The lure of big money created by Ohio’s growing shale energy boom has enticed
thousands of landowners to sign leases with oil and gas companies. With offers
surpassing $5,000 an acre, many government and school officials are considering
doing the same.
“It doesn’t take a whole lot of acres to come up with $1 million pretty quickly,” said Thomas Gentile, a Jefferson County commissioner. The engineer’s office there is poring over records to compile a list of county-owned properties that might fit the bill.
“We want to see where the lands are, how big they are and what the interest might be,” Gentile said.
Similar what-if exercises are going on across eastern Ohio. On one side is an opportunity to bring revenue to a school, town or village. On the other are questions about the environmental impact of the method used to remove gas and oil from shale — hydraulic fracturing, or “ fracking."
The mineral-rights leases typically pay landowners upfront bonuses as well as a percentage of the value of any oil and gas that come out of the ground. Yet environmental advocates argue that the drilling process threatens property owners’ water, soil and air.
In fracking, millions of gallons of water, sand and chemicals are injected into wells to shatter shale and free trapped oil and gas. “This industrial process has contaminated drinking water and produced highly polluted air in the states where it has been used,” said Heather Cantino, a member of the Athens County Fracking Network.
Industry officials say the process is safe. Tom Stewart, vice president of the Ohio Oil and Gas Association, said it’s common for cities and schools to sign leases.
“It often involves recreation facilities, like golf courses,” he said.
But not all officials are willing. Paula Horan Moseley, the Athens city service director, said drilling poses a contamination threat to wells that provide residents with drinking water. The city opposes proposals that would open lands in the nearby Wayne National Forest to drilling.
At nearby Hocking College, however, officials have created a committee to study a proposed $3 million deal with West Virginia-based Cunningham Energy to lease 1,200 acres west of campus near Nelsonville.
“We are being somewhat cautious about jumping on the bandwagon,” said college President Ron Erickson. “We have to weigh the potential environmental impact.”
Officials at Denison University in Granville have considered similar issues. The university received some “preliminary interest” in leasing about 45 acres of farmland just north of campus, said Seth Patton, Denison’s vice president for finance and management.
Patton said the school allowed the company, Newark-based Flint Ridge Energy, to run seismic tests on the property last year.
“We’re reasonably convinced that it can be done in a safe manner,” Patton said. “We’d like to know what the impact on the land itself is.”
Back in Jefferson County, Steubenville council members have approved a deal with Hess Oil that opens a 110-acre site west of town for drilling. At $5,400 an acre, the city will receive more than $590,000 in a one-time bonus, said city manager Cathy Davison. The city will receive a 19 percent royalty on the value of gas or oil that comes up at the site.
Davison called the agreement an opportunity to start cleaning up an old city landfill on the property. She said an Ohio Environmental Protection Agency order to eliminate groundwater pollution and cap the old dump, which closed in 1983, would cost about $10 million.
“Steubenville has had one of the highest unemployment rates in the country. Our residents can’t afford $10 million,” Davison said. “This is a down payment toward starting this project.”
“It doesn’t take a whole lot of acres to come up with $1 million pretty quickly,” said Thomas Gentile, a Jefferson County commissioner. The engineer’s office there is poring over records to compile a list of county-owned properties that might fit the bill.
“We want to see where the lands are, how big they are and what the interest might be,” Gentile said.
Similar what-if exercises are going on across eastern Ohio. On one side is an opportunity to bring revenue to a school, town or village. On the other are questions about the environmental impact of the method used to remove gas and oil from shale — hydraulic fracturing, or “ fracking."
The mineral-rights leases typically pay landowners upfront bonuses as well as a percentage of the value of any oil and gas that come out of the ground. Yet environmental advocates argue that the drilling process threatens property owners’ water, soil and air.
In fracking, millions of gallons of water, sand and chemicals are injected into wells to shatter shale and free trapped oil and gas. “This industrial process has contaminated drinking water and produced highly polluted air in the states where it has been used,” said Heather Cantino, a member of the Athens County Fracking Network.
Industry officials say the process is safe. Tom Stewart, vice president of the Ohio Oil and Gas Association, said it’s common for cities and schools to sign leases.
“It often involves recreation facilities, like golf courses,” he said.
But not all officials are willing. Paula Horan Moseley, the Athens city service director, said drilling poses a contamination threat to wells that provide residents with drinking water. The city opposes proposals that would open lands in the nearby Wayne National Forest to drilling.
At nearby Hocking College, however, officials have created a committee to study a proposed $3 million deal with West Virginia-based Cunningham Energy to lease 1,200 acres west of campus near Nelsonville.
“We are being somewhat cautious about jumping on the bandwagon,” said college President Ron Erickson. “We have to weigh the potential environmental impact.”
Officials at Denison University in Granville have considered similar issues. The university received some “preliminary interest” in leasing about 45 acres of farmland just north of campus, said Seth Patton, Denison’s vice president for finance and management.
Patton said the school allowed the company, Newark-based Flint Ridge Energy, to run seismic tests on the property last year.
“We’re reasonably convinced that it can be done in a safe manner,” Patton said. “We’d like to know what the impact on the land itself is.”
Back in Jefferson County, Steubenville council members have approved a deal with Hess Oil that opens a 110-acre site west of town for drilling. At $5,400 an acre, the city will receive more than $590,000 in a one-time bonus, said city manager Cathy Davison. The city will receive a 19 percent royalty on the value of gas or oil that comes up at the site.
Davison called the agreement an opportunity to start cleaning up an old city landfill on the property. She said an Ohio Environmental Protection Agency order to eliminate groundwater pollution and cap the old dump, which closed in 1983, would cost about $10 million.
“Steubenville has had one of the highest unemployment rates in the country. Our residents can’t afford $10 million,” Davison said. “This is a down payment toward starting this project.”
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