Entrance to Salt Fork State Park, April 5, 2024, Jefferson Township in Guernsey, Ohio. (Photo of Graham Stokes for the Ohio Capital Journal. Re -photo only with the original article.)
Democratic legislators Ohio want Prevent drilling of oil and natural gas under the parks of Lake Erie and State.
State Reps. Tristan Rader, D-shelawood and Christine Cockley, D-Cumbus, recently introduced Ohio House Bill 399.
The bill would forbid the director of the Department of Natural Resources in Ohio, issuing a permit that will remove oil or natural gas from the State Park or Lake Erie.
“Protection of our environment is only an extremely important thing” Said Rader. “I think that the protection of our public countries, saving the space we have already decided should be preserved, is actually a fairly important idea. “
“Who will want to move here?” Like fracturing around the Salt Fork State Park in Ohio is a changing zone
Ohio Governor Mike Dewine signed an act in the Act in 2023, which allowed the gerge of natural gas in public countries and state parks in Ohio. From that time Frapping has begun Salt Fork State ParkIN the largest state.
“I think that the natural progress in which we are heading is drilling of state parks,” said Rader. “So my goal is to try to stop it at all costs. Let’s do what we decided to do, and keep these lands, instead of extracting them, cultivating them, destroying these habitats.”
According to the last eight years, there have been about 2,000 incidents related to oil and gas students in Ohio Fractracker Alliance – NON -PROFIT organization that collects data on fracturing pipelines.
Ohio has 76 state parks It is managed by Nadr.
“Our network of the state park is so phenomenal” Rader he said. “We have many land as a state preserved for various reasons.”
Erie Lake
Federal law prohibits drilling in the great lakes and Rader said he thinks it’s critical to “have Some state security that impose on some of these federal security. ”
“I think that the release, at the moment, when it comes to federal law, is extremely important, especially when you see an administration that is absolutely guung ho and drilling in all places, and it seems that it is really not to respect federal law and is ready to go to court or ignore the courts”, “,” Said Rader.
President Ohio Oil and Gas Association Rob Brundrett said that he is not aware of interest in drilling under Lake Erie.
“Over the years, we have not seen great interests on the part of our members to visit Lake Erie,” he said. “However, we believe that there may be a potential benefit in exploration and production from large lakes. “
Drilling in Lake Erie could be a risk for drinking water and wildlife, including Millions of WalleyeSaid Rader.
“Oil -oil, oil drilling pipelines have a high risk of adding all types of toxins, regardless of whether they come from solins they use, or leaks that happen too often,” he said. “I want to try my best so that a human being can leave this planet better than where I found it, and part of it is to maintain our lakes and streams and green spaces free of pollution.”
Environmentalists are afraid that Lake Erie Fracking, Oil and the gas industry says that do not worry
This is not the first time this account was entered. Former representative of the democratic state Mike Skindell introduced a similar one Bill in 2023 during the last general assembly This would prevent fracturing under the Erie Lake, but Bill only received a sponsor certificate.
Rader hopes that his account will receive several interrogations and perhaps voting, but as a democratic bill in the Republicans controlled by republicans, the cards are set against HB 399.
“Of course it’s Ohio, I don’t stop my breath,” said Rader. “But without coming up with an idea, without an invoice, you don’t have such a chance. So that’s what we do.”
Rader said that the protection of the planet should be a biased issue.
“I think that on both sides of the passage there are people who think it is really important,” he said. “I think that protection is a concept that is actually quite the basis of conservatism and liberalism. I think we’ll get some shopping.”
Herring reporter capital journal Megan Henry on BlueSky.
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