Columbus Dispatch...
Oil-and-gas drilling foes perpetuate myths
Thomas E. Stewart  
October  8, 2011 

I applaud Gov. John Kasich for his dedicated pursuit of a forward-thinking, job-creating, comprehensive energy policy for the state of Ohio, which was firmly cemented at the recent Ohio Governor’s 21st Century Energy & Economic Summit. 

This unprecedented event brought together experts in energy, economics, education and the environment from around the state and nation to engage in dialogue and debate about how robust and responsible energy development could be the key to Ohio’s economic resurgence. 

While experts from every sector of Ohio’s energy industry — coal, renewables, crude oil and natural gas — were on hand to provide insight and points of view, the spotlight shown most brightly on natural-gas and crude-oil development in Ohio’s Utica shale formation. 

Drilling into the Utica shale formation — a dense layer of oil- and gas-rich rock thousands of feet below the topsoil of the eastern half of Ohio — recently became viable due to combining hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling. While there is absolutely nothing new about either of these technical processes — more than 1 million wells in the U.S. have been safely stimulated using hydraulic fracturing in the past 60 years, including more than 80,000 in Ohio — these facts have been largely ignored by those opposed to oil-and-gas development. 

Many environmental groups and even some members of the media have portrayed the oil-and-gas industry as a juggernaut rolling across the verdant farm and park lands of eastern Ohio chanting “drill baby, drill.” Not only is this insulting to the hardworking men and women who have been part of the state’s natural-gas and crude-oil industry heritage for more than 150 years, it’s blatantly untrue. 

In 2010, Gov. Ted Strickland signed Senate Bill 165, a remarkable piece of bipartisan legislation that revised Ohio’s oil and gas laws and put in place the most stringent industry regulations of any U.S. state. With the passage of Senate Bill 165, legislators not only laid the foundation for Ohio’s natural-energy renaissance, but also said loud and clear that Ohio is not like some other shale-gas producing states. 

For example, Ohio requires that wastewater be disposed of in one of the state’s 170 Class II injection wells, which are regulated by the Division of Mineral Resources Management and contain the water within several layers of rock, cement and steel. Many oil and gas producers also recycle wastewater for future use. Unfortunately, these efforts are widely ignored by the anti-drilling opposition because they don’t jibe with the negative narrative they want to weave about the oil-and-gas industry. 

Recent articles have continued this biased slant against Ohio’s natural-gas and crude-oil operators. These articles have been populated with one-sided, unchallenged statements, the most common and egregious being the supposed threat to groundwater from oil and gas development. 

Despite confirmation from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Department of the Interior and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources that there has never been a confirmed case of groundwater contamination resulting from hydraulic fracturing, the anti-drilling contingent, often in tandem with the media, continue to spread this falsehood. 

Another oldie but goodie used by the anti-drilling crowd is that hydraulic fracturing is exempt from the federal Safe Water Drinking Act. The truth? Hydraulic fracturing has never in its 60-year history been regulated under that law, because it was never intended for that purpose. At the time, Congress recognized that many states already had vigorous petroleum regulations that offered substantial groundwater protection and it saw no need to regulate a process that was already sufficiently regulated. 

Ohio is on the cusp of a potential natural-gas and crude-oil boom that could transform the state’s economic future. According to a recent economic-impact study, oil and gas development in the Utica could create or support more than 200,000 Ohio-based jobs and result in an overall wage and personal-income boost of $12 billion by 2015. 

As oil-and-gas exploration and development expand in the state, I encourage Ohioans to ask questions and to educate themselves about the topic. Just know that Ohio is ready. We have the regulatory framework, advanced technology and a responsible and mature oil-and-gas industry that’s prepared to help Ohio be a leader in America’s march toward energy independence and economic renewal. 

Thomas E. Stewart is executive vice president of the Ohio Oil and Gas Association. 

Read it at the Columbus Dispatch