| By Bob Weaver
In West Virginia, a number of small earthquakes in Braxton and Gilmer counties have been declared unrelated to Marcellus drilling operations or the injection of millions of gallons of waste water used in fracking back into the earth, sites known as injection wells.
Officials of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources have determined seismic tremors in northeast Ohio were directly linked to hydraulic fracturing in the Youngstown area.
Some other states have linked Marcellus-Utica operations to earthquakes, but in West Virginia, last year, Ronald McDowell, PhD, Senior Research Geologist and Head of Geoscience Section of the West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey said, "I do not suspect there is a connection to human activity."
"I believe it is highly unlikely there is any connection to drilling activities. That conclusion applies equally for vertical and horizontal drilling and any subsequent stimulation activity such as "fracking," McDowell said responding to inquiries from the Hur Herald.
Referring to the recorded quakes in Gilmer and Braxton counties, McDowell said, "This is, as far as I am concerned, a reaction of the old deep crust underneath the state of West Virginia, the stresses that have been built up for billions of years. Every once in a while those rocks let loose to relieve some of the stress."
Officially, Ohio has determined seismic tremors in northeast Ohio are directly linked to hydraulic fracturing, and requiring quake monitoring devices to be installed within three miles of the operation, and in some areas suspending drilling operations.
See STATE EARTHQUAKE SCIENTIST DISCOUNTS FRACKING AS CAUSE FOR GILMER QUAKES
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