Route 513 Hydraulic fracturing has also been approved in Guernsey County.
Anti-fracking protesters staged a protest in front of the Ohio Department of Public Safety building before the Ohio Oil and Gas Land Control Board meeting. (Photo by Megan Henry, Ohio Capital Journal).
Proposed bid site includes 18.71 acres Right-of-way along Ohio Route 513 in Guernsey County was refused.
“Some of the candidates include parcels that contain federal highways, and part of the requirements, in coordination with the Ohio Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration, is that the federal government provides written permission and express written consent.” White said.
Because ODOT does not have federal approval, White said he believes the commission does not have the authority to move forward with leasing the land.
From 2015 to 2023, there were approximately 2,000 accidents related to oil and gas wells in Ohio. FracTracker Alliance — A nonprofit organization that collects data on hydraulic fracturing pipelines.
According to the study, there is evidence that increased exposure to hydraulic fracturing has health effects, particularly in children, including low birth weight, preterm birth, birth defects, and asthma. Yale University School of Medicine.
“Increasing natural gas methane emissions will lead to more childhood cancers and respiratory diseases,” Save Ohio Parks said in a statement.
“Our freshwater lakes, rivers, streams, and even groundwater and soils will be further depleted and contaminated by toxic radioactive gases and oil waste brine.”
Before Friday’s rally, about 20 people gathered outside the Ohio Department of Public Safety building to protest fracking.
“The park was never intended to be a quiet, secluded industrial area,” said Mary Hack, director of Save Ohio Parks.
“Without the connection to nature that wild spaces provide, we become less human.…In societies without natural green spaces, our mental health suffers, and so does the physical health and safety of living in peace.”
Follow Ohio Capital Journal reporter Megan Henry on X or At Blue Sky.
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