Claire Bernish(The Pontiac Tribune) – The US Geological Survey released findings of a study
which confirms, as many suspected, that increased seismic activity in
eight states is due to fracking. Since 2009, an abrupt spike in
earthquakes, in areas previously considered stable throughout the
central and eastern US, coincided with drilling related to the boom in
hydraulic fracturing by the oil and gas industry.
which confirms, as many suspected, that increased seismic activity in
eight states is due to fracking. Since 2009, an abrupt spike in
earthquakes, in areas previously considered stable throughout the
central and eastern US, coincided with drilling related to the boom in
hydraulic fracturing by the oil and gas industry.
Injection of wastewater into wells deep
underground in Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Ohio,
Oklahoma, and Texas, is causing the quakes, which had a magnitude of 3
(M3) and above, though the process of fracking, itself, is only
occasionally the culprit. The wastewater is a chemically questionable
byproduct of fracking, which injects a mixture of water, sand, and
undisclosed chemicals at high pressure to free oil and gas from rock
underground. Once this chemical – laden soup has been used in the
process, it is unfit for any purpose, and must be filtered and then re –
injected into the earth in wells or stored in pits.
underground in Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Ohio,
Oklahoma, and Texas, is causing the quakes, which had a magnitude of 3
(M3) and above, though the process of fracking, itself, is only
occasionally the culprit. The wastewater is a chemically questionable
byproduct of fracking, which injects a mixture of water, sand, and
undisclosed chemicals at high pressure to free oil and gas from rock
underground. Once this chemical – laden soup has been used in the
process, it is unfit for any purpose, and must be filtered and then re –
injected into the earth in wells or stored in pits.
From the early 1970s until 2008, the
areas in question averaged about 21 magnitude 3 or greater quakes per
year, but this rate shot up dramatically between 2008 – 2013, to 99. In
2014, alone, there were a staggering 659 such tremors. Most of these
induced quakes were seismically between M3 – M4, which can be felt by
most people, but generally don’t cause any damage; however, in 2011, an
M5.3 quake near Trinidad, Colorado, which was the largest in that area
since 1967, and an M5.6 in Prague Oklahoma, which was felt in 17 states
as far away as Illinois and Tennessee and led to several houses being
condemned, were both directly due to the drilling.
areas in question averaged about 21 magnitude 3 or greater quakes per
year, but this rate shot up dramatically between 2008 – 2013, to 99. In
2014, alone, there were a staggering 659 such tremors. Most of these
induced quakes were seismically between M3 – M4, which can be felt by
most people, but generally don’t cause any damage; however, in 2011, an
M5.3 quake near Trinidad, Colorado, which was the largest in that area
since 1967, and an M5.6 in Prague Oklahoma, which was felt in 17 states
as far away as Illinois and Tennessee and led to several houses being
condemned, were both directly due to the drilling.
