The Ohio Division of Oil and Gas Resources Management confirmed an explosion occurred just before 6 p.m. Thursday at a fracking well pad in Salt Fork State Park in Guernsey County. The fire at the Gulfport Appalachia well pad burned until around 1 p.m. Friday.
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources reported no one was injured during the explosion and fire, which was allowed to burn out naturally to avoid endangering first responders.
The state park is open.
Emergency responders from several Guernsey County agencies responded to the blast, including the Antrim Community Fire Department. Officials closed down State Route 22 and evacuated nearby residents while the fire burned.
ODNR spokesperson Karina Cheung said in an email that the well pad will be inactive while the division investigates the cause of the explosion and fire, and that wildlife and water sources weren't affected.
The pad was built in 2012 and is operated by Oklahoma-based Gulfport Appalachia. In 2020, the company was fined $1.7 million and ordered to spend $2 million upgrading oil and natural gas wells in Ohio, after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency found the company had systematic deficiencies in their vapor capture and control systems.
WOSU attempted to call the company, but did not reach anyone and was not able to leave a message.
According to Save Ohio Parks, an environmental advocacy group working to stop fracking in Ohio parks, the site of the explosion was a seven-minute drive from the park's entrance.
The group's spokesperson, Melinda Zemper, cited an analysis by FracTracker Alliance, that states Ohio has experienced 1,400 "incidents" related to oil and gas operations over the past five years, "one every 1.5 days —including fires, explosions, gas releases, loss of well control, transportation accidents..."
"It is not a matter of if, but when, a disaster will strike fracking operations near an Ohio state park, wildlife area, or other public land," Zemper stated.
"Ohio must stop selling off its most precious public lands for oil and gas extraction, and transition quickly to sustainable and renewable energy," Zemper said. "Any other choice sells out the future of our state and everyone who lives here."
