WEATHERSFIELD TWP., Ohio - A decision could be made today on whether American Water Management Services Inc. will be permitted to resume operations at a deep brine injection well in Weathersfield that was the site of a 2.1 magnitude earthquake on August 31 of last year.

The Ohio Oil and Gas Commission meets and is expected to rule on an appeal from AWMS which is asking the commission to lift an order to close the class II well located along State Route 169.

Following the seismic activity, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources ordered the company to shut down two wells at the site in September.

A shallower well was permitted to be placed back in service, but the deeper well remains shut down.

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources regulates class II wells, which are used to inject fluids, primarily oil-field brine, into deep, underground geological formations for disposal or for secondary oil recovery. Oil-field brine is a saline by-product generated during oil and gas well operations.

On December 31, 2011, a 4.0 magnitude earthquake was reported in Youngstown. Some research linked that tremor to a class II brine injection well which was closed as a result.

Earthquakes were reported in March of last year, when several tremors were recorded in the area of gas wells near the Carbon Limestone Landfill in Poland. Five earthquakes were measured over the course of two days at that time.

As a result, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources initiated a moratorium on permits for hydraulic fracturing wells. In addition, existing wells in that area are not permitted to do any new drilling or fracturing.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey earthquakes of magnitudes between 1 and 3 are rarely felt by most humans.

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