Conservation Groups Sue Over Wayne National Forest Fracking

Conservation groups are gearing up to sue the U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for failing to administer modern and up-to-date methods that ensure the health and safety of protected species threatened with extinction.

The Center for Biological Diversity, Ohio Environmental Council, Heartwood and Sierra Club claim the methods used to approve the site for fracking are outdated and fail to recognize the the effects of fracking, white-nose syndrome and climate change on endangered and protected species.

“Pipelines, well pads, and wastewater pits destroy habitat and harm people and wildlife,” said Nathan Johnson, an attorney with the Ohio Environmental Council. “These impacts are real. In 2014, a frack pad fire and chemical spill near the Wayne forced the evacuation of local residents and killed tens of thousands of fish and mussels.”

The 2014 Monroe County well pad fire resulted in the contamination of a creek near the national forest. Wastewater and fracking chemicals spilled into Opossum Creek — an Ohio River tributary — killing 70,000 fish over a five-mile stretch.

The groups have filed an intent to sue notice and an appeal with the secretary of the interior to challenge the December 2016 lease sale 18,000 acres of the Wayne National Forest’s Marietta Unit for leasing.

For more information, visit the Center for Biological Diversity.

Photo via Wayne National Forest. 

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