Environmental Assessment

Environmental Assessment of Eastern Campus

In 2011, as the Oil and Gas industry began to raise the attention of college campuses nationwide with regard to mineral extraction, President Roderick McDavis proactively formed the Ad Hoc Mineral Rights Committee and charged the group with gathering data and undertaking community assessments to provide guidance and input to the Board of Trustees should varying social, environmental and financial decisions need to be made with regard to the responsible management of OHIO’s mineral rights.

At the January 2012 Board of Trustees meeting, then-Chair C. Robert Kidder requested that the University prepare a report regarding the implementation of Ohio House Bill (HB) 133 related to oil and gas extraction on state owned properties and the protection of University mineral rights under that statute. In April 2012, with the assistance of the Voinovich School, a full report was provided by the Ad Hoc Mineral Rights Committee to the Board of Trustees. This report outlined the University’s fiduciary rights and responsibilities under the statute, the implications of horizontal high-pressure hydraulic fracturing to extract oil and gas on University owned land, a preliminary economic analysis that required continued data gathering over time and a recommendation on the structure of a lease for University mineral rights to a third party entity, as well as measures to implement such a lease in the event one is executed.

The Ad Hoc Mineral Rights Committee further recommended a campus-by-campus decision as to whether or not the leasing of their mineral rights was in the best interest of that campus. In particular, the Eastern campus was identified as that campus most likely to be impacted by the issue of mineral extraction given the activity that was evident on neighboring properties. The report further called for the University to develop a baseline data assessment of any at-risk locations should the need occur.

n 2014, Ohio University Board of Trustees, based on the recommendation by staff, requested that a full inventory of baseline assessments be executed on the Eastern Campus. The Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Affairs was commissioned to prepare a baseline assessment of water, air and ecosystems on all Eastern Campus lands.

Read the Full Report (PDF 9MB).

Summary of Findings

The summary of findings included in this report suggests that the water, air and ecosystems present on the Eastern Campus are currently within safe standards. Ongoing research should continue to ensure that negative changes do not occur due to the increasing rate of mineral extraction occurring in this particular region of the state. The report further recommends the installation of a shallow well of approximately 75 feet in depth on the Eastern Campus for the purpose of ongoing water sampling. The report also recommends additional air quality monitoring be conducted to quantify current and future air quality conditions and source receptor impacts, specifically local and regional hydraulic fracturing operations

Additionally, it is important to note that Ohio University is home to a rare asset which is Dysart Woods. The report further recommends additional efforts need to be considered to protect this resource by limiting or prohibiting truck access on its lands and we will be investigating the possibility of achieving this goal.

It should be further noted that Ohio University is one of a small fraction of institutions nationwide which are proactively seeking the health and well-being of its communities, natural environment and built environments by seeking baseline assessment data in response to potential threats of neighboring extraction practices. Such innovative and proactive behavior further exemplifies this institution’s commitment to sustainability and the safety of its constituents.