Kansas Earthquakes Further Damaging Century-Old Courthouse

February 25, 2015

Harper County officials are grappling with how to fix a century-old courthouse that was already deteriorating before a sharp increase in earthquakes began rattling south-central Kansas.

The bill just to repair the 107-year-old stairways has increased from $400,000 to $1.1 million and an insurance adjuster also has found cracks in the interior of the courthouse in Anthony. County officials attribute some of the damage to age but say the problems have worsened since the increased earthquakes began in 2013, The Hutchinson News reported.

“We think possibly some of it could be from the earthquakes,” County Clerk Cheryl Adelhardt said. “We have seen the splits and cracks get larger.”

Still, Ruth Elliott, the county’s deputy county clerk, said the courthouse remains safe and open for business.

“Oh, yes, we’re in here. Everything’s good,” she told The Associated Press.

The Kansas Geological Survey had recorded more than 200 earthquakes in Kansas since Jan. 1, 2013. More than 100 were recorded in Harper County, most with a 3.0 magnitude.

While some environmental groups have blamed the outbreak of earthquakes on hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, used to extract oil and gas in the region, state officials are still studying the question.

Rex Buchanan, interim director of the Kansas Geological Survey, testified before a Kansas House committee in January that a “working hypothesis” suggests a link between the earthquakes and the practice of injecting wastewater into underground wells, which is used in several mining processes, including hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking.

Two bills addressing the problem have been introduced in the House Energy and Environment Committee. One enacts new regulations on drilling and wastewater disposal, while the other imposes a moratorium on fracking until drillers form a pool to pay for damages from the practice. The committee has not had a hearing on either bill and has until noon Wednesday to move the bills forward.

County Commissioner Carla Pence said officials met with Kansas Corporation Commissioner Pat Apple last week to discuss the damage from the earthquakes. Apple said the KCC is working on the problem but did not have a timetable to suggest possible solutions, Pence said.

Topics Catastrophe Natural Disasters Kansas

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