2 New Earthquakes Near Youngstown, OH – Fracking Connection?
A few years ago a now-shuttered injection well near Youngstown, OH was linked to a series of earthquakes in the area (see ODNR Finds Youngstown Injection Well Caused Earthquakes). The injection well was found to be located over an active fault–and when you inject a lot of liquid into a fault area, you get earthquakes.
When earthquakes happen in areas like Youngstown–an area that doesn’t usually see such activity–it’s cause for concern. Yesterday morning there were two more earthquakes big enough to be felt in the Mahoning Valley area. The first quake was a 3.0 on the Richter scale, and the second a 2.6. So, out of “an abundance of caution,” the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR) has asked the single drilling operation in the area–Hilcorp Energy–to suspend their drilling activity for now. There are no active injection wells in the area–only Hilcorp’s Utica Shale drilling operation of 7 wells on 2 well pads…
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This is not the kind of story we enjoy sharing with you. Hilcorp, a major driller in the Utica and Marcellus Shale, has decided to take what we consider “the low road” and is using a 1961 Pennsylvania law to sue a landowner to allow them to drill under their property. It’s called “forced pooling,” “compulsory integration,” and a variety of other terms. MDN does not support it. Our argument is simple: My neighbor should not have the right to tell me I can’t drill on and under my land, and I should not have the right to force it on my neighbor if they don’t want it. We believe it’s the only defensible position in the drilling debate.