Preservation Reports

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Executive Summary

Drilling for natural gas and oil on the Canadian side of Lake Erie has been neither safe nor clean. This report finds the following:

• Fifty-one natural gas spills directly associated with gas drilling in Canada's portion of Lake Erie were documented between 1997 and 2001—an average of almost a spill a month.
• The Canadian side of Lake Erie confronted 83 petroleum spills from all sectors between 1990 and 1995 (the last year for which data was made available for this report).
• Only 45 percent of the spill's contaminants were cleaned up, on average.
• Direct discharges of drilling wastes into Lake Erie have subjected aquatic organisms to immediate and long-term health effects risks, ranging from localized fish kills to aquatic organism developmental impairment.
• Environmental risks are exacerbated by the routine use of toxic chemicals during oil and gas drilling.
• Canadian regulations that track the use and disposal of toxic chemicals (the National Pollutant Release Inventory) expressly exclude oil and gas drilling operations from reporting.
• There is no publicly available data regarding the quantity or extent of toxic chemical release from the natural gas drilling operations in Canada's portion of Lake Erie.
• The lack of available data restricts research into the safety of the drilling and hampers oversight of that industry.

Economic Impacts of Drilling in Ohio's Lake Erie
Oil and gas drilling could have widespread net negative effects on the economy of the Lake Erie region in particular and the state of Ohio in general. This report finds the following:

• The annual value of oil and gas drilling is equal to only about three weeks of tourism revenue. Drilling costs to Ohio's $1.5 billion dollar per year tourism industry far outweigh potential revenues from oil and gas.
• The cost of each beach closing has been estimated to be $3.75 million dollars during the tourism season.
• Oil and gas drilling is a short-term job creator that is frequently undertaken by national companies that use non-Ohio laborers. As such, lost local and state revenue from tourism money would not be recouped from oil and gas drilling activities.
• The peak tourism season and the oil and gas drilling season overlap, leading to an increased likelihood that drilling accidents and routine operations would have a negative effect on Lake Erie tourism.
• Beach users clearly indicate that the quality of Lake Erie waters is a significant determinant of future visits to the lake. Oil and gas drilling could lower water quality, both through routine operations and accidental leaks and spills.
• Every $100 invested in charter boating multiplies into an additional $162 dollars for other area businesses. Each lost dollar of charter boating revenue actually removes $2.62 from the local economy.

Environmental Impacts of Drilling in Ohio's Lake Erie
Despite industry claims to the contrary, oil and gas drilling is still a dirty, dangerous business. At every stage of the drilling process the environment around the drilling site is bombarded by toxic chemicals and threatened by accidental leaks and spills. This report finds the following:

• Natural gas and oil leaks and spills can have extremely negative effects on the natural environment, both on and off shore. Past safety records from drilling sites across the country indicate that such accidents will take place—it is a matter of when it will happen, not if it will happen.
• The potential for accidental or intentional release of drilling wastes into the environment is alarming. Releases can occur though containment failure, run-off, pipeline accidents, and direct discharge.
• Routine drilling wastes, such as drilling muds, cuttings, and produced waters, contain both profuse and varied toxic chemicals. These risks to wildlife include developmental defects, shortened life span, and numerous cancers.
• Many of the toxic chemicals associated with oil and gas drilling can accumulate and magnify in the food chain. This poses a risk to aquatic organisms higher in the food chain, such as fish and birds.
• Many of the chemicals associated with oil and gas drilling tend to persist in the environment, leading to long-term, chronic exposure for aquatic and terrestrial organisms.
• Destruction of wildlife habitat also represents a serious threat from oil and gas drilling. The land area that would be impacted to accommodate the 2,000 wells necessary to achieve peak production would be greater than 3,000 football fields.
• The act of drilling could destroy or significantly alter the vital natural habit necessary for animals as diverse as the bald eagle, the great blue heron and endangered snakes.

Human Health Impacts of Drilling in Ohio's Lake Erie
Oil and gas drilling in Ohio's Lake Erie would take place in one of the most densely populated portions of the state. In fact,counties surrounding the Great Lakes shoreline have the highest average population per mile (3,835) for a major coastal area in the United States. This report finds the following:

• Routine drilling wastes, such as drilling muds and cuttings, contain a host of toxic chemicals that are known to be hazardous to human health.
• As pollutants from oil and gas drilling build up in the food chain, people who consume fish from Lake Erie will be at serious risk of health problems such as genetic defects and cancer.
• Routine discharges and accidental spills of toxic chemicals from drilling sites can also contaminate the water of Lake Erie, thus contaminating a primary drinking water source for millions of Ohioans.
• Some oil and gas drilling discharges, such as air emissions and run off, are an unavoidable consequence of oil and gas drilling. Discharge need not occur in the water to impact the lake's water quality.
• While the human health impacts of leaks and spills are primarily local in nature, placement of wells on shore puts human health at greater risks from accidents, as well as from routine pollution and discharges.
• Accumulation of toxic chemicals in local and regional Lake Erie ecosystems represents one primary threat to human health.

Regulatory Oversight of Drilling in Ohio
The Mineral Resources Management division of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources oversees oil and gas drilling in Ohio. This report finds the following:

• At present, ODNR lacks the staffing and mandate to implement a Lake Erie drilling program.
• As Ohio continues to slash agency budgets as a result of continued declines in expected state revenues, ODNR staffing and oversight problems will increase.
• Even with an adequately staffed oil and gas drilling division, current regulations that govern oil and gas drilling would fail to protect human health and the environment in and around Lake Erie.
• Well development and placement regulations in Ohio do not provide adequate environmental or public health protections.
• While current regulations governing the final disposal of drilling wastes and produced waters do not allow disposal in a freshwater body, enforcement and oversight is insufficient to provide assurance that these practices would not take place in or around Lake Erie.

Policy Recommendations
Based on the findings of this report, oil and gas drilling in or under Lake Erie would pose unacceptably high environmental, economic, and public health risks. Many of these risks are inherent to the oil and gas drilling process and, as such, are unlikely to be mitigated by regulatory changes or management practices. This report recommends the following:

• Ohio should permanently protect Lake Erie from oil and gas drilling in or under the lake.
• The Federal government should also permanently protect all of the Great Lakes from oil and gas drilling in or under the lakes.

Rather than relying on dirty drilling to meet Ohio's energy demands, the state should invest in a cleaner, smarter energy future by promoting energy efficiency and renewable energy. By investing in energy efficiency and renewable energy, Ohio can permanently protect Lake Erie, further protect our other environmental resources, and save Ohioans money. This can be undertaken with the following:

• Tax rebates and incentives for the purchase of energy efficient appliances.
• Updated energy efficiency requirement in Ohio's building codes.
• Tax rebates and incentives for the installation of small-scale renewable energy generation equipment.
• A Renewable Portfolio Standard that requires 10 percent of the electricity sold in Ohio come from renewable sources by 2010 and 20 percent by 2020.