Oil and gas companies have been pressuring Ohio landowners to allow hydraulic fracturing on their property and are turning to state law to force compliance when there is resistance, according to a study published this week in Nature Energy.
Fracking involves the injection of water, sand or chemical additives into a well to free up oil or gas reserves. According to the study, companies engaged in “bullying” tactics in the state over a seven-year period, including repeatedly contacting family members and neighbors of landowners or pressuring people while they were in the hospital.
“Whether you oppose fracking or support fracking, if it’s going to be done, it should be done well,” said Ben Farrer, lead author of the study and a visiting assistant professor of political science at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. “It’s happening every day, and I think the people who are most affected by it deserve to be treated well.”
The study examined cases where oil and gas companies submitted “compulsory unitization” applications to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.
