COLUMBUS, Ohio - Under a court order to do so, a state regulatory authority has submitted a plan to restart an oil and gas drilling waste disposal well in Weathersfield township that has been shut down since a 2014 earthquake.

The Ohio Division of Oil and Gas Resources Management filed a proposal in Franklin County Common Pleas Court, outlining a graduated, year-long process that would allow American Water Management Services to re-start its #2 well along State Route 169.

AWMS was ordered to stop pumping brine into both of its injection wells at the site following a 2.1 magnitude earthquake on August 31, 2014.

The division allowed operations to resume at a shallower well, but kept the second well closed due to concerns over public safety.

American Water Service appealed the decision to Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Kimberly Cocroft, who ordered the commission in December to come up with a plan in thirty days to resume operations of the well.

Judge Cocroft has already refused to delay implementation of her order while the Division of Oil and Gas Resources Management pursues an appeal.

Even before detailing its plan to restart the Weathersfield well, the gas division noted in its court filing that it still believes it is within its scope of powers to keep the well closed.

In addition to citing the earthquake at the Weathersfield location, the filing recounts recent seismic activity at two other well operations in the Valley.

The division says there were 12 earthquake events ranging in magnitude from 2.1 to 4.0 recorded between March 2011 to Dec 2011 at the Northstar injection well in Youngstown.

The Northstar 4.0 quake is noted on a map labeled "Mahoning Valley Earthquakes" that accompanies the legal filing.

The map also shows the 2.1 magnitude quake recorded at the Weathersfield well and a 3.0 magnitude earthquake on March 14, 2014 at the Hilcorp wells in Poland.

Both the Hilcorp and Northstar wells have since ceased operations.

The division cites a study that the Weathersfield well is located near a fault that is similar to the fault associated with the seismic activity of the Northstar well.

The commission points out that the Weathersfield well is less than three miles from Meander Creek Dam, which forms the reservoir that supplies water to more than 200,000 people in the Youngstown and Niles area.

Also within three miles of the well are nine schools, two hospitals and one fire department, according to the division.

As background, the division explains that faults in the Mahoning Valley are already under stress and may move and cause earthquakes if subjected to the injected fluids or pressures like those that may be posed by an injection wells.

In addition, the division says that local surface geology can magnify the effects of earthquakes here.

The plan itself calls for American Water Management to assess the potential effect that a series of small seismic events, or a 4.0 magnitude earthquake would have on the local community before operations can resume.

Additionally, the division wants AWMS to survey the geologic faults in the vicinity of the site, as well as conduct a geological review of the injection zones and carry out a three dimensional seismic survey of the area.

The division also wants new steel casing installed at the well, and is asking that the bottom of the well be plugged at 8,000 feet from the surface, which is 500 feet shorter than the current depth of 8,500 feet.

In addition to the four existing seismic monitors at the site, the division wants a fifth monitor installed one mile east of the well to allow experts to better pinpoint the location of any seismic activity.

The deployment of three surface motion monitors would measure ground shaking in the area, according to the division, which also wants the ability to monitor seismic events in real time.

The division proposes that the start-up be phased in during three consecutive four month periods.

During the first four months, AWMS could inject brine at minimum operating pressures. Under the proposal, any seismic activity between 1.5 and 2.0 magnitude would require AWMS to investigate ways of halting the tremors. Any seismic activity of 2.0 or higher would require AWMS to suspend operations, and apply for an alternative disposal zone.

After the first four months, AWMS can double the operating pressure. During the third four-month period, the pressure can be tripled from that being used in the first three months.

After one year with no significant seismic activity, pressure at the well could be increase to the maximum 1680 pounds per square inch.

American Water Management has not yet responded to the division's proposal, or commented on the cost of carrying out the plan.

The Division of Oil and Gas Resources Management proposal may be seen here