YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- Energy in Depth, a shale industry advocacy group, says Ohio is “leading the way on injection well regulations.”

A post on the group’s website cites last week’s meeting in Trumbull County, home to the most Class II brine injection wells in Ohio -- 17 -- and credits “thoughtful leadership in Trumbull County.”

Energy in Depth cites the work of geologist Michael Brudzinski and others, recently published in the Bulletin of the Seismological Society (READ RELATED STORY), that referenced the magnitude 2 earthquake Aug. 31 near the injection well in Weathersfield Township operated by American Water Management Services (READ STORY).

Brudzinski writes in an email distributed at last week's meeting that although he and his associates “have not had an opportunity to investigate any of the other injection wells in Trumbull County in detail, our broader studies across all of eastern Ohio have not detected any evidence that other injection wells in the county are producing earthquakes similar to the AWMS-Weathersfield case.”

The injection well was temporarily shut down by the state but resumed operations shortly after the incident (READ STORY).

In drawing its conclusion that Ohio is “leading the way on injection well regulations,” the advocacy group compares state regulations with the federal EPA’s regulations. The Ohio Department of Natural Resources “has the authority to require seismic testing and monitoring,” the post notes, an issue the “federal code does not specifically address.”

Pictured: The injection well in Weathersfield Township operated by American Water Management Services.

MORE:
Ohio Leading the Way on Injection Well Regulations

Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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