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| 20,000 Leagues Under Youngstown Ohio Seismic activity shakes-up local residents. Oil and gas exploration is blamed, again. |
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Reports of earthquakes around the Youngstown, OH area that rattled homes as far away as Kent are being
attributed to the exploration of oil and gas by many folks who have witnessed increased drilling activity in their
area. The quake registered 4.0 on the Richter Scale, not an overly devastating magnitude, but enough to
cause moderate damage. Fortunately, no major damage or injury was reported.
However, some government officials, environmentalists and area residents are already pointing fingers at oil
and gas companies and blaming the fracturing process used in hydrocarbon extraction for inducing the quakes
without having any evidence of the sort. Here is just another example of how things are going to get blown
out of proportion and throw yet another fly into the oil and gas exploration ointment.
Because the earthquakes occurred within a two-mile area around an injection well that pumped brine, a
waste by-product of hydraulic fracturing, into deep underground porous formations, it was immediately
assumed by some that the pressures of the injection acted as a catalyst to the shifting of a geological fault,
which resulted in the quakes. Are earthquakes rare in this part of Ohio? Yes. Have they occurred before?
Yes, many times.
Thousands of injection wells have been drilled all over the country, including here in Ohio. There has never
been an incident where this activity resulted in earthquakes or any geological interference. The possibility of
high pressure brine injection into formations that could cause a minor quake exists, but the probability is
remote. It has been suggested by self-proclaimed pundits that the process of injecting fluids under high
pressure into a formation could provide the friction and force to allow the earth to move. But there is no
evidence to support this, although it sounds highly plausible.
The accusation that fracking caused the earthquakes has been proven baseless. The Director of The Ohio
Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) formally stated that the quakes were ". . . not a direct result of
fracking." Yet the news media, geology professors, congressmen and countless others are up in arms and
want moratoriums on hydraulic fracturing and brine disposal. They want to put the skids on progress and our
march towards energy independence. Based on what? No concrete information has been gathered to
determine why the quakes occurred. Why is everyone jumping to conclusions?
The slamming of doors has already started. Northstar Disposal Services, the owner and operator of the
injection well in question, has volunteered to stop the injections until further investigation as the ODNR issued
a shut-down of its operation there. I believe that they have also issued certain directives to other operators
in the area who are injecting brine into the earth. There are about 177 injection wells in Ohio, none with any
seismic activity.
Although the ODNR is concerned over a possible correlation between the injection process and earthquakes,
it did acknowledge that officials are being cautious about putting blame on oil and gas activity and warns
about overreaction. Officials are hesitant to act further until more data has been gathered and analyzed.
Even Governor Kasich stated that his administration did not want to barge forth with "guns blazing."
But all this will not matter to the media, those who are opposed to oil and gas exploration in general and
those who just don't want it in their neighborhood. The newspapers, blogs and pundit commentary will
continue to blame and criticize the oil and gas companies and offer suspect information and uninformed advice
to anyone willing to listen. And it won't be long before the legal sharks jump into the fray to feast on new
opportunities to take advantage of the unsuspecting. No matter what, we have not heard the last about this.
How do you think I know that?
Till Next Time,
Petro Pete
attributed to the exploration of oil and gas by many folks who have witnessed increased drilling activity in their
area. The quake registered 4.0 on the Richter Scale, not an overly devastating magnitude, but enough to
cause moderate damage. Fortunately, no major damage or injury was reported.
However, some government officials, environmentalists and area residents are already pointing fingers at oil
and gas companies and blaming the fracturing process used in hydrocarbon extraction for inducing the quakes
without having any evidence of the sort. Here is just another example of how things are going to get blown
out of proportion and throw yet another fly into the oil and gas exploration ointment.
Because the earthquakes occurred within a two-mile area around an injection well that pumped brine, a
waste by-product of hydraulic fracturing, into deep underground porous formations, it was immediately
assumed by some that the pressures of the injection acted as a catalyst to the shifting of a geological fault,
which resulted in the quakes. Are earthquakes rare in this part of Ohio? Yes. Have they occurred before?
Yes, many times.
Thousands of injection wells have been drilled all over the country, including here in Ohio. There has never
been an incident where this activity resulted in earthquakes or any geological interference. The possibility of
high pressure brine injection into formations that could cause a minor quake exists, but the probability is
remote. It has been suggested by self-proclaimed pundits that the process of injecting fluids under high
pressure into a formation could provide the friction and force to allow the earth to move. But there is no
evidence to support this, although it sounds highly plausible.
The accusation that fracking caused the earthquakes has been proven baseless. The Director of The Ohio
Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) formally stated that the quakes were ". . . not a direct result of
fracking." Yet the news media, geology professors, congressmen and countless others are up in arms and
want moratoriums on hydraulic fracturing and brine disposal. They want to put the skids on progress and our
march towards energy independence. Based on what? No concrete information has been gathered to
determine why the quakes occurred. Why is everyone jumping to conclusions?
The slamming of doors has already started. Northstar Disposal Services, the owner and operator of the
injection well in question, has volunteered to stop the injections until further investigation as the ODNR issued
a shut-down of its operation there. I believe that they have also issued certain directives to other operators
in the area who are injecting brine into the earth. There are about 177 injection wells in Ohio, none with any
seismic activity.
Although the ODNR is concerned over a possible correlation between the injection process and earthquakes,
it did acknowledge that officials are being cautious about putting blame on oil and gas activity and warns
about overreaction. Officials are hesitant to act further until more data has been gathered and analyzed.
Even Governor Kasich stated that his administration did not want to barge forth with "guns blazing."
But all this will not matter to the media, those who are opposed to oil and gas exploration in general and
those who just don't want it in their neighborhood. The newspapers, blogs and pundit commentary will
continue to blame and criticize the oil and gas companies and offer suspect information and uninformed advice
to anyone willing to listen. And it won't be long before the legal sharks jump into the fray to feast on new
opportunities to take advantage of the unsuspecting. No matter what, we have not heard the last about this.
How do you think I know that?
Till Next Time,
Petro Pete