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Carrollton, before and after fracking became a mainstay of life
Life in one Ohio village at the center of the drilling boom has changed a lot in the last five years; whether for better or worse is open to debate
by WKSU's TIM RUDELL


Reporter
Tim Rudell
 
Traffic around the Carrollton village square in the middle of an ordinary day.
Courtesy of TIM RUDELL

This Saturday marks three years since drillers starting putting in a fracking well just outside Carrollton. It helped kick off Ohio’s Utica Shale boom; Carroll County now has 240 producing wells.

The boom has meant big changes for Carrolton and the surrounding countryside. Whether that’s good or bad depends on who you ask. WKSU’s Tim Rudell reports.

LISTEN: The impact of fracking on one Ohio town

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Before drilling rigs were in the hills outside Carrollton, unemployment topped 16 percent in Carroll County. It's 5.6 percent now.

 

Before “big rigs” filled the streets of this village of 3,200 people, you could doze away a warm afternoon on the town square; it was that quiet. 

There were vacant store fronts then, too.  Now, surrounding restaurants and shops are busy.

Life-long area resident Shirley Anderson says that’s good…but the county has lost something too. She’s curator of the historic McCook House — a Civil War Museum across from the square.

Shirley Anderson “It was a very friendly, quiet, easy-going county. And I guess what bothers me the most about it is the traffic. The large trucks, stopping at the stop sign right there beside the house, sit there and just bounce up and down; actually shaking the museum apart.”

She points out cracked plaster on the side of the building and broken panes of glass. Anderson also believes the changes in the village of Carrollton are costing her museum visitors.

“I use to have buses of tourists come to the house.  I haven’t had a one this year.”

Across the square
Sheriff Dale Williams was Carroll County born and raise, too. He says increased traffic is a huge problem. Accidents were up 150 percent in 2013 over pre-shale-boom years. 

Dale Williams, Carroll County Sheriff But he says, although things like disturbance calls in bars are up, contrary to expectations, a massive influx of temporary workers from other parts of the country has not raised the crime rate.
Drillers in Carroll County I’ve not seen, because of people moving into the county, that there’s an over-flux of burglaries, or breaking & entering and that sort of thing. I’ve not seen that.”

Williams says it’s also a relief that the county’s annual sales tax revenue more than doubled between 2010 and 2013, to $3.4 million. And he says, drilling companies spent $40 million fixing up rural roads. The county’s yearly budget for all road repair is just $500,000.

“If I look at the big picture — and I’m sure there are people in the county that will disagree with me — but from my point of view, it’s a lot better than it was.”

Fifteen years ago,
Paul Feezel moved his business consulting practice to Carrollton from the metro Cleveland/Akron area for the quality of life. And he says, while drilling has been a financial boost for many rural families, the price of that progress is high:Paul and Diana Feezel industrialization of the pristine countryside, putting key resources like air quality and water at risk.

“That industrialization certainly brought money through the area. But I harken back to an informal survey where they asked: 'What are the reasons that you live here?' And of those top reasons, none of them were about economic opportunity.” 

Feezel says the county conducted that survey in the early 2000s, and that it showed most residents valued outdoor lifestyles and clean air and water. He also says those natural attributes of Carroll County gave rise to thriving summer camp and outdoor recreation businesses that could fade away if the area loses its rural character. 

Still, he knows the economic boon from drilling is real. He says he got about $450,000 for the mineral rights to his 80-acre property. And he expects another $400,000 in royalties over time. He says those payments are typical – and that they can be “life changing” for the average small farmer.

But, he says, the risks and down sides of drilling may drive him away.

“The reality of it is, we’re not going to be the beautiful, little rural county we used to be. And that may impact my wife and I and our decision as to whether we stay there or not.”

The edge of paradise?
Life-time Carroll County residents Shirley Anderson of the McCook House and Sheriff Dale Williams are here to stay, but they disagree about the impact of the drilling boom.McCook House

“Actually," says Anderson, "Carroll County used to be known as ‘the edge of paradise.’ For our tourism, that’s what we called ourselves. Well, this is hardly the edge of paradise now. I'ts more like the edge of chaos.”

But Williams disagrees.

“Carrollton will always be Carrollton and will always be my home. I’ve seen the good and the bad. And I think it has improved over the last three years.

The argument will continue to play out in Carroll County – and it may soon expand to other parts of Ohio, too. This week, the U.S. Energy Information Agency declared the state’s Utica Shale one of the fastest growing energy plays in the country. 

(Click image for larger view.)

Shirley Anderson taking visitors on a tour of the McCook House, Carrollton's nationally known Civil War museum.
McCook House.  Now a museum it was the family home of the  "Fighting McCooks." Fifteen members of the family served, and five died in the Civil War. Seven reached the rank of general during their military service.
Oil and gas field workers on a Carroll County well site in 2011. Many are specialists and go from one town to the next following the drilling rigs.
An early drilling rig not far north of Carrollton.
Paul and Diana Feezel relax on their farm with their dogs. The boom has paid off financially for them and their neighbors but they wonder: at what cost?
Carroll County Sheriff Dale Williams was born and raised in Carroll County and has been in office for 10 years.
Artist's rendering of the square in Carrollton in 1848.

Related WKSU Stories

Federal report shows ground water at risk from fracking waste
Tuesday, August 12, 2014

Study seeks pre-fracking baseline for groundwater quality
Monday, July 14, 2014

Midstream growth fuels fracking boom
Wednesday, July 2, 2014

 
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