Drilling has its hazards

Drilling has its hazards

Akron Beacon Journal: A potential boom in drilling for natural gas trapped in deep shale formations poses a new threat to the Cuyahoga Valley National Park.

The park service recognizes well the potential for disruptive and damaging drilling activities, a 2009 report correctly concluding that hydraulic fracturing is an ‘’industrial activity with a host of environmental consequences.” Besides affecting water quality, drillers use heavy equipment, generating noise, dust and air pollution.

In view of the potential problems, the park service is taking appropriate precautions to strengthen federal protections. After the public comment period, the Department of Interior should waste no time in finalizing and adopting them.

Without federal regulations that apply to all activities within the boundaries of the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, some drillers on private land would fall under the regulations of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.

At the urging of Gov. John Kasich, the department is diverging sharply from where the feds are headed. It seeks to open state parks to drilling, the state taking a cut. The department has proposed creating an oversight board that gives greater weight to the oil and gas industry than environmental interests. Such an approach puts profit ahead of preservation.