ANTRIM — A group of activists working to halt hydraulic fracturing operations on public lands in Ohio cited last week’s well pad explosion in Guernsey County to justify its objections to that practice in general, as well as to bids for such operations being awarded to Guilfport Appalahcia.

On Thursday evening, the Antrim Volunteer Fire Department chief posted videos on its Facebook page of a fire at a well pad just off U.S. 22. The location is a 5.7 miles from the entrance to Salt Fork State Park. Reports indicate the fire was caused by an explosion at the Groh well pad, owned by Gulfport Appalachia. Drone footage found one tank had completely collapsed with a second tank breached, the fire chief said.

Authorities in consultation with Gulfport decided to let the fire burn itself out. U.S. 22 was closed for several hours and an evacuation was called for everyone in a half-mile radius. No injuries were reported.

“If you are getting the fumes and smoke, please leave your home and go to the firehouse. We’ll get you documented. If you’re having difficulties with breathing … we have an EMS crew waiting,” the chief said in a video on social media. “There is nothing we can do safely to put the fire out.”

Save Ohio Parks, a group that opposes drilling and fracking of public lands, pointed out that Gulfport already was involved in a $3.7 million settlement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. In January 2020, the EPA announced a settlement with Gulfport over pollution from its oil and gas operations in Ohio.

The consent decree included $1.7 million in penalties for emissions of 313 tons per year of volatile organic compounds, Save Ohio Parks noted in a release, as well as a required $2 million investment to improve 17 well pads in Eastern Ohio, including the Groh well pad.

Save Ohio Parks also questioned whether the Ohio Department of Natural Resources is ODNR “practicing due diligence” in monitoring oil and gas extraction companies in the state.

“We are immensely lucky that no one was at the well pad when this explosion took place,” Save Ohio Parks wrote. “We are also lucky this did not occur on one of the many well pads within a few hundred feet of Salt Fork State Park or other public lands; otherwise, the outcome would have been very different.”

The Oil and Gas Land Management Commission has awarded seven bids for oil and gas extraction from public lands to Gulfport Appalachia. These bids include: 9.3 acres along Ohio 800 and Ohio 148 in Belmont County, 120.5 acres along Ohio 7 in Belmont County, 3.1 acres along Ohio 331 in Belmont County, 1.3 acres along Ohio 78 in Monroe County, 2.8 acres along Ohio 26 in Belmont County, 4.7 acres along Ohio 800 in Monroe County and 30.3 acres in Egypt Valley Wildlife Area in Belmont County.

According to Save Ohio Parks, bid paperwork for the seven bids awarded to Gulfport Appalachia show lapsed insurance in 2023 or before.

“One must wonder, with disasters like this on a Gulfport well pad, does it have current insurance? What if this explosion had occurred at one of the seven public lands they have been approved to frack? Who will bear the cost of cleaning up after this explosion?” the group wrote.

“Ohio must stop selling off its most precious public lands for oil and gas extraction, and transition quickly to sustainable and renewable energy,” Save Ohio Parks concluded. “Any other choice sells out the future of our state and everyone who lives here.”