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UPDATE: GILMER SHAKEN BY SECOND EARTHQUAKE EARLY TUESDAY - Twelve Miles From Grantsville, Marcellus Well Sites Near Quake |
| (07/31/2013) |
| The Gilmer County area has been shaken by another minor earthquake in less than two weeks. The 2.8 quake happened about 2:00 a.m. Tuesday, according to the US Geological Survey. The epicenter was 7 miles south-southwest of Glenville in the Normantown-Lockney area, east of US 33-119, twelve miles from Grantsville and eight miles from Glenville. The Survey says the depth of the earthquake was 7.9 miles. Glenville area residents are saying they also felt a third quake, which was not picked-up or recorded. A Gilmer County 911 dispatcher says there were no reports of damage. "It woke me from my sleep. I had some change in a glass container on my dresser and it actually rattled the change," said Jeane Kennedy, Normantown Resident, WDTV reported. "If you're doing horizontal drilling there's going to be some repercussions," said Kennedy who said fracking started in the past three weeks in the area. "It was just shaking and you could hear things rattling and stuff like that. It wasn't enough that would knock you down, but it was enough to notice it," said Normantown resident Andrew Stump. A magnitude 2.7 earthquake occurred on July 20. Its epicenter appeared to be less than a mile southwest of Glenville. Responding to that quake and whether it was linked to fracking, Stacey Brodak, Manager of Community & Media Relations for Noble Energy Inc., a drilling company with Marcellus drilling operations in the Normantown-Lockney area told the Herald, "We believe this morning's seismic activity was not related to Noble Energy's routine completion activities for our well in Normantown, West Virginia. "As in all our operations, we will monitor this activity to ensure that we continue to operate safely and responsibly," Brodak said. In response to this quake, MSC spokesperson Steve Forde said, " This very minor seismic event, to our knowledge, is unrelated to the region's natural gas development activities, specifically hydraulic fracturing." Operators said that ten minor earthquakes in Braxton County were not related to the injection of chemical-laden fracking fluids into old depository wells. Four or five Marcellus Shale drilling operations are in close proximity to the two Gilmer quakes in the Normantown-Lockney area. A Marcellus drilling informational meeting scheduled earlier will be conducted Thursday at the Normantown Elementary School at 6:30 p.m. Chuck Wyrostok, Outreach Organizer for the Sierra Club, said several speakers and topics will be discussed, including a number of presenters where there are large numbers of drilling operations.
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