Community questions possible fracking in Richland, Ashland counties

MANSFIELD — Community members have formed a tri-county landowners' coalition to discuss concerns with a Houston-based company's plans for possible fracking in Richland, Ashland and Knox counties.

Frack Free Ohio organizer Bill Baker said the coalition, made up of landowners, formed in response to Cabot Oil and Gas Corporation's initial work in recent months to develop exploratory wells in the area.

"This controversial drilling practice has the potential of changing the rural landscape of north central Ohio permanently, and not in a manner that would enhance the inherent beauty of the land nor protect the economic boon provided by farming and tourism that brings tens of thousands of visitors to the area each year," Baker said during a press conference at the Mansfield/Richland County Public Library on Thursday evening.

Hydraulic fracturing, often called fracking, is a drilling process in which a high-pressure liquid is directed at rocks below the earth's surface to extract oil or gases from inside.

The coalition is made of up four landowner groups in Richland, Ashland and Holmes counties: Hayesville Community on Fracked Gas, Clear Fork Landowners Group, Advocates for Local Land and Monroe Township Landowners Coalition.

Several of the coalition members raised environmental and safety concerns with the hydraulic fracturing process, including potential leaks from the fracking site into their own water wells or water supply.

"In the end, where will we have to turn if we have destroyed our basic needs for greed? Will we be better off than before if we allow them in here and we take the money, are we gonna be better off?" said Theresa Clark with Advocates for Local Land. She lives outside Loudonville in Holmes County. "We cannot drink money."

Dave Graham with Monroe Township Landowners Coalition said visits to examples of fracking sites in other parts of Ohio, including in Carroll County, was enough to convince him it's not something he wants in his backyard.

"I couldn’t imagine how much noise and disturbance this would bring our peaceful home," said Graham, who lives in Lucas.

Graham said he's gone door-to-door in Monroe Township, talking with his neighbors about their positions on the matter and finding out if they would sign a lease with Cabot to allow drilling on their properties.

He said he found only two people out of dozens who had signed or would sign.

"The vast majority oppose drilling and fracking for oil," Graham said. "They have a passion to preserve this beautiful land."

More: Residents voice concerns with possible Ashland County fracking

Rumors have flown in the area in recent months about who has signed leases.

A two-page letter dated Dec. 22 was sent to about 4,000 landowners, said Cabot director of external affairs George Stark.

The letters were sent to landowners atop Columbia Gas storage facilities in Richland, Ashland and Knox counties to start a conversation with those landowners about Cabot's plans, Stark said. About 80 percent of the letters were sent out in Ashland County.

According to the letter, signed by Cabot's north region land manager Carol Hoch, Cabot entered into a sublease agreement with Columbia Gas Transmission on Aug. 30, giving Cabot the right to explore and potentially develop potential resources below Columbia's natural gas storage fields.

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Columbia owns the oil and gas lease to the properties, meaning landowners' current leases would have to be amended to allow Cabot to explore and potentially develop what's underground.

According to the letter, the current lease terms only allow for vertical drilling. The amendment would allow for horizontal drilling using horizontal well pads to accommodate multiple wells.

Stark said Cabot is still in the exploratory stage of the process, trying to determine what's underground. He said no equipment has been brought into the area yet, as the company is still working with landowners.

Stark said Cabot's geologists selected the area as a promising one geologically for hydraulic fracturing, with the potential for underground oil or gas deposits.

"We see Ashland (County) as the area for focus," Stark said. "The core's right there."

Stark said exploratory wells would allow the company to see what's under the surface and determine if the site would be economically viable for future wells.

If the findings from the well show the site isn't viable, the company will not move forward with any future work or wells, Stark said, something that "happens more often than not." He said there is not yet a timeframe for the project.

The letter notes potential benefits to landowners, including a 12.5 percent royalty free of post-production expenses for oil and natural gas and a payment of $25 per net acre covered by the amendment.

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Deborah Fleming with the Hayesville Community on Fracked Gas said that's not enough.

"Claims of royalty payments and job creation do not compensate for threats to health and loss of property values," she said.

Fleming said even landowners who can't sign a lease because they don't own the mineral rights to their land would face negative impacts from drilling near their homes.

"People who do not sign the leases face the same danger of wells contaminated with neurotoxins, carcinogens and endocrine disruptors, even though they will receive no royalties from the resources recovered," she said.

Fleming, who's lived in southern Ashland County near Perrysville for 25 years and raises horses, fears she'll have to sell her property at a loss if Cabot starts drilling in the area, as it "will be worth next to nothing because the rural character of the place will be destroyed."

"If Cabot has its way, southern Ashland County, one of the most beautiful areas of the state, will become an uninhabitable sacrifice zone," she said.

According to the letter, during the exploration, water sources out to 3,000 feet from the wellhead will be tested and timber and crop loss will be compensated.

The letter also states if any landowner group agrees to terms with Cabot that are more favorable before May 1, all landowners who previously signed the amendment would receive the same benefits.

According to the letter, Cabot would be prohibited from disposing of drill cuttings or residual wastes on properties, drilling injection or disposal wells on properties and using surface water without prior written consent, including drilling water wells.

"When you look at it from an environmental standpoint, the precautions and protections that Cabot takes are significant, and we think we can effectively explore for fossil fuels in a very environmentally friendly manner," Stark said. "It comes down to managing risk, and I think Cabot manages that risk better than others."

Jayne Moser with Clear Fork Landowners Group said she was "disturbed" by some of the provisions in the proposed amended lease from Cabot. She sited "the permanence of the lease, the totally inadequate protections in case of environmental accidents, the insulting levels of reimbursement and the loss of control of one's lands."

Moser, who's lived in the Clear Fork Valley for more than 30 years, listed how waste would be handled, truck traffic and light and sound pollution as other reasons she opposes the measure.

"They don't respect us enough to give us even a fair offer with adequate protections, if there are adequate protections," she said. "If they can't do that now, why should we believe they're going to protect our land once they have control of it?"

For more information on Hayesville Community on Fracked Gas, email elaine.ffej@gmail.com or friendsforenvironmentaljustice@gmail.com. The group is hosting a film showing on the topic Monday at the Hayesville Opera House, 5 1/2 Main Street, Hayesville, with a meet and greet from 6 to 7 p.m., the film showing from 7 to 8 p.m. and a question-and-answer session from 8 to 8:30 p.m.

For more information on Clear Fork Landowners Group, email CFlandowners@gmail.com. The group is hosting an informational meeting on the topic Tuesday from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at Three Crosses United Methodist Fellowship, 12 Cleveland St., Butler.

For more information on Advocates for Local Land, email advocates4ll@gmail.com.

For more information on Monroe Township Landowners Coalition, email monroetlc2@gmail.com.

ejmills@mansfieldnewsjournal.com

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Twitter: @EmilyMills818