Stephen Heins
Energy Consultant
“The Word Merchant”

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The State of Ohio is reaping the benefits of the Shale Revolution; new business, jobs and revitalization are returning Ohio to its glory days.

In another sign that The State of Ohio is reinventing itself, the historical (1904) Dayton Arcade in downtown Dayton is undergoing a $90 million renovation, including a 90,000 Sq. Ft. Business Innovation Center by University of Dayton Business School.

Dayton Arcade

The University of Dayton and The Entrepreneurs Center have joined in partnership and submitted a letter of intent to become the anchor tenants of the Arcade Innovation Hub and will work together to bring other community, higher education, research and corporate partners into the space.

Scott Koorndyk, president of The Entrepreneurs Center, said: “The Hub will be visible proof that Dayton’s long heritage of innovation is alive, healthy, and growing. It’s exciting to partner with UD to make this iconic space in the heart of downtown more than just a symbol of our history, but a catalyst for the future of our region’s innovation economy.”
The Hub would also include in the rotunda for event space for academic and entrepreneurial programs as well as community events. Also envisioned is a community innovation center for neighborhood businesses and nonprofit ventures, with a special focus on women and minority-owned companies.

Along with the job creation from unconventional oil development of the Appalachian Basin, Ohio is becoming a major manufacturer of petrochemicals, Natural Gas infrastructure, and NG conversion of Midwestern power plants. Thanks to recent Tristate Agreement between Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ohio, cities like Dayton, Columbus and Youngstown are expected to return to their glory days.

Finally, the conversion from coal to natural gas for the new generation of power plants will reduce Ohio power plant emissions by 50 %. Also, the recently published report from the University of Cincinnati, Utica Groundwater Study should assuage the worries about Shale’s Quiet Revolution on Ohio groundwater.

Our friends from marcellusdrilling.com wrote this on the groundwater study:

From January 2012 to February 2015, researchers from the University of Cincinnati collected 180 groundwater samples in Eastern Ohio, from water wells located close to Utica Shale drilling activity. In early 2016, the lead researcher shared some high level results from the study. The preliminary results showed that fracking in areas where there are water wells doesn’t affect those wells.

Two anti-drilling groups were the primary funders of the study–Deer Creek Foundation in St. Louis and the Alice Weston foundation from Cincinnati. The two groups immediately cut their funding when they heard results they believe they didn’t pay for. Since that time, no more of the study’s results have been released, for over two years! That is, until now.

The full peer-reviewed study, titled “Monitoring concentration and isotopic composition of methane in groundwater in the Utica Shale hydraulic fracturing region of Ohio,” was published last week in the scientific journal Environmental Monitoring and Assessment.

Summing up the results of the full study in the words of the researchers themselves:

“We found no relationship between CH4 [methane] concentration or source in groundwater and proximity to active gas well sites.” And, “…our data do not indicate any intrusion of high conductivity fracking fluids as the number of fracking wells increased in the region.” Finally! An honest study using Big Green money, that Big Green tried to cover up and silence, is now available for the whole world to see.

You can view the full study, which was funded mostly by Big Green, but also with some public money, by clicking here.