Oil and gas industry lobbyists have set their sights on drilling in Ohio’s remaining public lands and have been pushing legislation to do this unsuccessfully for many years. 

Environment Ohio has been successful in de-rigging their efforts in the past. In fact, in 2003 after years of our staff's advocacy efforts, former Governor Bob Taft announced a ban on oil and gas drilling in Lake Erie.  But when Governor Taft left office so did his executive order protecting Lake Erie.

Drilling in Ohio’s last remaining wilderness areas, places like Lake Erie where families spend weekends boating, fishing, swimming and getting away from it all, is just not worth the risk. And, less than 1 percent of Ohio’s public land is still protected from oil and gas drilling.

Drilling for oil is an inherently dirty process. Dangerous chemicals like mercury are released into the air, land and water. Oil spills occur that can contaminate drinking water, kill wildlife, and destroy sensitive ecosystems.

Drilling for oil in Ohio's last remaining public lands is not worth the risk.

Ohio's Environmental Community Has Come Together to Oppose the Oil & Gas Drilling Proposal:

June 4, 2009

Dear General Assembly Leaders and Governor Strickland:

We are writing you today to express concern about recently proposed threats to Ohio’s state lands and to Lake Erie.  We believe that our state parks, state forests, state nature preserves and Lake Erie should be off limits to oil and gas extraction. Our quality of life and travel and tourism industry are enhanced by our ability to maintain a clean and safe environment and protection of Ohio’s last remaining natural areas.

It is our understanding that the oil and gas drilling proposals are driven by the need to generate additional state revenue.  However, a couple of stark realities suggest that this is not a viable solution to that need.

First, only a small percentage of Ohio’s landscape currently is off limits to oil and gas drilling:  The Revised Code does not authorize oil and gas development at state parks, state nature preserves, state historic sites, and the state’s lone state wilderness area.  This leaves the overwhelming majority of Ohio’s landscape already open to drilling, including all privately owned land, state forests and the Wayne National Forest (Ohio’s largest single public land mass).

Second, the state does not own the mineral rights to all of the lands that it owns and controls.  And on many lands where the state does own the mineral rights, another complication exists:  Under federal law, state lands that were created by or ever received federal funding through the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund would be required to return those funds to the federal government if those state lands were permitted to lease the land for oil and gas exploration.  Opening up more public lands to oil and gas drilling is unlikely to generate significant revenue over the long term.

The current drilling proposals are unwanted by most Ohioans and unnecessary for the following reasons: 

• Drilling is a broken promise to Ohio’s citizens:  The State of Ohio has a solemn duty to honor its responsibility to perpetually care for—and not develop—its public lands, to forever protect the last remaining vestiges of our natural heritage for generations to come.
• Drilling is a short term fix, and neither the energy potential nor the royalty revenue projections are substantial or sustainable enough to significantly affect fuel prices nor operating costs for our state lands in the long term.
• There are questions about ODNR's mineral rights and concerns about additional costs of monitoring and maintaining wells; the current lack of staff capacity has led to reports of numerous incidents around the state.
• After 2005, when drilling increased around the state following the passage of Ohio House Bill 278 (128 G.A.), incidents of air, water and soil contamination have been reported and litigated to the extent that a grassroots citizen movement organized  (NEOGAP) to facilitate record-keeping and legal reform. 
• Tourism in parks and public lands generates significant revenue to local economies, but resource impacts continue long after active drilling ceases, including site clearance, stream crossings, road building, periodic maintenance, odors, and fire risks. These impacts—many of them unavoidable—will interfere with the experience of park visitors. A recent report, produced by Longwoods International, shows that each tax dollar spent encouraging Ohio tourism produced $12 in state and local tax revenues.  This revenue could be put at risk if park visitors experience (or even perceive) an interruption of the natural experience that they have come to expect at Ohio’s state parks. 
• Drilling in or beneath Lake Erie specifically is prohibited by the federal Energy Policy Act of 2005.  There exists very little political support to reverse the ban.  In fact, Governor Taft issued an executive order reinforcing this federal ban with a state moratorium on Lake Erie drilling.

We respectfully encourage you to reject drilling in protected public lands.  Thank you for your time and we welcome further discussion on this issue. 

Sincerely,