\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
On June 29, 2026, the Ohio Oil and Gas Land Management Commission<\/a> approved a final set of bids that opened up 13,000 acres of land in Egypt Valley Wildlife Area<\/a> to fracking. The announcement of fracking in the wildlife area\u00a0\u2014 which is\u00a0located about two hours from Columbus and about 90 minutes from Pittsburgh\u00a0\u2014\u00a0has stirred up a hornet’s nest. “Egypt Valley has already been through decades of strip mining, with scars still visible across the land. Now just as the forests, grasslands, and ponds are starting to recover, oil and gas companies want to frack it,” protests Save Ohio Parks<\/a>, a non-profit aimed at protecting public land from fracking and oil operations.<\/p>\n The area’s approximately 70-year-long history of strip mining for coal had once nearly decimated its environment,\u00a0reducing water access and destroying farms in favor of quick, cheap coal. According to a 1970 New York Times<\/a> article, the strip mine produced almost 5 million tons of coal a year, and “nearly obliterated the township of Kirkwood” in the process. In 1995,\u00a0the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) acquired the land, turning it into a natural preserve and recreation spot. The ODNR slowly introduced new animals and fish into the area and allowed nature to reclaim itself.<\/p>\n Decades later, this former mining area\u00a0is a serene ecological haven. Grasslands, brushlands,\u00a0and second- and third-growth timber have covered up the mining sites, and animals thrive in the backwoods.\u00a0Egypt Valley is now home to a robust population of river otters, which were successfully reintroduced here in the 1990s, and it’s an important stop for migratory birds, like eagles and ospreys. Deer and rabbits sneak between the bushes, while ducks and waterfowl bob along the water.\u00a0Even species that aren’t typically found in this part of Ohio are often spotted here, like the short-eared owl or northern harrier.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Fracking accidents could affect Egypt Valley’s delicate environment<\/p>\n Fracking has long been protested for its negative effects on natural environments. It pumps high-pressure jets of water, sand, and other chemicals into the ground, which breaks up rock and soil, while also releasing trapped oils or gases. Accidents at a fracking site can release pollutants into the air\u00a0and leak toxic chemicals from contaminated wastewater into other, nearby water sources.<\/p>\n These kinds of fracking accidents are more common than one would think. Fractracker<\/a> recorded approximately\u00a01,900 incidents between 2015 and 2025 in Ohio alone, many of which\u00a0went largely unnoticed. The fracking accidents that do make headlines highlight the devastating effects on the environment, like the 2014\u00a0explosion at a Halliburton fracking site, which leaked toxic chemicals into the Ohio River and killed approximately 70,000 fish (per the Natural Resources Defense Council)<\/a>.\u00a0There was also a 2023 oil spill<\/a>\u00a0that severely contaminated the Tuscarawas River near the pretty parks of the “Magic City” of Barberton<\/a>. While there’s no guarantee similar accidents will occur in Egypt Valley, the possibility doesn’t bode well for the area’s streams and ponds, which could become as polluted as the Ohio River, one of America’s dirtiest rivers<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 further affecting the area’s vegetation and wildlife.<\/p>\n While the ODNR has submitted a proposal<\/a>\u00a0to protect the area’s wildlife during fracking, Egypt Valley Wildlife Area still faces a grim future, as\u00a0a 2013 law<\/a>\u00a0allows companies to withhold information about the combination of toxic substances used in fracking by claiming it as a “trade secret.” It also allows companies 60 days after finishing operations to disclose the substances used\u00a0\u2014 in other words, long after any preemptive measures can be taken.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n The future of recreation at Egypt Valley Wildlife Area<\/p>\n It’s scary to think of the consequences of potential\u00a0fracking accidents, but what if everything goes right? What if there are no explosions, no oil spills, and no gas leaks? Unfortunately, even if everything goes well, fracking will still affect the recreation opportunities that Egypt Valley currently offers.<\/p>\n Fracking uses up freshwater resources at an alarming rate, with little of that water ever returned to the water cycle. Fracking companies\u00a0typically source water from nearby waterways, which, in Egypt Valley’s case, is likely to be\u00a0the popular outdoor recreation backdrop of Piedmont Lake<\/a>. Currently, the lake is popular for boating and fishing, but fracking could deplete its water to a level that may make it unsuitable for recreation or sustaining a sizable fish population, especially if combined with a drought. The Muskingum Watershed Conservancy learned all about this in 2024, when they were temporarily forced to stop selling Atwood Lake’s water to oil and gas companies (via News from the States<\/a>).<\/p>\n Egypt Valley is also a popular game hunting site, which will likely change once drilling begins in earnest. The loud noises and bright lights associated with fracking are known to drive animals away or change their behavior. In one study reported in The Wildlife Society<\/a>, deer and rabbits\u00a0\u2014 two popular game animals in Egypt Valley\u00a0\u2014 were found to avoid busy roads and natural gas facilities, respectively.\u00a0Fracking also involves significant logistical operations to bring in construction equipment, manage wastewater “flowback<\/a>,” and transport materials to and from the site. That means more roads built, more trucks moving, and more noise\u00a0ruining the quiet, remote nature of Egypt Valley, which currently has almost no vehicular traffic. Similar disruptions have already been reported in other areas with large-scale fracking operations (via Allegheny Front<\/a>).<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
On June 29, 2026, the Ohio Oil and Gas Land Management Commission…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":258114,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[73,75,74],"class_list":["post-258113","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh-headlines","tag-pittsburgh-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258113","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=258113"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258113\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/258114"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=258113"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=258113"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=258113"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}