Fracking to Blame in Ohio Earthquakes, Research Shows

Chalk up another controversial aspect of hydraulic fracturing, the natural gas extracting process better known to environmentalists as fracking: It appears to have helped trigger a spate of earthquakes in an Ohio town that until recently been a stranger to tremors. Youngstown, Ohio, had never experienced a quake before January 2011. But then, a month after an injection well began pumping wastewater from fracking projects elsewhere underground there, a spate of 109 earthquakes began — with the strongest coming in December 2011 and requiring the well to be shut down. Scientists have known for decades that fracking-related wastewater injection can cause earthquakes, but the new investigation into the Ohio quakes confirms for the first time that it played a role there. Fracking is already a hot-button issue for environmentalists and energy companies; advocates say it is a safe, economical source of clean energy, while critics say it taints water supplies.

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