"In Ohio, geographically and politically positioned to become a leading importer of wastewater from gas drilling, environmentalists and lawmakers opposed to the technique known as fracking are seizing on a series of small earthquakes as a signal to proceed with caution."

"Earthquakes caused by the injection of wastewater that’s a byproduct of high-pressure hydraulic fracture drilling, aren’t new. Yet earthquakes have a special ability to grab public attention.

That’s especially true after Saturday’s quake near Youngstown, at magnitude 4.0 strong enough to be felt across hundreds of square miles. Gov. John Kasich, a drilling proponent, has shut down the wastewater well on which the quake has been blamed, along with others in the area, as the seismic activity is reviewed."

Julie Carr Smyth reports for the Associated Press January 3, 2012. [2]

SEE ALSO:

"Avoiding Fracking Earthquakes: Expensive Venture" (Reuters) [3]

"Local Bans Now at Center of Gas Drilling Fight" (AP) [4]