State lawmakers sat through more than three hours of testimony from educators and gas industry experts Tuesday, questioning the brine injection process and if it's connected to the area's series of earthquakes.
To at least one person on the panel, it's not the injection process itself that has the potential to cause tremors. It's likely the construction of the wells.
"Whether or not the injections actually triggered ... them (here) will likely be argued and litigated for years to come," said Youngstown State University geologist Dr. Jeffrey Dick. But the real concern moving forward is what measures should be taken in the regulation and permitting process of wells to minimize the occurrence of earthquakes."
Tuesday's meeting at Youngstown State University was set in response to a Dec. 31 4.0-magnitude earthquake, which followed 10 earlier tremors in the D&L Energy injection well area in 2011. Operation of the D&L well has since been halted, along with any injection activity within five miles of the Ohio Works Drive operation.
While there have been several forums and town hall meetings this month, Tuesday's session involved only testimony from the panel and questions from a House committee. It did not include any public interaction and was chaired by Rep. David Hall, D-97th District, head of the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee.
The D&L well is an injection well. That means it accepts brine fluid that's left from the hydraulic fracturing process used to drill wells that produce gas or oil. When a gas or oil well is fractured, or fracked, 15 to 20 percent of the water used in that process returns to the surface. This water is then treated and discharged or injected for storage in an injection well.
While the actual brine injection is likely not at the root of the quake problem, the depths at which the injection wells are drilled may be, according to Dick's theory.
Dick said the D&L well is about 9,192 feet deep, with the bottom 204 feet stretching into Precambrian basement rock. That type of basement rock is generally where faults are located, said Dick, who added that a previously undetected fault was found in that D&L area last year. Because the well reaches into that basement rock, Dick said there is the potential of brine migrating into faults, which reduces the resisting forces along the fault line. As a result, that may trigger the earthquakes, he said.
He feels square-footage of any well that reaches into the Precambrian basement rock should be plugged with cement.
"In my opinion, they need to have that Precambrian basement (hole) cemented," said Dick. "If this is cemented and effectively sealed off from injection activity, I think the possibility of earthquakes being triggered by injections would be greatly minimized."
Panel member Tom Stewart, executive vice president of the Ohio Oil and Gas Association, emphasized that capacity is not an issue with the wells. At issue is the injection pressure, which is regulated by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. Another panel member, Dave Hill, president and consulting geologist of David Hill Inc., said when companies apply for an injection well permit, they are given a pressure formula based on the depth of their well and the heaviness of the water that is being injected.
For example, the more salt and chemicals contained in the water the heavier it is, requiring a lighter injection pressure. If a shipment of lighter water is injected, the company can get a waiver to allow a stronger pressure. But he emphasized that wells must be monitored on an ongoing basis to prove that pressures aren't exceeded.
Stewart expressed that the amounts of waste water shipped to Ohio for injection from shale operations in other states will stress the capacity of the state's injection wells. But Ohio is federally obligated to accept the waste water under the Dormant Commerce Clause, said Stewart. He added that other states should work to develop ways to handle their own waste water.
State Rep. Bob Hagan, who was part of the meeting Tuesday, has proposed an indefinite ban on injection wells. The panel did not support such a ban yet. Well construction depends on an area's geology, Dick said, for example, and some injection wells are as shallow as 400 feet.
"I don't think it's wise to stop permitting those types of wells," said Dick. Class II injection does not necessarily cause earthquakes. The construction of wells may have something to do with that."
Stewart seemed to agree.
"It is a rare and isolated event, and it should not cast doubt about the effectiveness and use of Class II injection wells," said Stewart, of the recent earthquakes, adding that injection wells have been in use since the 1930s. "A geologic anomaly is at the root of the problem. Not the well. We need experts to fully understand the specific problem, learn from it and adjust regulatory policy accordingly to avoid future problems."
Meanwhile, Dr. Robert Chase, chair of the Petroleum Engineering Department at Marietta College, said that if earthquakes were to occur near injection wells Marietta, he'd need definite evidence that they were caused by the wells before he'd want to see them shut down.
"I would not vote on a moratorium," said Chase. "not until I see some definite proof that it is the cause of the earthquake. If it's showing, 'yes, that's the location', I'd say yes."
Some lawmakers asked if would be possible to prevent future similar problems by conducting tests that would detect fault lines before an injection well goes into operation.
Hill said no state in the country requires that companies run seismic surveys of an area prior to the installation of an injection well.
Stewart said such surveys are a reasonable path to investigate, but that they're conducted from the earth's surface and are meant to determine the location of gas and oil. He said it's "very debatable" that the surveys would be able to detect an actual fault line.
Chase said solving the problem should be a group effort involving the state and even the U.S. Geological Survey.
"I think that's probably the right way to go," he said. "Take advantage of that data and work with the people who want to put in disposal wells to make sure what they are doing is safe in minimize any type of seismic disturbance."
