What the Frack?

Mahoning River

Dead Fish

Mosquito Lake State Park 

Preserving Ohio's Heritage

West Branch State Park

Air Pollution

Geneva-on-the-Lake State Park

Cleveland Lakefront State Park

Construction

Nelson-Kennedy Ledges State Park

Pollution

Lake Milton State Park

Livestock Kill

Tinker Creek State Park

Lake Erie

Punderson State Park

Pymatuning State Park

Artist Statement


This series of landscape photographs examines hydraulic fracture drilling in Ohio state parks. Ohio has seventy-four state parks that provide an opportunity for people to visit a safe, fun environment and to explore Ohio’s natural and cultural heritage. Fracking was made legal by passage of a recent bill and presents several possible environmental concerns to the natural landscape. The full long-term environmental impact of fracking is unknown. The process is currently unregulated due to numerous exemptions in federal laws, and is a threat to our public health. Along with the drilling come fraccidents which range from catastrophic fish kills, violation of state carcinogenic and neurotoxin safety standards in local air, dead livestock and local wildlife, and has been connected to seismic activity. It has been linked to over a thousand incidents of groundwater contamination across the US. The problem is that neither industry nor government has done any long-term studies to a process that until recently was considered a radical procedure that was only used as a measure of last resort.

            

Large-scale digital prints comprise this body of work. The images were taken at state park locations around Northeast Ohio that are being considered for possible fracking. The images will be divided into two paired groupings that include panoramic images that document popular areas for visitors along with images of fraccident concerns revolving around this extreme drilling. The images are placed in a grid pattern that will be easy to read and are mounted to aluminum to appear to be floating off the wall. 

Fracking is a personal concern. When I was younger, everything revolved around being outside and enjoying the great outdoors and having a love for nature. As I matured I became more conscience of how we neglect our environment and by extension an important part of our cultural heritage. Then, in high school I took a trip to Italy and saw firsthand how the Italian people are very invested in preserving their history, culture, and architecture. This is when I realized how different Americans are from people in other cultures; we are so quick to cut down forests, ruin the habitat of animals, and tear down historic buildings. As Americans we take our resources for granted and lose sight of what really is important and worth protecting. Fracking demonstrates neglect to the environment and our heritage that may not be reversible.

Michele Manna