In the heart of the 2012 presidential election, critics of Republican nominee Mitt Romney claimed that, if elected, the newly minted president would unleash an intense fracking campaign — one that would rip through the nation’s suburbs and national parks, leaving a path of destruction along the way.
Romney wasn’t elected, yet the fears touted by his critics are unfolding in the heart of American suburban communities and national forests, and had been long before Romney hit the campaign trail.
The fracking industry has taken over the U.S., with more than 500,000 oil-producing wells located in rural and suburban land throughout the country in 2012.
Inside the boundaries of the suburban community of Broadview Heights, Ohio, eight oil companies are operating more than 80 frack wells, most of which are within eyesight. The community is split between those who have leased their land to the oil industry, and the neighbors whose views have been invaded by oil wells.
The issue tearing the Ohio community apart is common in states sitting atop oil-rich formations, including the Marcellus Shale of Pennsylvania, New York, West Virginia and Ohio. With a goal of reaching energy independence by 2030, oil companies are unleashing crews throughout the formation.
“The industry has expanded into a lot of places where they weren’t before,” Amy Mall, senior analyst for the Natural Resources Defense Council, told Mint Press News in an April interview. “A lot more communities have been impacted in the last five or so years because of exploration of the shale oil and gas formations. There were a lot of communities that were not the target of that industry that are now.”
Broadview Heights — pushing for homeowners’ rights
In 2012, Broadview Heights resident Susan Fowler was crafting an escape plan.
Years prior, her pleasant home and wooded backyard view underwent a few changes when the land bordering her property was leased to an oil company.
Several fracking wells were constructed within view of her home, starting in 2008 — a time when information related to domestic drilling was sparse.
The Ford design engineer claims that, shortly after well construction, her family began to show signs of illness — vomiting and headaches were commonplace. And so they made plans to leave, discovering through the process that the value of her home had dropped drastically — from $389,000 to $251,000.
“You couldn’t pay me to live in Ohio again,” she told The Plain Dealer. “It was our dream home. Now it’s a lovely home right on top of an industrial site. We feel like refugees from our city and our state.”
With more than 80 fracking wells throughout the community of 19,000, the scenario experienced by Fowler and her family is not uncommon.
“The trees are our saving grace right now,” resident Michelle Aini told Truthout, explaining they serve as a buffer to the view beyond.
The trees might do the trick for scenery, but a growing number of residents are now concerned the oil boom will to greater health issues.
Mothers taking a stand
A group of Ohio mothers formed a coalition to advocate against the widespread suburban fracking spread across the state.
Mothers Against Drilling In Our Neighborhoods (MADION), was created as an advocacy arm of concerned residents, monitoring the situation across the state and pushing for reform.
At the top of their list of causes is a homeowners’ bill of rights, drafted with the intent of providing homeowners living near oil wells a means to protect their land properties from market value decline and diminished water quality.
“Democracy is about the people creating the rules that we live by and these rules should not be forced upon us by legislators or corporations simply because they have more power or money,” it states on the organization’s website.
While other communities in frack-heavy states have chosen to push for moratoriums on the process altogether, it’s no longer an option for Ohio residents. In 2004, Gov. Bob Taft made a preemptive move, eliminating local governments’ right to restrict oil drilling within city limits.
No longer in office, Taft’s policies persist, to the delight of the oil industry.
Colorado and New York are now in the midst of the same battle Taft addressed nearly a decade ago. Facing growing discontent with the fracking industry in Colorado, Gov. John Hickenlooper in February claimed he wouldn’t tolerate local bans, claiming he’d go so far as to take the issue to court.
In May, a New York state appeals court ruled in favor of communities implementing bans on the fracking industry, giving a victory to those attempting to keep the industry from entering their communities.
Throughout the U.S., roughly 350 communities have taken action to halt fracking in their backyards. Yet even with moratoriums, as proved in New York and Colorado, the fight is never over. With the International Energy Agency claiming the U.S. will likely meet energy independence by 2030, oil companies with deep pockets know the stakes in the game are high.