From: CNBC
AP
Getty Images
A high pressure gas line crosses over a canal
in an oil field over the Monterey Shale formation where gas and oil
extraction using hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is on the verge of a
boom on March 23, 2014 near Lost Hills, Calif.
State geologists in Ohio have for the
first time linked earthquakes in a geologic formation deep under the
Appalachians to gas drilling, leading the state to issue new permit
conditions in certain areas that are among the nation's strictest.
A state investigation of five small tremors in the Youngstown area, in
the Appalachian foothills, last month has found the high-pressure
injection of sand and water that accompanies hydraulic fracturing, or
fracking, in the Utica Shale may have increased pressure on a small,
unknown fault, said State Oil & Gas Chief Rick Simmers. He called
the link "probable."
While earlier studies had linked
earthquakes in the same region to deep-injection wells used for disposal
of fracking wastewater, this marks the first time tremors have been
tied directly to fracking, Simmers said. Five seismic events in March
were all part of what was considered a single event and couldn't be
easily felt by people. MORE
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