The Ohio Oil and Gas Land Management Commission approved more than 8,500 acres of state land for fracking in a 20-minute meeting on March 27. The approvals included 8,233 acres of the Egypt Valley Wildlife Area in Belmont County and 513 acres of Salt Fork State Park in Guernsey County.
Hydraulic fracturing or fracking is a process that forces a mixture of water, sand and chemicals into the earth to crack rock formations and extract natural gas and oil, according to the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.
Now that the nominations are approved, the bidding process begins. Karina Cheung, press secretary for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, discussed what that process will look like…