Experts blame Youngstown earthquakes on injection wells, not fracking

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - Fracking industry insiders are speaking out after Wednesday's earthquake forum in Youngstown.

They said the record number of earthquakes was not caused by hydraulic fracturing, but linked to injection wells.

"Oil and gas is a very technical subject. Its hard to understand. Its hard to understand a hole in the ground that extends 9,000 feet and what goes on 9,000 feet underneath the ground," said Tom Stewart with the Ohio Oil and Gas Association.

In Youngstown, ODNR officials said an earthquake may have been caused by an injection well near a faultline on Ohio Works Drive. The well has been shut down by the company while authorities figure it out.

Hundreds packed the Covelli Center in Youngstown Wednesday worried about the 11 earthquakes in the city and wanting to know what caused them. The latest quake was on New Year's Eve.

Class two wells are used to dispose of wastewater from drilling. It's a different process than hydraulic fracturing where water, chemicals and sand are blasted into rocks thousands of feet below the ground to unlock natural gas and oil.

Executive Vice-President of the Ohio Oil and Gas Association said fracking did not cause the earthquakes.

"This well is not hydraulically fractured. Injection wells are meant for disposing of permanently, impounding in deep reservoirs a waste stream. In this case, a waste stream that comes from oil and gas wells where we produce formation water along with the oil and gas," Stewart said.

The company that owns the well, D and L, said Thursday there is no conclusive evidence their well caused an earthquake. They are completing and paying for their own study to investigate what happen.

The state continues its investigation as well.