Ohio: Mccormac

"It went up and came back down on the foundation," said Thelma Payne, 85. "That was a very rude awakening."

The same could be said for state lawmakers, environmentalists and oil and gas industry lobbyists, who now refer to the explosion and evacuation of 19 nearby homes in Geauga County as the "Bainbridge incident."

The December 2007 explosion was caused when a cloud of natural gas in the basement ignited. No one was injured. State mining regulators found that gas from an improperly drilled oil and gas well leaked into groundwater and then into area basement water wells.

As a result, state lawmakers plan to advance a bill that would impose new restrictions and higher fees on oil and gas wells.