Is Fracking Cemeteries Immoral? Plot Owners Have No Say

The oil and gas boom is just starting to filter into southeastern Ohio where ConnectingDirectors.com is located so the topic of “fracking” has been frequently discussed. Fracking, also referred to as “fracturing” is the process of drilling for natural gas and oil underneath the ground.

Why does this topic have anything to do with the funeral profession? In Ohio and other areas it has been found that a number of cemeteries are laying over top of lucrative pockets of natural gas. Leading many to ask the question, “Is fracking cemeteries wrong or immoral?”

Article from energydigital.com

To frack or not to frack in cemeteries, that’s the new question natural gas companies are asking loved ones of the dead. Deep underground, ancient shale formations hold lucrative quantities of natural gas in places like Ohio, Colorado and Mississippi in veterans’ final resting places to parks, playgrounds, churches and residential back yards.

The shale boom, though good for the economy, has not only raised environmental concerns, but is now starting to dabble in questions of morality. Many fear that drilling activity would pollute peaceful places of mourning with noisy, smelly and unsightly industrial activity. But defenders argue the drilling would take place so deep that it wouldn’t disturb cemeteries, and would actually generate revenue to enhance the roads and grounds that surround them.

Township trustees have received a proposal this year to lease the mineral rights at the 122 year-old Lowellville Cemetery in eastern Ohio for $140,000 in addition to 16 percent of any royalties for oil and gas. In Texas, a proposal from Campbell Development LLC was declined, despite the company’s claims that drilling activity would not stir any graves. In Youngstown, hydraulic fracturing has already caused a series of earthquakes, and the city is fighting for a ban on any fracking activity.

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