Ed Harshbarger

Location of Interview
Collection Name

Gas Rush

Description

This series consists of original digital audio interview recordings and selected CD listening copies relating to the Carrie and Michael Kline's documenting the wide spectrum of citizen opinion about natural gas extraction (Fracking / hydraulic fracturing) in Northcentral West Virginia mainly during 2014 and 2015. The interviews were drawn upon for use in the 8-minute audio feature Pay Dirt. Originals are housed with the Michael and Carrie Nobel Kline Collection at the Berea College Special Collections and Archives

To browse this collection and others, please visit the Berea College Special Collections & Archives: https://bereaarchives.libraryhost.com/

Interviewer
Date of Interview
06-26-2015
Transcribers

National Capital Contracting 

Principal Investigator
Audio
Abstract

On June 26, 2015, Michael Kline interviewed Ed and Gina Hashbarger at the Schiappa Library in Steubenville, Ohio, for an oral history focusing on their experiences with the oil and gas industry. Ed Hashbarger, a retired police officer and veteran, and Gina Hashbarger, his spouse, discuss their advocacy against the environmental and property rights impacts of gas drilling operations in their community. They recount their initial interactions with oil and gas representatives, who sought to lease mineral rights, and describe their subsequent opposition upon discovering misleading industry practices, environmental hazards, and legislative frameworks enabling forced pooling and resource extraction without landowner consent.

Ed outlines his involvement in founding the Jefferson County Citizens for Environmental Truth, a bipartisan grassroots organization that investigates and documents environmental violations, including water contamination and unregulated emissions. Gina details their personal struggle over disputed mineral rights, tracing their property's title back to 1769 to confirm ownership, and describes the challenges posed by nearby drilling operations, including potential risks to water wells and infrastructure.

The Hashbargers critique Ohio's regulatory and legal systems, highlighting the influence of industry on policymaking, lack of accountability for environmental damage, and minimal hiring of local workers. They advocate for greater transparency, community activism, and legislative reform to protect landowners and the environment. Ed emphasizes the need for unity across political and ideological lines to counteract corporate overreach and calls on veterans to defend constitutional rights.


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