COLUMBUS, Ohio - Efforts to restart an oil and gas drilling waste disposal well that has been shut down since a 2014 earthquake in Weathersfield is scheduled for a virtual hearing before the Ohio Supreme Court on Tuesday.

Justices have scheduled a hearing today to listen to arguments from American Water Management Services, which claims the Ohio Division of Oil and Gas has put in place unreasonable restrictions, prohibiting them putting it's well #2 back in service along State Route 169.

Due to COVID-19 precautions, the hearing will be held remotely.

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.

In addition to citing the earthquake at the Weathersfield location, state officials cited other seismic activity at two other well operations in the Valley.

In support of its decision to keep the well closed, the division noted there were 12 earthquake events between March 2011 to Dec 2011, including a 4.0 magnitude tremor at the Northstar injection well in Youngstown 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 cited 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 Division of Oil and Gas Resources Management did submit a plan they said would allow AWMS to restart the disposal well over time.