New Zealand Celsias

In addition to growing concerns that hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking” can pollute local ground water near drilling sites, now the suspected link between fracking and earthquakes is even stronger.  Over the New Year’s holiday weekend, a 4.0 magnitude temblor struck on December 31^st near Youngstown, Ohio  , the strongest of eleven earthquakes that have occurred since March near a well used for the disposal of fracking wastewater.  The quake was felt as far away as Buffalo, New York, West Virginia, and Toronto, B.C.

The waste fluids had been injected into the well under pressure, a common means of disposing of leftover water used in the fracking process.  But if the pressurized liquid seeps into underground faults that exist in deep rock formation, they can separate sections of rock causing them to slip and possibly cause earthquakes. 

Scientists from the U.S Geological Survey   are currently testing proposed well injection plans against knowledge of the rock formations companies plan to use for wastewater disposal to get an estimate of how large a quake the process might trigger.  The Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory  , part of Columbia University, is also analyzing data from the series of quakes.

Ohio state officials ordered drilling operations in the Youngstown area to halt until scientists could further investigate.  According to an article in the New York Times,   Andy Ware, deputy director of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, said the state requested that injection at the well be stopped after an analysis of the 10^th earthquake that occurred on December 24^th showed that it took place less than 2,000 feet below the well.  After the stronger quake on the 31^st, Ohio state officials declared a moratorium on all injections within a five-mile radius of the well. According to Ware, quoted in an article in the Wall Street Journal  , “While we couldn’t say for sure there’s a direct causation between the injection well and the earthquakes, we thought it better to be overly cautious,” he said. 

 The company operating the Youngstown well, D&L Energy Inc  ., has been injecting fracking wastewater into the well since 2010.  And more than half of the fluid injected there came from Pennsylvania because officials say the state has unsuitable geologic formations for injection wells.  Pennsylvania drilling companies had been disposing of 95 percent of fracking wastewater at treatment plants in the state until last April when state government asked them to stop due to concerns that contaminants weren’t being adequately removed before disposal. 

  In a January 1^st news release from the Ohio Oil and Gas Association, Thomas E. Stewart, executive vice president, said, “We fully support the decision of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources to issue a temporary suspension on five injection wells in the Youngstown area. It was the correct course of action to ensure the safety and peace of mind for area residents.

“We believe the situation in Youngstown is a rare and isolated event that should not cast doubt about the effectiveness or usage of Class II Injection wells, which have been used safely and reliably as a disposal method for wastewater from oil and gas operations in the U.S. since the 1930s and is the preferred method for oilfield waste management under the Safe Drinking Water Act.”