Excerpted from Save Ohio Parks Email:
On January 2, fracking tanks on a well pad just five miles from Salt Fork State Park exploded. The local fire department closed area roads, and nearby residents were evacuated.
Due to extreme heat from the explosion, officials chose to let the fire – fueled by 100 barrels of liquid gas condensate – burn itself out over 18 hours. No testing was done of the air emissions, nor of the ground or water nearby.
This well pad explosion underscores just how dangerous fracking is to Ohio state parks and wildlife areas. Gulfport, the company that owns the well pad, had previously paid a $3.7 million settlement with the US EPA for pollution from 17 well pads in Ohio – including the one that blew up. It has a long track record of other accidents and incidents as well.
Yet an unnamed oil and gas company now wants to frack 4360 acres of Egypt Valley Wildlife Area. Tell the commission: No more leasing of public land to oil and gas!
Please visit the Nomination Comment Form, choose Nomination #24-DNR-0011, and submit your comment.
At 18,000 acres, Egypt Valley is one of the largest wildlife areas in Ohio. It is comprised of two large pieces of land situated north and south of Piedmont Lake in Belmont County. This nomination makes up much of the northern half of Egypt Valley.
Before the Ohio Department of Natural Resources acquired the land that became Egypt Valley in 1995, it had been subjected to decades of coal mining using some of the largest earth-moving equipment of the time. About 80% of the land was mined, and the scars are still visible today, as shown in the photo above.
Now Egypt Valley is a destination for hunters, hikers, birdwatchers, fishers, and people who love the outdoors. Deer, turkey, waterfowl, squirrel, grouse, rabbit, and dove are common, and ponds and lakes are stocked with bass, catfish, and bluegills. River otters were reintroduced to this area in 1993 and now a thriving population can be found there.
The last thing Egypt Valley Wildlife Area needs is fracking. Act now to tell the commission: No more leasing of public land to oil and gas!
You can use our sample letter — but please personalize to explain why preserving our wildlife areas is important to you:
To the Ohio Oil and Gas Land Management Commission:
I am writing to strongly oppose Nomination 24-DNR-0011 to frack 4360 acres of Egypt Valley Wildlife Area. This beautiful wildlife area is widely used for hunting, fishing, hiking, bird watching, photography, and site-seeing. None of this is compatible with the noise, toxic air pollution, methane leaks, lights, and numerous truck trips entailed in any fracking operation.
The recent explosion on Gulfport’s Groh well pad near Salt Fork State Park underscores how dangerous fracking is. The fire – fuled by 100 barrels of methane gas and condensate – was so hot that firefighters had no choice but to let it burn itself out over many hours. No testing for what was in the toxic cloud of smoke was done, nor was any ground or water testing done.
This is unacceptable anywhere, especially near our state parks and wildlife areas!
ODNR acquired the land that makes up Egypt Valley from The Conservation Fund, and it was meant to be protected. Numerous species call Egypt Valley home, including deer, turkey, squirrel, grouse, rabbit, and dove, and rare species like the short-eared owl, Northern harrier, Henslow’s sparrow, and bobolink. Bald eagles and osprey often stop there. River otters were reintroduced to this area in 1993 and now a thriving population can be found there.
At the center of Egypt Valley Wildlife Area is Piedmont Lake, popular with boaters, fishers, and swimmers. Fracking uses tens of millions of gallons of fresh water for each well pad, turning it into toxic radioactive waste that must be disposed of forever. Taking that much water from Piedmont Lake or the surrounding ponds and streams will degrade the habitat forever.
The people of Ohio pay for and use our public lands, including Egypt Valley Wildlife Area. We do not want to see any more oil and gas extraction from this land. Enough is enough. Please DENY nomination 24-DNR-0011, and protect Egypt Valley as it was meant to be.
Thank you.