Ohio's certified organic farmers are worried about the Utica shale boom in eastern Ohio.
The fear is that air and water emissions from nearby drilling could require farmers to loe their organic certification, Matthew Starline, whose farm near Athens in southeast Ohio is surrounded by leased land, told Ohio's Public Service News.
Ohio has 500 certified organic operations that cover 53,000 acres, much of that acreage in areas where Utica shale is found.
The 300-member Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association supports a moratorium on drilling in Ohio. It also wants to see local control reinstated in Ohio laws.
There is little local control with the process largely directed by the Ohio Department of Natural resources.
Chesapeake Energy Corp,the Oklahoma-based firm is the No. 1 driller in Ohio.
Rig Count Interactive Map by Baker Hughes, an energy services company.
Shale Sheet Fracking, a Youngstown Vindicator blog.
The Ohio Environmental Council, a statewide eco-group based in Columbus.
Earthjustice, a national eco-group.
People's Oil and Gas Collaborative-Ohio, a grass-roots group in Northeast Ohio.
Concerned Citizens of Medina County, a grass-roots group.
No Frack Ohio, a Columbus-based grass-roots group.
Fracking: Gas Drilling's Environmental Threat by ProPublica, an online journalism site.
Pipeline, blog from Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Marcellus shale drilling.
Allegheny Front, environmental public radio for Western Pennsylvania.