When Jill Antares Hunkler bought land in Belmont County, Ohio, in 2007, she never imagined that her home would be surrounded by 78 oil and gas fracking wells a decade later, she said.

"I wanted to build my home where I had roots," Hunkler, a seventh-generation Ohio Valley resident, told
. "It was a place where I could live a more traditional, natural life."

Hunkler's three-acre property at the headwaters of the Captina Creek Watershed was one of hundreds in the area that, she said, became a target for fracking operations.

Her property is situated on the Utica and Marcellus Shales within the Appalachian Basin, geological formations known to contain substantial reserves of oil and natural gas.

As of April 2024, the Marcellus Shale held approximately 120 million barrels of oil, while the Utica Shale contained 2.3 million barrels, according to the United States Geological Survey .

There are 1,625 fracking wells in Belmont County this year, representing a 25% increase from 2023, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR), which oversees unitization orders in the state.

Hunkler explained that when oil and gas representatives known as "landmen" started contacting her, visiting her home, and sending repeated notices, she learned about the state's unitization laws . She realized that the fate of her land was largely outside her control, she said.

"Honestly, it still brings tears to my eyes," Hunkler shared.

What is unitization?

Unitization involves merging several land parcels into a single operational unit for the purpose of fracking, according to ODNR .

Instead of drilling multiple wells on separate properties, which can be inefficient, unitization combines adjacent properties over a reservoir to allow for a more organized approach to extracting oil or gas.

Because it encompasses multiple properties, most neighbors in the area must apply to lease their land, according to state law.

In Ohio, 65% of property owners within a project area must sign an application to lease their property for drilling before proceeding, according to ODNR.

This leaves a group of dissenting or "non-participatory" landowners who are compelled to have fracking operations in their area, even if it's not on their own land.

Unitization has been permitted in Ohio since 1965, but the past decade has seen a surge in unitization orders to meet the demands of fracking operations.

The ODNR issued 112 unitization orders in 2022 and nearly 100 in 2023, according to ODNR records .

Before 2021, which saw 73 unitization orders issued, the ODNR enacted fewer than 50 orders per year between 2012 and 2020, according to records.

Negotiating a lease

Supporters believe fracking brings jobs back to the region, which historically relied on coal and steel manufacturing, and provides residents with the opportunity to earn passive income by leasing land.

"Natural gas production has been incredibly beneficial for Ohio," state Sen. George Lang and two researchers stated in a 2023 press release posted on the Ohio Senate website. "The shale revolution has been the primary driver of the state's economic growth since the late 1990s. Ohio now ranks sixth among states in natural gas production, exporting to our neighbors and the world."

Ohio law requires landowners to receive "just and reasonable" compensation for leasing sites, which can vary depending on location, under state law.

In 2024, some local drilling companies reported paying landowners an average of $500 per acre, but lease bonus payments in southeast Ohio can range from $3,000–$6,000 per acre, according to McCleery Law Firm , which provides consultation and legal services to landowners considering entering, or impacted by, a leasing agreement.

"It is also an area where landowners are frequently exploited," the firm states in their "Landowner's Guide."

"This is because landmen often offer significantly lower prices per acre if they suspect you are unfamiliar with the market. Without understanding the fair market value, an increase of two thousand dollars per acre might seem appealing, when in reality, the initial offer was simply unreasonably low," the firm asserts.

Property owners also share in the profits from the gas produced, typically receiving a 12.5% royalty, according to the ODNR.

Similar to Hunkler's experience, a research paper published recently in Nature Energy analyzed detailed records of interactions between landmen and 37 property owners in Ohio to examine potential disadvantages faced by landowners during lease negotiations.

The records covered the period from January 2014 to April 2021, a time marked by a surge in fracking activity in the state, according to the study.

Researchers discovered that companies employed persistent and personal tactics to overcome landowner hesitation, such as frequent in-person visits, phone calls, and in some cases, even contacting family members and neighbors.

The study referred to a log of communications between a landman and a property owner in Noble County, Ohio.

"When their phone calls go unanswered, they send letters. When these are returned with 'REFUSED' handwritten across them, landmen make personal visits to her home. When she refuses to open the door, they speak to her neighbors and family members," according to the study.

When property owners consistently refused all requests, the study revealed widespread use of compulsory unitization.

"In approximately 40% of the wells drilled in Ohio, compulsory unitization applications were employed due to the lack of voluntary consent from property owners," according to the research.

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources did not comment on claims against oil and gas agents to
.

Changed way of life

"People that don't live in southeast Ohio have no concept of what it's like," Randi Pokladnik, a lifelong resident of the Ohio River Valley and retired research chemist, told
about fracking in the area.

"It sounds like a jet engine roaring in the dead of night, and you can smell the emissions. It's a relentless stream of sand trucks and fracking vehicles hauling brine," Pokladnik remarked.

She jokingly calls the nightly traffic the "brine truck parade."

Pokladnik and her husband own property in Tappan, Ohio, and despite declining lease requests from oil and gas representatives for over a decade, in February, Pokladnik's property was "force pooled" to participate without their permission.

"I was completely disgusted when I first received the notice in the mail that they were going to do this," Pokladnik said.

"This feels like the ultimate betrayal for someone who cares about the environment," she added.

Environmental and health effects

In 2017, the Environmental Protection Agency found scientific evidence that fracking could potentially affect drinking water resources under certain circumstances.

Chemicals used in fracking can seep through cracks in the rock and reach underground drinking water sources. Contamination could also occur if a well is not properly installed, if chemicals are spilled from trucks or tanks, or if flowback is not adequately contained, according to the agency.

The Yale School of Public Health found that fracking has raised concerns about its effect on the environment and human health due to wastewater and greenhouse gas emissions.

Responding to concerns about health and the environment, Rob Brundrett, president of the Ohio Oil & Gas Association stated that companies strive to ensure the safety of the properties they work on and the record speaks for itself.

Speaking about conventional fracking wells, Brundrett told Energy News Network , "The fact that there have been only three major incidents since 2018 demonstrates the industry's strict safety standards and procedures," Brundrett said.

"Considering that only 0.004% of Ohio oil and gas operations have had significant incidents in that time, I would say our industry's safety record is as good as any other manual industry in Ohio," he added.

These incidents include a gas leak, a crude oil spill, and a combustor fire, according to the publication.

ODNR asserts that they have addressed water well complaints since 1983 and none of the investigations uncovered groundwater quality issues related to fracking, according to a fracking informational document .

However, Pokladnik contends that the impacts of fracking in the Ohio River Valley are not isolated and should be considered by all.

"There are no protective coverings over these well pads, and everything we do here will inevitably contribute to increased climate change," Pokladnik stated.

"Even though you might not live here and won't have to deal with contaminated water or polluted air directly, it still impacts your life," she added.