More than 8,236 acres of Egypt Valley Wildlife Area’s 18,000 acres in Belmont County and an additional 513 acres of Salt Fork State Park may be approved for fracking at the next meeting of the Oil and Gas Land Management Commission.
The date for the meeting has not been set yet. That's according to Melinda Zemper, a board member for the nonprofit Save Ohio Parks, which is dedicated to educating the public about the dangers of fracking — the process of injecting high-pressure mixtures of water, sand and chemicals underground to release trapped oil and natural gas — and advocating for public lands in general. Zemper said the meeting is likely to occur in late March or early April.
The deadline for the public to submit comments for Egypt Valley bid nominations, titled 26-DNR-0001 and 26-DNR-002, is March 7. Comments on an additional two nominations of land in Egypt Valley, titled 26-DNR-0004 and 26-DNR-0005, are due by March 15.
The comment deadline for the Salt Fork State Park bid nomination, 26-DNR-0003, is March 15.
“Everyone who cares about keeping our pristine natural lands from being industrialized and wants to protect our health, our clean air, water and biodiversity in Ohio has a responsibility to act now and tell the OGLMC to say NO to fracking this beautiful, unspoiled land,” said Rebecca Malik, a board member at Save Ohio Parks. “Ohio’s public lands were set aside beginning in 1949 [for] the pleasure and leisure of the people of Ohio for all time. They are not owned by one governor or a supermajority political party seeking to monetize and destroy them with the help of the gas and oil industry.”
A total of 11,603 acres of Ohio state parks and wildlife areas have been approved for fracking since 2023.
The fracking consideration process begins with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources or an oil and gas company requesting a fracking nomination for a state park, wildlife area or another public-owned piece of land.
The Oil and Gas Land Management Commission would then meet to announce that a nomination has been submitted, and then either move it forward toward a bid or deny the nomination.
After an initial meeting to decide on the viability of a nomination, it will then be acted upon for approval or disapproval at a following meeting.
“Per Ohio law, the Oil & Gas Land Management Commission (OGLMC) is charged with deciding whether or not to lease state mineral rights,” Karina Cheung, press secretary for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, said in an email. “The OGLMC considers nominations, as well as comments submitted by the public and state agencies, before approving or denying a nomination. The Commission also selects the 'highest and best' bids for the leasing of mineral rights. It’s a two-part process: nomination approval/denial and then bid selection.”
Cheung said during the nomination process, all companies remain anonymous per state statute.
“If a nomination is approved and put out to bid, the Commission is required to select the 'highest and best' bidder,” Cheung said. “Until the 'highest and best' bid is selected, the bidders and lease bonus offers remain anonymous.”
