Oil and gas drilling impacts? Talk aims to show bigger picture

The environmental impacts of oil and gas production “are much broader than what most people consider,” says Joe Bonnell, who hopes to show farmers, landowners and others the bigger picture. Bonnell, who is watershed management program director for CFAES’s statewide outreach arm, OSU Extension, will present “Environmental Impacts of Shale Gas Extraction” twice at the upcoming Farm Science Review. Times and other details. Sponsored by CFAES, the Review goes from Sept. 16-18 at the Molly Caren Agricultural Center near London, Ohio.

Three points of view on new gas drilling impacts

Joseph Campbell of CFAES’s School of Environment and Natural Resources, who heads the college’s Social Responsibility Initiative, will be one of three featured speakers at “The Effects of Fracking” from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 9, at Ohio State in Columbus. Presenting the program is Ohio State’s chapter of the Alexander Hamilton Society.

Fracking’s effect on housing values?

CFAES professor Allen Klaiber spoke yesterday (12/13) with WVIZ-TV, Cleveland, on the impact of shale drilling on nearby property values (includes link to audio). The story comes from Portage County in northeast Ohio. Read Klaiber’s co-authored paper, “Is the Shale Boom a Bust for Nearby Residents? Evidence from Housing Values in Pennsylvania,” here (pdf).

Tuesday: ‘Oil and gas drilling in public water well fields’

Julie Weatherington-Rice, a geologist, soil scientist, and adjunct assistant professor in our Department of Food, Agricultural, and Biological Engineering, discusses “Oil and Gas Drilling in Public Water Well Fields” this coming Tuesday (8/28) at 1:50 p.m. Free and open to the public. 219 Agricultural Engineering Building, 590 Woody Hayes Drive, Columbus, with a video link to 108 Administration Building, OARDC, 1680 Madison Ave., Wooster.

Update: Weatherington-Rice presented “Mineral Exploration and Extraction in Public Water Well Fields: An Ohio Legal and Public Policy Perspective” at an Ohio Environmental Council meeting last month. Here’s the slideshow from her presentation.

Testing if microbes can treat fracking waste

Can the microbes in fracking wastewater actually be put to use treating that wastewater? Angela Hartsock of the National Energy Technology Lab discusses her work this Friday (March 30). Her talk: “Microbes in Water Used for Hydraulic Fracturing of Deep Shale for Natural Gas Extraction.” It’s a free public seminar sponsored by the Environmental Science Graduate Program. 244 Kottman Hall, 2120 Fyffe Road, on our Columbus campus. Video link to 121 Fisher Auditorium, 1680 Madison Ave., at OARDC in Wooster. Info: 614-292-9762.