Ohio environmentalists are urging a judge to halt a state commission preparing to award leases to oil and gas companies who want to frack beneath state parks and other public land. The Ohio Oil and Gas Land Management Commission is set to meet Monday to consider bids for several parcels of land. Once the commission settles on the “highest and best” bidder, state law requires the Ohio Department of Natural Resources to lease them the parcel.
An Ohio commission is arguing its decisions last fall to allow oil and gas drilling under a state park and two wildlife areas are final and cannot be appealed.
Even quickly cleaned-up releases involve chemicals that can be toxic, and hundreds of "minor" incidents belie the industry's claims that there are few problems
Spreadsheets show more than 800 releases of gas, oil, brine or other materials from industry activities onto the ground or into the air and water since 2018 began. Ohio oil and gas industry accident data boost worries about drilling under state.