Ohio locked in nearly 8,000 acres of state land for oil and gas drilling before Gov.-elect Amy Acton could take office — and the contracts don't come with a cancellation clause for politicians who change their minds.
The six leases, covering mineral rights beneath Egypt Valley Wildlife Area, Jockey Hollow Wildlife Area, and Salt Fork State Park, were signed between August and October, before Election Day. Acton defeated Republican Vivek Ramaswamy after promising to stop fracking beneath state-owned land. But the five complete leases reviewed by cleveland.com establish multiyear rights, and none grants the state a general right to cancel just because a new governor objects.
The Ohio Oil and Gas Land Management Commission, a panel of five gubernatorial appointees, selected the winning bids on June 29. The companies — Gulfport Appalachia LLC, Ascent Resources-Utica LLC, Grenadier Energy III LLC, and INR Ohio LLC — now hold five-year terms with three-year extension options. The agreements can stretch even further if drilling or production meets certain thresholds. That means these rights could outlast Acton's entire four-year term.
And the commission isn't done. Two new nominations were submitted Oct. 13 to frack 618.9 acres beneath Monroe Lake Wildlife Area, a 1,325-acre property popular with hunters and fishers, according to EUROPE SAYS. The commission has already approved thousands of acres of Ohio's state lands for fracking, including portions of Egypt Valley and Salt Fork.
The environmental lobby is sounding alarms. Jen Bowman, director of environmental programs at Ohio University's Voinovich School, warned that even with surface protections, spills can migrate into waterways, and horizontal laterals can intersect abandoned gas wells, creating pathways for chemicals to reach the surface. Sociology professor Stephen Scanlan cited tree loss, noise and light pollution, disrupted migratory patterns, and greenhouse gas emissions. He noted that hunters and fishers often find themselves allied with environmentalists on these issues because both groups want undisturbed habitat and clean water.
The American Petroleum Institute tells a different story, pointing to a 2015 study that found the natural gas and oil industry supplied 10.3 million jobs and generated $1.3 trillion for the economy. That's the trade-off the establishment press rarely frames honestly: every restriction on domestic energy production is a bill somebody pays — at the pump, on the utility statement, or in strategic dependence on foreign regimes.
Ohio law prohibits drilling companies from using surface land on state properties unless the managing agency authorizes it. But the mineral rights beneath those properties are a different question, and the state has been leasing them out.
Acton will still hold authority over environmental enforcement, future leasing decisions, and agency property management. But those powers operate inside Ohio law and the rights the state has already granted. A change in governor or state policy isn't listed as grounds for cancellation in the executed contracts.
The question that matters to working Ohioans isn't whether the political class keeps its promises — it rarely does. The question is whether the energy infrastructure already locked in place keeps the lights on and the bills affordable, or whether the next administration finds a way to unwind contracts the state already signed.
