Ohio’s Oil and Gas Land Management Commission on Monday approved putting another parcel of an eastern Ohio wildlife area up for bid by fracking companies. Energy companies can now bid to frack for oil and gas under more than 3.6 acres of the Valley Run Wildlife Area in Carroll County.
Last year, the Commission awarded Encino Energy more than 300 acres of Valley Run for drilling.
Before the meeting, members of the volunteer group Save Ohio Parks and others rallied against the latest drilling nominations, voicing concerns about water and air pollution from fracking.
Drilling in wildlife areas “is not a compatible use pairing,” said Carrie Gibbons of Athens, Ohio. “Unless you are only looking at the short term.”
In February, Save Ohio Parks was among 30 organizations that delivered a letter to Governor DeWine, asking him to issue a moratorium on fracking under the state-owned lands. The activists chanted, “Fracking is not safe, declare a moratorium,” before the meeting got started.
“Fracking is not going to end well,” said Lea Harper, of the group Freshwater Accountability Project, who drove two hours to attend the commission meeting. “So I’m here because of my conscience. I have to keep doing this – I have to try to keep speaking truth to power, and try to save our water, and try to save what’s beautiful in the region.”
The commission deferred action on nominations to frack under two southeastern Ohio wildlife areas: nearly 383 acres under Jockey Hollow in Harrison County, and 4360 acres under Egypt Valley in Belmont County. The state has already awarded over 30 acres of Egypt Valley to Gulfport Appalachia for fracking.
The commission also adopted changes to extend the lease agreements from three to five years. These changes “must be considered by Ohio’s Common Sense Initiative,” according to a spokesperson at the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR), and will be posted for public comment before they are finalized.
Armed officer prevents a reporter from talking with commission members
After the commission meeting ended, cleveland.com and Plain Dealer (PD) reporter Laura Hancock approached Chair Theresa White to ask her questions. According to the PD, she had walked by two police officers, who were standing in the aisle leading to White. Hancock told the officers she wanted to ask White some questions, but they did not respond. Hancock said she walked past them and began talking to White.
“I didn’t even get to the bottom of the question when one of the officers was pulling my arm … and leading me away to an area where I couldn’t finish my questions,” Hancock told the PD. “I have never ever been touched by a police officer. I’m a law-abiding person, so I was really kind of shocked.”
According to an ODNR statement about the incident, the officer merely “touched” Hancock’s arm, “to get their attention and requested the individual to step back.”
These commission meetings can become “tense and confrontational,” the statement said. Protestors attend, and police officers attend “to keep the peace.”
Hancock said at least six armed officers were at the meeting.
Rick Rouan, the politics editor for the publications, has reportedly lodged a formal complaint with Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine’s office. DeWine spokesman Dan Tierney told the PD that his office is looking into the matter.
Hancock, a veteran reporter, said that even though she wasn’t harmed, being removed during an interview was a new experience for her.
“Why are these people so precious that they can’t answer questions?” Hancock said in the PD that the move to block a reporter was more in the “spirit of authoritarianism” than that of a democracy.
“I know that’s sort of how things are turning in America and probably in Ohio, as well, but – no – not in my America. Not in my Ohio,” she said.
ODNR said that in light of this incident, it is “looking to find better ways to handle media access at these meetings.”
