Midwest
Ohio commission awards bids to frack oil and gas under state parks, wildlife areas
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio commission awarded bids to frack oil and gas under state parks Monday, despite statewide backlash and an ongoing investigation into possibly fraudulent support.
The Ohio Oil and Gas Land Management Commission granted the mineral rights to several oil and gas companies, allowing them to frack for oil and gas under land owned by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and the Ohio Department of Transportation, including state parks and designated wildlife areas.
RFK JR’S VOW TO BAN FRACKING MET WITH INTENSE CRITICISM
The Texas-based Encino Energy Partners was granted the rights to frack under Valley Run Wildlife Area and Zepernick Wildlife Area. The West Virginia-based Infinity Natural Resources, LLC, can frack under Salt Fork State Park. These and other entities are now cleared to receive leases from the state and must discuss permits and other details with state regulators.
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources will receive $59.7 million in bonuses under the fracking leases and each lease includes a 12.5% royalty paid to the state for production.
Protesters pack a meeting of the Ohio Oil and Gas Land Management Commission in Columbus, Ohio on Monday, Feb. 26, 2024. The commission awarded bids to frack for oil and under public land Monday, including state parks and designated wildlife areas, to several oil and gas companies.
Fracking is a technique used to extract natural gas or oil from impermeable rock formations. Water, chemicals and sand are blasted into these formations at pressures high enough to crack the rock, which allows trapped gas and oil to flow to the surface.
The department said in an emailed statement that the leases include provisions such as water quality testing and restricted drilling times.
Commission chair Ryan Richardson also emphasized at the Monday meeting that according to the language in the awarded leases, no surface areas of the parks would be disturbed by drilling as it would occur underground and the well pads would be offsite.
Richardson did not make herself available for comment Monday.
Protesters filled the meeting room as they have consistently since last year, when nominations for the land to be fracked were first discussed. Many cried “shame,” and held signs in front of the meeting’s livestream cameras. Some had makeup on their faces to appear diseased and wore sacks with signs that read “disease” and “drought” among other effects of climate change.
The commission has faced multiple legal challenges, including an appeal brought by Earthjustice, a nonprofit that helps litigate environmental issues. The organization filed it in Franklin County Court of Common Pleas last year, on behalf of advocacy groups including the Ohio Environmental Council and Save Ohio Parks, among others.
The groups were appealing the state’s decision to open up the land to bids last November, arguing that the commission did not follow the bidding process outlined in state law and violated the state’s open meetings requirements.
But a Franklin county judge said that the groups lacked authority to bring the appeal in the first place and dismissed the appeal Friday.
“Climate change is real, and it is here,” Save Ohio Parks’ steering committee said in a statement. “Salt Fork State Park, Valley Run Wildlife Area, and Zepernick Wildlife Area are just the first to come under attack. Save Ohio Parks will continue advocating to protect our public lands.”
Fracking opponents decried the commission as being “sheep” and giving in to corporate greed at the expense of Ohio greenspace. They also say the commission lacks transparency, as there have been no public hearings on the bids and they didn’t know who was bidding on the land, despite the lands being taxpayer funded.
State law mandates that the entities who nominated the land for fracking and those that bid on the land must remain anonymous until the bidding process is complete. The amounts that companies paid for land mineral rights was not immediately disclosed.
Opponents have also criticized the commission for continuing the process amid an investigation by the Ohio Attorney General’s office into possibly fraudulent letters sent in support of fracking.
A Cleveland.com investigation last fall found that over a hundred Ohio residents said their names were attached to form letters sent to the commission in a public comment period without their knowledge — all of them urging state parks to allow fracking.
The letters could be traced back to multiple pro-oil entities, including Consumer Energy Alliance, a Texas-based pro-oil and gas organization. The alliance has denied collecting names without permission and has called Cleveland.com’s coverage of the situation “libelous.”
“CEA has cooperated fully with the Attorney-General’s Office at every step. While the situation is ongoing, we can make no further comment,” Bryson Hull, a spokesperson for the alliance, said in an emailed statement.
A spokesperson for the Ohio Attorney General’s office said they are still completing the investigation and will make information available “at the appropriate time.”
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CHICAGO — A state board unanimously voted Thursday to approve a 204-page report detailing its investigations into misconduct by on-duty federal immigration agents amid Operation Midway Blitz.
It is also sending letters to local law enforcement agencies for potential prosecution of the agents. The letters are not determinations of guilt, but requests for further investigation by the relevant agencies.
“Where that record establishes reasonable cause to believe that misconduct may have occurred, we implore those responsible to ensure that this information is reviewed and that it is handled in an appropriate fashion,” said Patricia Brown Holmes, vice chair of the body.
The Illinois Accountability Commission, created by Gov. JB Pritzker through executive order last October, was tasked with forming a public record to document the impact of the federal immigration campaign on Chicago communities, but also to produce recommendations for harm reduction and prevention of future abuses.
To inform its report, the commission conducted 16 investigations for which it interviewed over 60 people, reviewed nearly 100 hours of body camera footage from 250 videos, and reviewed hundreds of hours more of footage from security cameras, personal devices and social media, according to commission officials.
It also held seven private neighborhood listening sessions and five public hearings, featuring testimony from law enforcement experts, community advocates and everyday Chicagoans.
“Documenting this was easy,” Commission Chair Rubén Castillo said. “The record is overwhelming; the video tapes are overwhelming. They’re devastating. They’re shameful. They’re brutal.”
RELATED | Woman shot by federal agents in Chicago testifies on 2nd day of Illinois Accountability Commission
Prosecution referrals
One of the referrals letters names Border Patrol agents Benito Nuñez, Carlos Chavira and Jesus Guillen, who the commission said used an intentional, high-speed car ramming maneuver in Chicago’s East Side neighborhood after being repeatedly instructed to stop by supervisors.
Body camera footage released by the commission shows the agents proceeded to use teargas on a street of onlookers in the Far Southeast Side neighborhood, including more than a dozen Chicago police officers who had explicitly asked agents not to deploy the gas.
Others name Border Patrol agent Charles Exum, who shot Chicago teacher’s aide Marimar Martinez five times last October and then bragged about it over text, and Border Patrol agent Timothy Donahue, who made headlines for aggressive conduct in Evanston last Halloween.
In some cases, the commission was unable to identify specific agents involved. For example, a military-style raid on a South Shore apartment building references approximately 300 agents who may have broken agency policy or criminal law.
The commission says that’s due to its limited powers, which do not include the authority to issue subpoenas. That’s why it says law enforcement agencies should carry forward the cases, including the Cook County state’s attorney’s office.
“The issuance of this report is not the end, it is the beginning,” Castillo said. “We need a reckoning to occur.”
Commissioners said they hoped other states would follow Illinois’s lead, calling it an example for the nation.
SEE ALSO | Newly released video captures Border Patrol shooting of Chicago woman in Brighton Park
The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement, “This is nothing more than a political stunt by Illinois sanctuary politicians. Federal officers acting in the course of their duties can only be investigated by other Federal agencies. The states do not have the authority to run such an investigation.
“Governor Pritzker continues to refuse to do his job to protect his citizens from illegal alien crime and instead chooses to smear our law enforcement. Where is the investigation into his own policies that allowed Sheridan Gorman’s killer to be released from jail to go on and commit her heinous murder?”
Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service covering state government. It is distributed to hundreds of print and broadcast outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation, along with major contributions from the Illinois Broadcasters Foundation and Southern Illinois Editorial Association.
GARY, Ind. – A Gary, Ind. man was arrested after opening fire on U.S. Marshals who were attempting to serve an arrest warrant, prompting a SWAT response, according to the Lake County Sheriff.
Around 7:30 a.m. on Thursday, U.S. Marshals Service police officers tried to serve an arrest warrant to a 46-year-old man at a home in the 700 block of Matthews Street in Gary, Ind. When they approached the residence, the suspect opened fire on the officers, according to police.
After multiple requests to surrender, the Lake County SWAT team used an armored car to breach the home, pushing through a door and removing the windows. Eventually, officers say the man approached a window with his hands up and was taken into custody.
No one was injured, according to police.
The Source: Details for this story were provided by the Lake County Sheriff.
SHELBY COUNTY, Iowa (KCRG) – A 19-year-old man has died after his motorcycle crashed with a farm sprayer vehicle.
According to the Iowa State Patrol, the crash happened around 7:25 p.m. Wednesday on County Road M16 in Shelby.
Both vehicles were traveling north, with the motorcycle behind the sprayer. The sprayer began to turn left into a driveway, when the motorcycle rear-ended the farm vehicle.
The motorcycle landed in the west ditch of the road.
The driver, Jacob Buman, from Harlan, died at the scene.
The sprayer driver was uninjured.
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