Ohio Quakes Tied to Gas Extraction?
The Associated Press
1 November 2011
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- Geologists are checking for possible links
between a brine-water injection well and seven minor earthquakes
since March in the Youngstown area of northeast Ohio.
The quakes are the only ones recorded with epicenters in
Youngstown and the Mahoning River valley.
According to The (Youngstown) Vindicator, experts are checking the
18-month-old injection well, which was completed in Youngstown 10
months before the quakes began. Of the seven earthquakes, six had
epicenters near the well.
Brine water, a byproduct of oil drilling and hydraulic-fracturing
for natural gas, is flushed underground.
"There's definitely a coincidence," said Jeffrey Dick, geology
department chairman at Youngstown State University. "But whether
or not there's a link, nobody has enough data quite yet."
Heidi Hetzel-Evans, a spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of
Natural Resources, said the agency stood by regulations allowing
the well operations. The agency has "not seen any evidence that
shows a correlation between localized seismic activity and
deep-injection well disposal," she said.
D&L Energy Inc., an oil and gas exploration company that
operates the well, believes there's no data linking the well to
earthquakes, said Nick Paparodis, the company's vice president of
land operations.
Wastewater from Pennsylvania drilling makes up most business for
the Youngstown well. Some wells, including the one in Youngstown,
go 9,000 feet below the surface.
The Youngstown site has had a daily injection average of 2,000
barrels, or 84,000 gallons, of wastewater.