The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection is investigating whether fracking contributed to two small earthquakes near a western Pennsylvania drilling operation.
DEP spokeswoman Melanie Williams says Hilcorp Energy Co. stopped fracking at the Mahoning Township site at about noon on April 25. That was about 12 hours after the U.S. Geological Survey recorded a magnitude-1.9 earthquake and about 10 hours before another quake of the same size was recorded.
A woman who answered the company’s phone in New Castle, Pennsylvania, referred The Associated Press to a spokesman at the company’s Houston headquarters who wasn’t immediately available.
Williams says Hilcorp was fracking two wells on a four-well pad about 45 miles northwest of Pittsburgh when the first quake occurred.
There were no reports of property damage.
Related:
- Sierra Club Lawsuit Claims Fracking Contributing to Oklahoma Earthquakes
- Penn. Fracking Trial Begins; Driller Accused of Contaminating Drinking Water
- Its Own Scientists Question EPA Claim Fracking Is Safe for Drinking Water
- Penn.: Fracking Exclusion Not Allowed in Homeowners Earthquake Endorsements
Topics Pennsylvania
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