Scientists Studying Connection Between Fracking And Earthquakes

The connection between fracking and earthquakes, however, could spur significant changes in state policies, The Wall Street Journal reports. The federal government does not develop or enforce fracking regulations, leaving the matter to states. As a result, states such as Pennsylvania and Ohio have divergent laws pertaining to fracking and the treatment of drilling wastewater.

Ohio lawmakers are divided over fracking, but a 4.0-magnitude earthquake that struck Youngstown last week has rattled even supporters. Ohio Governor John Kasich, who supports fracking, shut the wastewater well that experts said likely prompted the earthquake. He also ordered a thorough review of all seismic activity in the area.

A number of prominent engineers have lobbied government officials to outlaw fracking until the scientific community reaches a consensus on long-term safety problems. Even amid such concerns, though, many public leaders have endorsed fracking, arguing that it has caused natural gas prices to drop precipitously, and has made the U.S. the biggest natural gas producer in the world.

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Youngstown earthquakes raise issues on oilfield wastes from shale exploration

Out-of-state oilfield fluid waste accounts for nearly 2 million barrels a quarter, which was roughly 57 percent of the total waste dumped into the ground during the third quarter of 2010, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.

http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2012/01/earthquake_raises_issues_on_oi.html

House hearing at YSU disappoints Rep. Hagan

State Rep. Robert F. Hagan of Youngstown, D-60th, expressed disappointment Tuesday with a House Agriculture and Natural Resources subcommittee hearing in his district.

“The events that unfolded at [Youngstown State University] this morning lacked any substantive analysis or investigation into injection wells and recent earthquakes in Youngstown,” Hagan said in a statement.
“Instead, the hearing amounted to little more than the continuation of the oil and gas industry’s public relations campaign. Instead of thoughtful answers to probing questions, industry representatives were all too eager in seeking greater latitude for their industry to ‘do what they think is right.’

“Well, I remain unconvinced that the community’s questions are being taken seriously. ODNR still has answers to provide regarding seismic activity and injection wells all over the state, including communities like Marietta and Youngstown. It is almost shameful how brazen the industry is in pushing their agenda over public safety.”

http://www.vindy.com/news/2012/jan/17/house-hearing-at-ysu-disappoints-rep-hag/?nw

Another Ohio community rocked by quakes

The ODNR has said it does not believe deep injections triggered the small quakes near Marietta, but that has not stopped the state environmental regulators from digging deeper.

The ODNR soon will monitor the area with four new seismographs — much as it did in Youngstown.

“We don’t believe it’s related to injection wells at this point,” Larry Wickstrom, state geologist, told The Vindicator. “We want to dispel any concern as best we can.”

A local geologist at Marietta College, however, maintains there could be a connection.

“Some of the earthquake events have occurred after an injection of water,” said Wendy Bartlett, instructor of geology at Marietta. “Most geoscientists believe that can happen.”

State Rep. Robert F. Hagan of Youngstown, D-60th, was alarmed when told of the ODNR’s additional monitoring near Newport Township, just east of Marietta.

“This is just blowing my mind now,” he said. “They are lying to us and covering it up without giving us all the information.”

Injection wells have been linked to — but not necessarily proved to have caused — earthquakes in Ashtabula County as well as the states of Arkansas, Oklahoma, West Virginia and Colorado.

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Hundreds question Ohio experts at quake meeting

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio —

About 500 residents living near an oil and gas wastewater well that a seismologist has linked to a series of earthquakes responded Wednesday to presentations from Ohio state regulators with both boos and cheers.

In a state investigation into a series of quakes in northeast Ohio, Columbia University seismologist John Armbruster has said that the injection of thousands of gallons of brine wastewater daily into an injection well at Youngstown almost certainly caused the quakes.

http://www.uticaod.com/environment/hydrofracking/x1987742813/Hundreds-question-Ohio-experts-at-quake-meeting

Balance still is key to drilling in Ohio

The issue: Earthquakes near injection well in Youngstown
Our view: Good science, effective regulation are critical

The economic potential of oil and gas drilling in Ohio is too big to neglect. So is the potential downside of storing wastewater from the drilling process in some deep injection wells.

Ohio has to find and maintain a balance that encourages drilling and protects the public. This will occur by relying on good science and maintaining effective government regulation and oversight.

The incidence of minor earthquakes near an injection well in Youngstown has rightly focused the attention of state officials and residents on the end result of drilling.

Millions of gallons of wastewater may be going into some wells that are not geologically compatible with storage of this brine. It may not be safe to do so, and the Department of Natural Resources has taken the only sensible precaution. It has shut down the well near the epicenter of the quakes and others within a five-mile radius until officials understand the situation.

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Fracking Well Catches Fire

Fracking has suffered some particularly bad PR over the past few months. First, the EPA linked the hydraulic fracturing drilling process (where a mix of water, sand and chemicals are blasted deep underground through horizontal wells to release oil and gas deposits) tocontamination of water in Wyoming. Then, on New Year’s Eve an intense earthquake struck Youngstown, Ohio. It was the eleventh quake since March, and seismologistslinked it to a deep well used for disposing fracking wastewater. State officials suspended the well, and the Mayor of Youngstown went so far as to buy earthquake insurance for his home.

http://stateimpact.npr.org/texas/2012/01/06/fracking-well-catches-fire/