According to The Columbus Dispatch, federal officials announced that hydraulic fracturing, also called fracking, is allowed within Wayne National Forest in Marietta, Ohio.

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management estimates that as many as 13 sites could be drilled in the forest by 2016.

Read it:

“The drilling estimate was included with a report released yesterday that states a 2006 forest-management plan covers the potential environmental impacts of shale drilling, even though at the time it deemed such drilling “not yet economically feasible.””

Not everybody is happy with the decision. Environmentalists say that the Forest Service must revise their management plan before drilling.

This isn’t the first time drilling’s been done in Wayne National Forest, however, there are currently about 1,300 conventional oil and gas wells in the forest.

Visit The Columbus Dispatch for a map detailing the potential drilling areas.

» Via: The Columbus Dispatch › Feds say ‘fracking’ OK in Wayne National Forest