COLUMBUS, Ohio — A new Ohio Department of Natural Resources film promoting the beauty of the state’s parks is drawing criticism from environmental advocates, who say it ignores the risks posed by fracking on public lands.
Volunteers with Save Ohio Parks have been distributing brochures outside theaters and museums where Wild at Heart, an IMAX documentary showcasing Hocking Hills, Kelley’s Island, Magee Marsh, John Bryan, Mohican, Punderson, and Shawnee state parks, is being screened in cities including Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, and Toledo.
“We love our Ohio state parks,” said Anne Sparks, board member at Save Ohio Parks. “That’s why we need to protect them. Fracking pollutes our air and increases the risk for cancer and other illnesses. It depletes and contaminates our fresh water; destroys biodiversity; and heats the planet.”
The group is backing House Bill 399, sponsored by Reps. Tristan Rader, D‑Lakewood, and Christine Cockley, D‑Columbus, which would ban fracking in state parks and Lake Erie. The measure awaits a second hearing before the House Natural Resources Committee, chaired by Rep. Monica Blasdel, R‑New Waterford. Blasdel’s district includes East Palestine, where a 2023 Norfolk Southern train derailment and chemical explosion forced 2,000 residents to evacuate. Many residents there continue to report medical issues linked to the chemical release and soil contamination.
Advocates say fracking releases methane gas, which is 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide in trapping heat in the atmosphere. They cite studies showing children living within a mile of a fracking well pad face rare cancers at rates five to seven times higher than those farther away. Experts state that methane emissions have also been linked to adult cancers, asthma, COPD, infertility, thyroid disorders, hormone disruption, pre‑term births, and low birth weights.
This comes as new calls emerge to stop injection wells in the Buckeye State, and as new details surface about a pending data center project in Pike County. The facility is slated for construction at the former Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant, on a site that once housed one of the plant’s largest buildings. According to EPA documents, the location is among the most radioactively contaminated areas on the PORTS reserve.
Save Ohio Parks has staged outreach events in multiple cities and, along with a coalition of 30 environmental groups, asked Gov. Mike DeWine earlier this year to declare a moratorium on fracking leases under state parks. The governor has not responded.
“It’s clear Ohio lawmakers have not considered negative health, environmental, and planet-warming harms of continuing to embrace a fossil fuels energy policy,” Sparks said. “We have the technology available today to power much of Ohio with cheap, reliable, and emissions-free renewable energy like wind and solar. There is no need for the state to frack our state parks and public lands.”
The group also warns that proposed artificial intelligence data centers in Ohio could lock in natural gas use if they rely on fossil‑fuel power plants, further increasing methane emissions.
Ohio already faces high radon levels, with more than 2,500 residents dying of lung cancer each year, according to Save Ohio Parks.
The ODNR film continues to show statewide.