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The U.S. Forest Service should reject a new oil and gas leasing plan in Ohio\u2019s Wayne National Forest due to its failure to address serious concerns over fracking and climate change, conservation groups said today in a letter to the Service.<\/p>\n
The plan to allow dangerous hydraulic fracturing or \u201cfracking\u201d on 40,000 acres of the state\u2019s only national forest would degrade streams and groundwater, fragment wildlife habitat and worsen climate change \u2014 issues inadequately addressed in the environmental analysis for the proposal \u2014 according to the letter from the Center for Biological Diversity, the Ohio Environmental Council and the Sierra Club.<\/p>\n
The groups also criticized the agency\u2019s failure to quantify the plan\u2019s greenhouse gas emissions, contrary to the Council on Environmental Quality\u2019s new guidance issued to federal agencies last week. Under the guidance, the agency should disclose the full life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions of the proposed leasing in compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act, including emissions from burning oil and gas extracted from the Wayne, the letter asserts.<\/p>\n
\u201cAny proposal for new oil and gas leases on public land should include an analysis of its contribution to the climate change crisis,\u201d said Nathan Johnson, an attorney with Ohio Environmental Council. \u201cLegally and morally, any decision on federal fossil fuel must examine the impact that burning that fuel will have on all of us. Indeed, if we are to prevent the worst effects of climate change, the science tells us that all new federal fossil fuel leasing should be off limits.\u201d<\/p>\n
The groups also highlighted the Forest Service\u2019s failure to address groundwater and surface-water contamination risks from wastewater disposal and other fracking operations. While the agency claims that measures in its land-use plan, such as a prohibition on underground wastewater disposal, would protect water resources, these restrictions do not apply to neighboring private lands scattered throughout the forest. Horizontal wells required for fracking can reach oil and gas deposits two miles away and so need not be sited on federal land. Over three-quarters of the forest\u2019s Marietta Unit, where the leasing is proposed, is private land.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe government\u2019s plan is remarkably shortsighted in its failure to consider the full extent of fracking and wastewater disposal that could occur throughout the forest,\u201d said Wendy Park, an attorney with the Center. \u201cWater quality and wildlife will suffer regardless of where these activities occur.\u201d<\/p>\n
The endangered Indiana bat relies on the Wayne and could be drawn to wastewater ponds that would serve as deathtraps for bats, said the groups, noting a potential Endangered Species Act violation. Fragmentation of habitat for the bat and other species is another concern, and the environmental analysis underestimates the total amount of forest that would be cleared for pipelines and well pads, the letter noted.<\/p>\n
In May the Bureau of Land Management \u2014 the agency in charge of the proposed auction \u2014 received public comment on the environmental analysis for the proposed leasing. The Forest Service must consent to leasing parcels nominated by oil and gas operators before the auction can go forward.<\/p>\n
The Bureau\u2019s website suggests an auction is planned for December, but last week, Forest Supervisor Anthony Scardina announced in an email that he would be leaving the Wayne on Aug. 15 for a temporary four-month post in Montana. Athens District Ranger Jason Reed will serve as acting supervisor in the interim. It is unclear how the supervisor\u2019s departure will affect the Forest Service\u2019s review of the controversial leasing proposal.<\/p>\n
The groups requested a meeting with the Forest Service. \u201cPublic lands are for the people, not for the benefit of Big Oil and Gas,\u201d said Lena Moffitt, director of the Sierra Club\u2019s Beyond Dirty Fuels campaign. Drilling for oil and gas means more fracking, and fracking means poisoning our air and water, and threatening the health of our communities and our environment. At a time when clean energy like solar and wind is proving to be safest, healthiest, and most cost-effective way to power our country, it\u2019s high time we recognized that we need to leave dirty fuels like coal, oil, and gas in the ground.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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