DN Editorial: When the earth moves... ask where the fracking is

STRANGE THINGS often start happening soon after hydraulic fracturing for natural gas - known as "fracking" - comes to an area. Drinking water become undrinkable (Wyoming, among other places) or erupts into flames (Pennsylvania). And places not known to have earthquakes suddenly start to feel tremors, including Arkansas, Colorado, Oklahoma - and our neighbor, Ohio.

Why should we be surprised that forcing great amounts of water and chemicals into the earth - and then disposing of the wastewater by using high pressure to inject it deep into underground wells - might possibly affect the environment?

Only months after the opening of an injection well in northeastern Ohio - not exactly the San Andreas fault - the Youngstown area experienced a dozen minor earthquakes. But suspicion that the events were connected were dismissed, laughed at, and termed a liberal plot to ... it's never been explained who is supposed to be profiting from identifying safety and environmental hazards.

Even though the Ohio Department of Natural Resources ordered the well closed pending investigation, it said in January that it saw no "direct correlation" between the earthquakes and the injection well. The fact that the state's Republican governor and Legislature strongly support fracking (and oppose government regulation of the environment) had nothing to do with it, of course.

Last week, though, the Ohio regulators changed course, reporting that, upon further scientific review, that the well had indeed caused the earthquakes: there was a previously unidentified fault in the bedrock. To prevent a recurrence, the state imposed the toughest regulations in the country on new wells.

To be clear, the injection wells are different from actual fracking - the former disposes of the waste from the latter. But with nearly every aspect of this technique, scientific investigation confirms after the fact that environmental damage has resulted from hasty, uninformed and politically motivated decisions. The key words here are "after the fact": supporters of fracking continue to oppose doing the science beforehand.

There may be an environmentally safe way to do hydraulic fracturing, but rushing ahead without sufficient protections in place is not the way to find it. As the strange happenings multiply, so will the opposition.

Our neighboring state's experience suggests the pattern might be starting to break. Some Ohio politicians are calling for caution. For example, the state's attorney general is calling for more disclosure of the chemicals that drillers are dumping into the Ohio earth and steeper fines for those who violate regulations.

Some people are beginning to recognize that earthquakes and contaminated drinking water can hurt you no matter whom you voted for in the last election. It's a warning that Pennsylvania's politicians should heed.