Correction Appended: A previous version of this article said ODNR had entered 3,000 oil/gas incidents in eight years. The article is updated to say 2,300 incidents as per a source miscalculation.
Environmental activist Jenny Morgan, a steering committee member of Save Ohio Parks and a preschool teacher, started a Facebook page that outlined a hydraulic fracturing accident each day.
Her page uncovered discrepancies between the Ohio Department of Natural Resource, or ODNR, reports and Ohio Oil and Gas Association, or OOGA, statements.
Morgan said she started the daily accident report as a way of empowering herself and others.
“I could post (old records) every day for how many years, eight years, and then at that point, once I got all of the incidents done, there'd be several thousand more incidents,” Morgan said. “It just feels good to gain this knowledge, and I hope others are gaining knowledge from it. Informed citizenry, that's what it's all about.”
Morgan’s reflection comes just a few weeks after OOGA President Rob Brundrett’s public radio interview where he claimed fracking was safe and environmentally friendly and supported the lease of new Ohio state parks land to be used for fracking operations.
“I felt like he must be underplaying it,” Morgan said. “It's important, when one is listening to a representative of the industry, to realize that he's really a salesman in a certain kind of way, and so I thought, I'm going to look this up.”
Morgan requested oil and natural gas accident records from ODNR between 2016 and 2024 and found ODNR had entered 2,300 oil/gas incidents in those eight years. What’s worse, she said, is how the ODNR categorizes these incidents.
According to Morgan, the ODNR classifies accidents into five categories: information-only, minor, moderate, major and severe. The criteria for each level is based on factors such as the duration of the incident, the resources needed to respond, the quantity of materials spilled and the level of impact on public safety and the environment.
If an event is classified as an information-only accident, the situation can be controlled and stabilized in less than 4 hours with little to no resource needs.
Minor events result in minimal public safety or environmental impact, while moderate events cause considerable impact.
Major events, like those of K&H injection wells runoff, create sizable public safety or environmental concerns.
Severe accidents result in significant public safety or environmental impact with uncontrolled impact that will take 24 hours or more to contain the hazards.
Despite these guidelines, Morgan said she still questions the accuracy of some accidents’ classification.
“Today, I'm looking at a spill that is 50 barrels of oil spilled,” Morgan said. “The release breached the dike wall, continued across the leased road and into an agricultural field, so that's definitely in the environment … and yet, ODNR says that a 30-day post-incident report is not required.”
Concerns like Morgan’s are not new to members of OOGA, such as Mike Chadsey, the director of external affairs. Chadsey said a large part of his job is educating people on the specifics of fracking.
“Things that are not often understood can be confusing or concerning, and so I've always responded to those (concerns by) trying to explain the physics and the geology, the chemistry and the science,” Chadsey said. “I understand the concern. I appreciate the concern … I would argue some of it is intentionally confused because we are somewhat of an often discussed industry.”
Chadsey argues the nearly 80-year-old practice is like any industrial process – it has risks. He said that while the OOGA does not support any energy sector more than another, it advocates for public policies and regulations that mitigate risks associated with fracking, including worker safety and environmental protections.
“We lead a group called STEPS, which stands for service, transmission, exploration, production and safety,” Chadsey said. “We meet quarterly with usually about somewhere between 75 and 100 folks show up, and we talk about safety concepts.”
He also suggested people of varying fracking opinions should have conversations about what the process means for their community.
“It's just a different perspective,“ Chadsey said. "There's maybe a partisan tint to it, and energy across the board should not be partisan. Whether you support it or oppose it, or like it or don't like it, or understand it or don't understand it, continue to engage in the process.”
Although the process is controversial, there are nearly 16,000 acres of Ohio state parks up for lease approval. Chadsey said he hopes to continue to see the success of the oil and natural gas industry in the coming years.
“The one thing that does separate oil and gas from coal, wind, solar, hydro and nuclear, is that those harness the wind, other things to make electrons,” Chadsey said. “You can't make anything from wind electricity except electricity … that's not to take away from that, but oil and gas makes electricity, but we also make products.”
