So what happened in 2011 to cause the earthquake near Youngstown, Ohio, that captured national attention and raised more concerns for many about disposal of frack waste?Jeffrey Dick, professor and chair of the Department of Geological and Environmental Services at Youngstown State University, met us on the Cuyahoga River and explained. The partcular injection well in question, Northstar 1, had drilled into the Precambrian basement, a strata of ancient rock layer so deep it is difficult to map the formation even with today's technology. At that point it is likely the well hit a fault line or the injection process forced fracking waste fluid into rock that broke open, allowing the fluid to enter a fault. The lubrication of the liquid in the fault caused to it slip, creating an earthquake.
Between spring and winter 2011 there were numerous small quakes around the well and in November equipment was placed there in an effort to pinpoint where the earthquakes were coming from and to collect data. By mid-November Dick and others had enough data to believe it likely the quakes were coming from a fault in the basement. A relatively strong quake - the one that made big news - came at the end of the year and the well was shut down. After that the quakes stopped.
The state put a moratorium on injection well permitting through Octbor 2012 while it studied the well. The result were new regulations. Drilling into the basement was banned and operators are now required to monitor injection wells 24/7, explained Mike Chadsey, public relations director of the Ohio Oil and Gas Association.
The monitoring is key, he explained, because the pressure of the well would have been expected to change as fluid moved into places it was not meant to go, such as a fault or rocks that broke open, exposing a fault.
"I am fairly confident going forward we are getting better and better with this," said Dick.
