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Kansas earthquakes worsen damage to century-old courthouse

By Associated Press - | Feb 24, 2015

Anthony ? Harper County officials are grappling with how to fix a century-old courthouse that was already deteriorating before a sharp increase in earthquakes began rattling south-central Kansas.

The small county was considering spending $400,000 to fix cracks in the courthouse staircases in the 107-year-old building, using a $200,000 historical tax credit to cover half the costs. But as the earthquakes continued to plague the county and its courthouse in Anthony, county officials said the damage increased. The latest estimate just for the steps is up to $1.1 million.

An insurance adjuster recently found other cracks inside the courthouse and the cost of repairing a ceiling crack in a courtroom is estimated at $35,000, The Hutchinson News reported.

“We think possibly some of it could be from the earthquakes,” County Clerk Cheryl Adelhardt said. “We have seen the splits and cracks get larger.”

The adjuster has not yet released a complete report on the damages, Adelhardt said.

The Kansas Geological Survey had recorded more than 200 earthquakes in Kansas since Jan. 1, 2013. More than 100 were recorded in Harper County, most with a 3.0 magnitude.

County Commissioner Carla Pence said officials met with Kansas Corporation Commissioner Pat Apple last week to discuss the damage from the earthquakes. Apple said the KCC is working on the problem but did not have a timetable to suggest possible solutions, Pence said.

Rex Buchanan, interim director of the Kansas Geological Survey, testified before a Kansas House committee in January that a “working hypothesis” suggests a link between the earthquakes and the practice of injecting wastewater into underground wells, which is used in several mining processes, including hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking. Some environmental groups have targeted fracking as a likely cause of the earthquakes.

Two bills addressing the problem have been introduced in the House Energy and Environment Committee. One enacts new regulations on drilling and wastewater disposal, while the other imposes a moratorium on fracking until drillers form a pool to pay for damages from the practice. The committee has not had a hearing on either bill and has until noon Wednesday to move the bills forward.