Yesterday afternoon, Nov 20, Athens County, Ohio, experienced a 3.5-magnitude earthquake, the first recorded quake in the area in 127 years,
The Athens News reports. Anti-drilling activists suggested nearby injection wells played a role, but a state geologist refuted those claims. Some have blamed oil and gas production sites for a recent
rash of earthquakes around Oklahoma City.
Less than 24 hours before the earthquake was detected, 160 people attended a
meeting with Athens County commissioners, with most in attendance
protesting a proposed injection well for oil and gas waste that would be the
state's largest such well, Bob Downing
reports for the
Akron Beacon Journal.
Tim Leftwich, a geologist and seismologist with the
Ohio Department of Natural Resources, told the News, "At this point, there's no
reason to suspect there was any kind of induced seismicity going on." The
Athens County Fracking Action Network said in a release: "The occurrence of this quake makes it unconscionable and illegal for
ODNR to permit the well without a seismic survey of the region. Well failure due to future quakes would put the drinking water
of tens of thousands of people at risk . . . Underground injection well
programs MUST protect drinking water by state and federal law."
(Athens news illustration by Kyle Schultz)
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