DeWine wants tougher laws on ‘fracking’
Attorney general calls for bigger pollution fines, ‘full disclosure’ of chemicals used, more protection for landowners in lease deals
Attorney General Mike DeWine 
Attorney General Mike DeWine is calling for tougher penalties on polluters in the burgeoning oil and gas industry and for more disclosure of chemicals used in the drilling process of hydraulic fracturing, known as “fracking.”
DeWine said yesterday that Ohio’s environmental fines should be raised to at least $10,000 a day — higher than the current maximum of $2,500 to $20,000 per incident, depending on the violation. Many states such as Pennsylvania and New York impose per-day civil penalties, DeWine said.“Ohio’s clearly out of the mainstream in these penalties,” he told The Dispatch. “My recommendation to the General Assembly is that these laws be changed."
The Republican attorney general also called for “full disclosure” of chemicals being put into the ground, and he said landowners leasing their property to energy companies should be covered by the state’s consumer-protection law.
“There’s no one place in the state where someone can go if they have a problem, if they want some sort of mediation,” DeWine said of property owners.
Fracking refers to a drilling procedure in which millions of gallons of water laced with industrial chemicals are injected down shale wells. The fluids are used to fracture the shale and send oil and gas to the surface.
More than 3,800 natural-gas wells have been drilled into the Marcellus shale in Pennsylvania since 2005. A similar drilling boom is expected in Ohio as energy companies look to tap oil and gas in this state’s Utica shale.
Jack Shaner, a lobbyist with the Ohio Environmental Council, said DeWine’s comments echo those of environmentalists, who believe more protections are needed for Ohioans. “It’s pretty telling when the top lawman in the state says the penalties aren’t tough enough and the disclosure is not truly tell-all,” Shaner said.
Tom Stewart, vice president of the Ohio Oil and Gas Association, said the state’s laws already are tough on drillers and hold them accountable for pollution and other infractions.
“I think the attorney general is off base,” Stewart said. “My view is, his staff failed to understand the status of the law.”
Ohio already is among a handful of states, including Wyoming and Pennsylvania, that make hydraulic-fracturing contractors file documents showing the chemicals they use in their fracking fluids.
However, a review of documents posted on the Ohio Department of Natural Resources’ website shows that not every chemical is identified. Of the 84 fracturing products listed in November, 11 contained at least one ingredient that was kept secret by the companies as a “proprietary compound."
Identified chemicals include napthalene, which destroys red blood cells, and ethylene glycol, which can damage the kidneys, nervous system, lungs and heart.
Stewart said companies should be allowed to keep some fracking ingredients confidential to hold an edge over their competitors.
“You can’t destroy the competitiveness of these businesses,” he said.
Oil and gas leases often come with offers of rich bonus payments that can exceed $3,500 an acre. Experts say landowners need to carefully read the fine print.
“Deep Pockets,” a Dispatch series on the fracking industry that was published in September, showed that leases can contain provisions that give drilling companies free access to water and the right to store gas and to build roads and pipelines across properties even if a well isn’t drilled.
Carlo LoParo, spokesman for the natural-resources department, which oversees drilling, said it is revising many of its rules regarding drilling and the disposal of drilling wastes, called brine.
“The administration is finalizing new regulations for drilling that prioritize public health and safety as well as the environment and that reflect the same kind of strong approach that the attorney general supports,” LoParo said.
DeWine said he agrees with Republican Gov. John Kasich, who has stressed how important oil and gas exploration is for Ohio’s economic development. “All this exploration is going to create a lot of jobs,” DeWine said. “We need to make sure we’re doing it the right way and we have protections."
In Tuesday’s State of the State address, Kasich said that “you cannot degrade the environment at the same time you’re producing this industry. ... The biggest companies know that you need to have tough environmental rules.”
DeWine said he ordered his office to review Ohio’s laws because his attorneys represent the natural-resources department in environmental lawsuits.
Democrats in the legislature have introduced several bills to regulate or temporarily halt fracking and make the process more transparent to the public.
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