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Location: Athens, Ohio | The Ohio legislature passed a law and the governor signed it allowing oil and gas fracking within and around Ohio's once-premier state parks. Salt Fork is one of my favorite muskie lakes, and it is now on the chopping block. If anyone wished to offer a public comment, there is now and organization and website who is helping with that. thanks for your support.
Comment by July 20 subject line:
Public Comments on Nomination #: 23-DNR-0007.
to:
[email protected]
https://saveohioparks.org/portfolio/23-dnr-0001-2-2/
https://saveohioparks.org/about/
thanks, m
Edited by mikie 7/16/2023 8:08 AM
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Location: Athens, Ohio | A BIG thanks to Muskies, Inc.s committee for this public comment! m
to Whom it May Concern,
I am writing on behalf of Muskies, Inc, the largest fishing and conservation organization in the world, dedicated to the conservation of muskellunge, We wish to voice our opposition to the posible plans to extract oil from Ohio's state forest and parks via fracking.
Ohio's state forest and parks, which make up a very small area in the state, are enjoyed by many of our six thousand members as well as the many people who use them for recreation. With a well documented record of polluting water, fracking is in direct contrast with our mission statement to support conservation practices based on scientific merit and abate water pollution. The process of fracking oil requires the use of an enormous amount of water, requiring millions of gallons just to frack one well. History has shown all too often, leaving it up to private companies to "do the right thing", with no regulation, usually results in dire environmental consequences. In addition to the environmental threats we should be concerned about the threat of noise pollution and the interruption of use in these areas.
Our organization is not against mining or the extraction of oil. We do, however, take issue if it is done anywhere that may endanger where we fish or recreate. Oil that is fracked in Ohio's state forests and parks is simply not worth the environmental risks.
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
John Sadusky
Muskies, Inc
Senior Regional Representative
Region 1 |
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Posts: 1419
Location: Brighton CO. | I've never been Duck Hunting but Ducks Unlimited has a lot of pull and money when it comes to water conversation so any thing that has water involved get the Ducks unlimited group involved could help. |
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Location: Athens, Ohio | WOW! A set of public comments have been posted abt fracking proposals at Ohio's Salt Fork State Park and Wolf Run State Park. Find them here:
https://ohiodnr.gov/static/documents/oil-gas/lm_commission/pc/Public...
3559 PDF pages, in reading thru abt 50 pagers, no positive comments were evident. Some of the most interesting comments were signed by the ODNR Chief herself, requesting restricting terms and conditions be placed on any lease agreement.
Looks like ohio's citizens don't think much of this 'good idea' our elected leaders devised, either. m
Edited by mikie 8/13/2023 9:25 AM
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Location: Athens, Ohio | I've been browsing some of the comments, and found an interesting trend. Starting abt page 647 thru page 794, there is a flurry of support comments from a site: myvoice at one click politics dot com. Pretty much the same statement: we are paying a lot for energy and need to approve the fracing proposal. This flurry was interrupted by the next comment which I think got more to the heart of the matter:
As word has spread of the potential for fracking to be permitted around and under
Ohio State Parks, I can't help but recall a recent visit to a neighboring State Park in
Pennsylvania. Ryerson Station State Park is located near Wind Ridge, PA in the
state's Southwest corner. The park itself used to be so remote and removed from
development, that it would fall on anyone’s list for the most relaxing and quiet
places. However, as the fracking boom evolved, the state permitted fracking under
state property, and the environment radically changed. Presently, you can find a
large compressor and transmission station on the western park border generating
noise and air pollution. Additionally, well pads line the outskirts of the park, semitrucks traverse the roads, and massive networks of pipelines have been
constructed, destroying areas where trees used to stand. The difference in noise
volumes and traffic is considerably noticeable. Campers now sit at the bonfire to
hear the noise of industrialized machines running all hours of the night. Hikers see
and smell the compressors and flaring from nearby well sites. The lake, which is
now a wetland, appears to be contaminated with runoff containing pollutants from
nearby well sites. In essence, Ryerson Station State Park is not the same park it
used to be and never will be again. It is for these reasons that I am writing to you
today. Let’s use this as a case study and example for what happens when fracking
is permitted near State Parks and the ramifications it has for park users, wildlife,
and the environment. Please prevent such destruction from occurring at Salt Fork
State Park and deny...
So, we'll see if the commission takes the meaty opposition comments to heart, or counts the number of positive and negative responses and lets it gfo at that. m
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Location: Athens, Ohio | From a news article:
Environmentalists, meanwhile, are deeply frustrated. The group Save Our Parks expressed alarm at one proposal from Texas based Encino Energy, first reported by Cleveland.com. That ultimately rejected bid proposed installing 89 fracking wells just outside Salt Fork State Park.
“How is flaring methane and injecting millions of gallons of toxic chemicals into the ground compatible with hiking, camping, hunting, fishing, birdwatching, or anything else we do in our state parks?” Save Our Parks organizer Cathy Cowan Baker asked. “It’s not even compatible with basic climate and health.”
“These are public lands,” she added, “paid for and used by the public, and meant to be protected. We oppose the destruction of our most treasured state lands for the profit of extractive polluting industries.”
The commission is in the process of reviewing submissions and plans to post them online soon. But the information they share might leave some disappointed. In order to “encourage the submission of nominations” state law shields all but the location of a proposed lease from public disclosure. Until a selection is made, the bidder’s identity and the cash terms of their proposal will remain hidden.
I found a list of the Commission's members on the Board's website:
Ryan Richardson, Chair
ODNR Director Designee
Jim McGregor
Conservation Org.
Matthew Warnock
Oil & Gas Industry
Michael Wise
Oil & Gas Industry
Stephen Buehrer
Finance/Real Estate
m
Edited by mikie 8/14/2023 9:15 AM
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Location: Athens, Ohio | From the Plain Dealer:
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Encino Energy offered the state a signing bonus and royalties that it claims could tally nearly $2 billion over a period of more than 15 years as it sought to be the first to frack Ohio’s largest state park, records show.
The Texas-based driller’s offer included a $115 million signing bonus for leasing rights to drill for oil and gas under Salt Fork State Park in Southeast Ohio. The proposal, which was ultimately rejected, also called for a 20% royalty payment for oil and gas sales of minerals found under the park.
Supporting documents the company provided to the state claim the combination would amount to “potential” payments of up to $1.8 billion through 2041.
“I’m pleased to deliver this indication of interest of [Encino] to lease from the Department of Natural Resources the oil and gas rights located under Salt Fork State Park,” the letter, signed by Encino CEO Hardy Murchison, states.
Cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer obtained those documents via a public records request as the state prepares to open its state parks to drilling for oil and natural gas for the first time.
While Encino’s offer was rejected, it’s likely a foreshadowing of more to come after a new state law effectively forced opened the door for companies seeking to drill under Ohio’s state parks, some of which sit on Marcellus and Utica shale formations. It’s also a sign of the money and power behind a policy that leaves some of Ohio’s most pristine swaths of undeveloped land in the crosshairs of the extraction industry.
Encino made its offer Dec. 14, 2022, one day after GOP lawmakers passed legislation that forces state agencies to accept lease proposals to explore for oil and gas made by qualifying energy companies. Gov. Mike DeWine signed the bill into law in January, and it took effect last week. (Most laws take 90 days from a governor’s signing to kick in.)
Thanks for your interest in this. One may ask, Who's next? m |
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Location: Athens, Ohio | +I have records from ODNR on how much the state currently makes from park activities: last three years averaged $1.5 million. I'd figure that will drop once the drill rigs arrive. m
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Posts: 791
Location: North Central IL USA | HUH? What the frack!?!? |
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Location: Athens, Ohio | Latest update. As I noted earlier, the pro-frac comments seemed generic and were all from the same web e-mail address. the plot thickens. m
Today the Cleveland Plain Dealer published a bombshell report showing that dozens, possibly hundreds, of pro-fracking comments submitted to the Oil and Gas Land Management Commission were not written by the people whose names are on the comments.
Reporter Jake Zuckerman found that 35 people whose names are on public comments that support fracking our state parks, wildlife areas, and other public lands say they did not write those comments. Many do not support fracking at all, and some are angry their names were used in this manner.
One is the mother of a 9-year-old girl. Her daughter's name is on a comment asking commissioners to "support state land leasing and responsibly develop Ohio’s natural resources." Her mom says the girl "definitely did not submit that draft." |
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Posts: 267
| Howdy,
I’m glad you posted this as I was about to do so as well. The article was ridiculous, particularly when you read the “letter” that was originally written by what turned out to be a nine year old girl. Clearly, this is Astroturf masquerading as a grassroots movement in support of the oil and gas industry.
Shameful, however, not surprising when you look at how everything went down in Ohio with the bribery and corruption scandal related to First Energy and the State speaker of the house who is now in federal prison for the next 20 years.
Take care,
Ruddiger
Edited by Ruddiger 9/11/2023 7:51 AM
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Posts: 111
| Watch them pass it while telling the citizens this is what the people want. You elected these folks, Ohio. |
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Location: Athens, Ohio | The Ohio AG has now issued subpoenas to two firms tied to the fake comments. Sounds like he's going at it from an identity theft angle. Hope he has good fishing. m |
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| mikie - 9/12/2023 4:39 PM
The Ohio AG has now issued subpoenas to two firms tied to the fake comments. Sounds like he's going at it from an identity theft angle. Hope he has good fishing. m
But the 1st amendment! Just because they lied for monetary or personal gain, can't take them to court. That seems to be a popular defense these days. |
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Location: Athens, Ohio | Update article on yesterday's commission meeting. No ODNR sites got approved, although Salt Fork and Wolf Run were on the chopping block. m
https://abc6onyourside.com/news/local/gop-lawmakers-lowballed-price-... |
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Location: Athens, Ohio | Press release update from SaveOhioParks:
Last Wednesday, despite vociferous public protest, the Ohio Oil and Gas Land Management Commission voted to approve nominations to lease Salt Fork State Park, Valley Run Wildlife Area, and Zepernick Wildlife Area to the oil and gas industry for fracking.
They denied two nominations — one for all of Wolf Run State Park and one for part of Salt Fork — because more than one state agency manages the land sought, and those agencies had not been sufficiently consulted. However, those nominations can be revised to cut the land not managed by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and resubmitted at a later date.
We won’t sugarcoat this: It’s a loss not just for Save Ohio Parks, but for the land, water, air, wildlife, citizens, and democracy in Ohio. But it wasn’t for lack of trying.
Shame. m
Edited by mikie 11/19/2023 8:27 AM
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Posts: 32888
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | Ohio Oil and Gas Land Management Commission sells out parks and wildlife areas despite public outcry:
READ ABOUT IT
Attachments
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 Untitled.jpg (71KB - 58 downloads)
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Location: Athens, Ohio | https://www.outdoorsfirst.com/article/ohio-oil-and-gas-land-manageme...
d-wildlife-areas-despite-public-outcry/#:~:text=Last%20Wednesday%2C%20despite%20vociferous%20public,and%20gas%20industry%20for%20fracking.
and%20gas%20industry%20for%20fracking.
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| I guess it should not be a surprise that the Ohio legislature ignores public input. The legislative leaders have said they have no intention of enacting the resolutions on abortion law and cannabis that passed by double digit margins recently. |
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Posts: 3869
| The only surprise is that people without serious wealth continue to vote for conservative candidates. A predictable outcome from decades of underfunding public education. Ignorant people are easy to first scare and then manipulate. |
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