Buckeye Forest Council & 50 Environmental, Health & Safety Groups call for Shale Drilling Moratorium

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COLUMBUS, OH – A consortium of dozens of environmental and health and safety groups, representing tens of thousands of members throughout Ohio, today presented a letter to each member of the Ohio General Assembly asking that body to immediately issue a moratorium ordering the Ohio Department of Natural resources (ODNR) to withhold approval of well permits involving high volume, horizontal hydraulic fracturing, exploration, or extraction until such time as these drilling practices are demonstrated to be safe for the environment and human health and are properly and effectively regulated.

Buckeye Forest Council and 23 Groups Oppose Drilling in State Parks and Nature Preserves

Buckeye Forest Council, and our partners send the Ohio General Assembly in opposition to legislation introduced to allow drilling for oil and gas on state lands. We believe that our state parks, state forests, state nature preserves, Lake Erie, and other state properties should be off limits to oil and gas extraction. Our state parks attract 50 million visitors each year, and the State of Ohio has a solemn duty to honor its promise to perpetually care for—and not exploit—its public lands, to forever protect the last remaining vestiges of our natural heritage for generations to come. 

No Frack Ohio                                                                      News Release www.nofrackohio.com

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For Immediate Release:  April 18, 2012

Contact:  Ellie Rauh -- (330) 697- 4773 or E-mail: Ellie.bfc@gmail.com

Kari Matsko -- (440) 579- 5314 or E-mail: Karimatsko@hotmail.com

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RALLY AT STATEHOUSE DISPUTES PROPOSED STATE SHALE DRILLING REGULATIONS AND RELEASES REPORT ON OHIO’S DEFICIENT RULES AND REGULATIONS

A rally outside on the West lawn of the Ohio Statehouse drew a diverse crowd of participants. All were in support of exposing the inadequate proposed regulations in Governor Kasich’s S.B. 315, which had a hearing today in the Senate Energy and Utilities Committee.

Rally organizers released a new report, Ohio Oil and Gas Rules: A State Comparison of Selected Health and Safety Measures, which demonstrates that Ohio’s regulations are not at the forefront of state oil and gas rules.

Kari Matsko, Director of the People's Oil & Gas Collaborative –Ohio stated.  “In the report, we see that Pennsylvania requires baseline water sampling from 1000 feet to 2500 feet from the drill site. Ohio requires such testing only in urban areas and only up to 300 feet from the drill site. SB 315 proposes to increase that only to 1500 feet for unconventional shale drilling. In addition, Texas communities can establish local health and safety measures whereas in 2004 the Ohio legislature removed our ability to do so.” Matsko, was appointed as a review team member for the State Review of Oil and Natural Gas Environmental Regulations (STRONGER) Ohio Hydraulic Fracturing State Review, Jan. 2011

Those at the rally also announced that Rep. Bob Hagan will be introducing a new bill to removing the “sole and exclusive” authority of ODNR over oil and gas issues, resulting in the return of local control to communities as it was prior to 2004 (H.B. 278).

Speakers came from all over Ohio to speak out against the destruction that unconventional fracking has caused in their communities. Speakers included Representative Bob Hagan, retired police officer Ed Harsburger, Bill Baker a resident of Mansfield, Alison Auciello of Food and Water Watch, and Teresa Mills of Center for Health, Environment, & Justice.