Ohio national forest OKs gas, oil drilling

CINCINNATI (AP) — The U.S. Forest Service says the shale drilling technique known as hydraulic fracturing can take place in a national forest in southeast Ohio.

Forest Supervisor Anne Carey says the plan can adequately address any damage and risks to the forest from the gas extraction method also known as fracking.

She also says there is no need for a new environmental impact study.

A forest service report was released today after a study of a land and resource management plan drafted in 2006 for the Wayne National Forest.

Officials began reviewing the technology and the 2006 plan after local governments and environmental groups objected to the proposed leasing of more than 3,000 acres of mineral rights for oil and gas drilling. The review delayed an auction of those rights.