John Armbruster, from the Colombia University Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory in Palisades, New York is in Ohio, investigating a series of earthquakes that have occurred there in the last year or so. Armbruster is not alone in thinking that the most likely cause for the increase in seismic activity might be directly related to a waste water well involved in the process of injection mining in Youngstown, Ohio. More research will be conducted at the injection well which is currently closed as is four others in the neighboring areas, but Armbruster is warning that it may take as long as twelve months for all of the quakes to discontinue.

The injection type wells, which are different from the more controversial fracking operations, are also suspected as the cause of earthquakes that have happened in Astabula in the far northeastern corner of the Buckeye State. Other earthquakes have happened near these types of wells in other states as well, including Arkansas, Colorado and Oklahoma.

In Youngstown, thousands of gallons of brine waste water is injected into the well which opened in 2010. The owner of the well, known as Northstar Disposal Services, LLC. has voluntarily halted the waste water injection near the site of the well as a precaution while the research is conducted on the links to the well and the continued and increasing earthquakes. While there have been several minor tremors in the area of the mine, they have gained some intensity, including the one that occurred on Christmas Eve, coming in at 4.0 in magnitude. With the addition of this closing, that brings the total of closed mines in the area to five.

Youngstown Democratic Representative Robert Hagan is calling for a moratorium on both types of mining operations, fracking and injection wells while continued research into all of the safety issues is conducted. Meanwhile, Governor John Kasich has expressed concern that the shale industry is being punished for the controversy stirred up by fracking in other parts of the state. Environmentalists and property owners are waging vocal wars on both sides of the fracking discussion.

In Ohio, there are nearly two hundred deep injection wells that have been in use without incident for decades. The Ohio Oil and Gas Association echoes the safety of the deep injection wells which it says have been used since the 1930's with very few problems. That Association is referring to this sudden "rash" of earthquakes as a rare, isolated event.