COLUMBUS, Ohio – State officials who will rule on whether to allow additional fracking in Salt Fork State Park and two other preserved, wildlife areas received nearly 600 public comments about their impending decision.
Just nine were in favor.
The whopping 98% of public comments that say the Oil and Gas Land Management Commission shouldn’t allow for oil and gas extraction under pristine parkland come as commissioners prepare to vote again on the latest round of applicants.
On Monday, they will vote on whether to select a winning bidder to frack Egypt Valley Wildlife Area; and whether to open more land to fracking at both Salt Fork State Park and Leesville Wildlife Area. The public comments all pertain to four land use requests at those three sites (two are for separate tracts of Salt Fork).
The public input is one of several factors that commissioners appointed by the governor must consider alongside finances, land use, environmental concerns and others. Reviewed in full, the public comments reflect an almost unanimous opposition to oil and gas development on state lands. The comments go to a development friendly commission, in a state whose political leadership has warmly embraced the natural gas boom on Utica and Marcellus shale of the past 15 years.
In October, commissioners delayed a decision on the two requests to open new land at Salt Fork for development, citing a high volume of public comments.
A total of 324 individuals submitted the 585 public comments to the commission, an analysis of the comments found. Only three individuals voiced support for fracking across nine comments, one of whom was Ohio Department of Natural Resources Director Mary Mertz on behalf of the agency.
The naysayers raised concerns that fracking endangers environmental and human health in the area; that its noisy and industrial nature will spoil otherwise peaceful and preserved green space; and the government shouldn’t further expand fossil fuel extraction given methane gas’ role in overheating the planet and worsening climate change.
“Salt Fork is a state treasure that should not be ruined by fracking,” wrote one commenter, Kathy Trace. “No fracking should be done on public lands. Those lands were set aside by Ohioans for the enjoyment of the public, not to make money for companies, especially those out of state.”
Statehouse Republicans in 2023 enacted a new law enabling a system through which state agencies, notably the Department of Natural Resources and Department of Transportation, can lease their lands for oil and gas development. Since then, the Oil and Gas Land Management Commission has signed deals for $60 million in signing bonuses plus 20% royalty fees with several gas drillers. Since its work began in earnest in 2023, it leased 5,700 acres at Salt Fork to West Virginia-based Infinity Natural Resources; 303 acres of Valley Run Wildlife Area to Houston-based Encino Energy; 85 acres of Keen Wildlife Area to Houston-based EOG Resources; and 66 acres of Zepernick Wildlife Area, also with Encino. It also opened another parcel at Leesville Wildlife Area to fracking (the bidding process is underway).
Of all requests to the commission, those for Salt Fork, Ohio’s largest state park, have been the most controversial. The park spans 20,000 acres including a nearly 3,000-acre lake as its centerpiece, attracting more than 30,000 overnight stays on its campgrounds last year, according to ODNR. It’s also far and away the big-ticket prize – Infinity paid more than $58 million for its mineral rights.
But several commenters noted that Ohio acquired the 394 acres at Leesville and the nearly 18,000 at Egypt Valley specifically for conservation purposes. Under the federal Wildlife Restoration Act of 1937, a tax on guns and bullets funds states’ efforts to support wildlife restoration, conservation and hunter education and safety programs. Documents Mertz provided in her public comments include purchase documents showing Ohio bought Leesville in 1943 as a refuge for racoons, squirrels, rabbit, deer and grouse; and Egypt Valley, a fruitful bald eagle and osprey spotting locale with a history of mining underfoot, to provide “opportunity and access for the wildlife recreational user.”
Save Ohio Parks, a grassroots coalition with members in the area, organized its volunteers to lead a public comment drive in opposition to the development.
“It’s not surprising that the number of anti-fracking comments are so large compared to pro-fracking comments,” Melinda Zemper, a volunteer with the organization, wrote in an email. “We’ve always felt that the state law mandating fracking under our public lands was unjust and would be unpopular once people found out about it. Ohioans love their parks and public lands and want them protected and preserved intact for us, our children and grandchildren. Our public lands belong to the people of Ohio, not a few politicians who are only in office for a term or two.”
Nathan Johnson, a senior attorney and lobbyist for the Ohio Environmental Council, submitted technical comments to the commission urging the commissioners to say no. In an interview, he said the people sent a very clear message to the state about what they want in their parks and what they don’t.
“People overwhelmingly want clean, safe parks, and fracking is inconsistent with those values,” he said. “One would hope in a democratic society that decision makers would be open to the clear voice and will of the public.”
One of the few pro-fracking commenters said he, ironically, sent in a public message after getting an action alert email from Save Ohio Parks. Dave Schlabach said he’s a landowner in the area and runs a financial services company that helps invest locals’ royalty money. Irked by what he described as a loud, “far left” minority, he became one of two lay citizens to submit a pro-development public comment.
In an interview, he said Ohio has three times now voted for President-elect Donald Trump, whose agenda includes an energy policy of taking advantage of American natural gas. He said most locals support the industry but are too busy to take the time to submit comments to obscure government bodies that meet during working hours. The gas industry, he said, isn’t the environmental menace its critics paint it as. Moreover, the $20,000 to $30,000 he said his clients collect in royalty checks through lease agreements are what pay off medical debt, their kids’ tuition, or costs of living in an inflationary economy.
“I have clients who absolutely would have lost the farm if they didn’t have the opportunity to get their land drilled,” he said.
Mike Chadsey, a spokesman for the Ohio Oil and Gas Association, said in a statement that the industry has invested $100 billion in capital in Ohio, which he compared to the small fraction of the state’s population that submitted the public comments.
“While we realize that reporting on the positive relationships with the industry and eastern Ohio does not sell newspaper subscriptions, it is important to remember that the industry has been embraced in eastern Ohio,” he said. “Our industry works every day with these communities for the betterment of not only the region, but the entire state. The industry will continue to work with state and local officials to responsibly lease, produce, process, and transport natural gas and oil in Ohio under both public and private land to continue to power Ohio’s economy.”
Gauging public support for fracking state lands is largely a guessing game. No party has put forward any public opinion polling. The recent law changes about natural gas were jammed into another bill originally focused on poultry policy (the short title of the bill: “revise number of poultry chicks that may be sold in lots”) and circumvented the traditional public hearing processes. And in some of the public comments on the first state lands leased out, a Houston-based public relations firm used the identities of hundreds of Ohioans for pro-fracking public comments, which the purported authors said was done without their knowing consent, as detailed by investigations from Cleveland.com/The Plain Dealer and another from Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost.
One of the three voices supporting development for oil and gas came from Mertz, whose department oversight includes the Division of Oil and Gas responsible for permitting operations.
While her comments generally support the underlying land use requests, she also requested modifications requiring a winning bidder to test local wells and water sources for contamination; using their “best efforts” to reduce noise and light pollution; using their “best efforts” to minimize impact on the viewshed; and other considerations.
The Oil and Gas Land Management Commission meets at 1 p.m. Monday.
Stories by Jake Zuckerman
Jake Zuckerman covers state politics and policy for Cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer.