Experts on risks, effects of fracking speak to state commission

Our state public lands are currently under threat of oil and gas extraction, and leasing nominations are taking place. This is overseen by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Oil and Gas Land Management Commission (OGLMC).

On June 28, a distinguished panel of speaker presented information to the Oil and Gas Land Management Commission about emergency preparedness for fracking accidents, the effects of oil and gas extraction on ecosystems, and fracking impacts on water, waste, air, and surrounding landscapes.

This panel came about because of strong advocacy by Ohio citizens who wanted to share the science about the risks and effects of fracking with the Commission.

A recording of the panel presentation has now been posted on the Oil and Gas Land Management Commission website. While you can hear the panelists, you cannot see their slides, but we have posted their slide decks below. You want want to download their slides and page through them as you listen.

Here is the panel of experts and a link to their slide presentations:

Silverio Caggiano is a retired Youngstown Fire Battalion Chief and HazMat Specialist. He sits on Ohio Hazardous Materials and WMD Technical Advisory Committee. The committee advises the governor on issues relevant to our expertise, quantifies and qualifies equipment and education of Ohio hazmat teams, and has built teams for service gap areas.
Silverio Caggiano presentation: Hydraulic Fracturing In Ohio State Parks Safety Concerns (pdf)

Dr. Randi Pokladnik (pictured testifying in front of the commission on April 10) has a PhD in Environmental Studies, AAS in Environmental Engineering, BA in Chemistry, and is HazMat Regulations Certified. Her research includes examining the threats to non-timber forest species in Central Appalachia. She is also focused on climate change and how intact forests can be used to mitigate carbon emissions. She lives with her husband at Tappan Lake, Harrison County, Ohio, in the middle of fracking country and has personal experience with the effects of fracking in communities and on ecosystems.
Randi Pokladnik presentation: Impacts of Fracking on Forested Ecosystems (pdf)

Dr. Ted Auch has been researching the water, waste, landscape, and community impacts of High Volume Hydraulic Fracturing (HVHF) or fracking in the Ohio River Valley and beyond for 10+ years in his capacity at a 501c3 non-profit, FracTracker Alliance. He earned his PhD in Environmental Science modeling climate change’s disparate impacts on above- and below-ground processes in a variety of forests around the planet.
Ted Auch presentation: Fracked Gas Water Demand and Waste Production Implications (pdf)

Find great media coverage of these presentations by Nick Evans of Ohio Capital Journal: Environmental experts warn fracking on state lands in Ohio is dangerous, economically dubious

For questions to the commission, please email Nathan Moffitt, Ohio Department of Natural Resources, at Commission.Clerk@oglmc.ohio.gov. For questions to citizen advocates, please email Roxanne Groff at roxannegroff1227@gmail.com, and Loraine McCosker at loraine.mccosker@gmail.com

Thank you very much for your continued efforts to protect our state of Ohio public lands.