A New Front in the Fracking War

Starting in March 2011, a series of microearthquakes hit Ohio. The first few registered just above 2.0 on the Richter scale and were not felt by residents. But on New Year’s Eve, a tremor hit Youngstown that measured 4.0—still very mild, but noticed. It was the second quake to hit the area in a week, moreover—and both had epicenters within five miles of a year-old storage well for wastewater that is a byproduct of the extraction of natural gas. 

NO FRACKING WAY, MAN

AP / MARK STAHL

While the quakes caused negligible injuries and property damage, they were enough to prompt Governor John Kasich to shut down five storage wells in the vicinity, pending an investigation into any possible connection between drilling and seismic activity. The episode made Ohio more than ever a central front in the struggle over the controversial natural-gas extraction technique called horizontal hydraulic fracturing, better known as fracking.