The onslaught of seismic activity in Oklahoma in recent years has captured the attention of the nation.
State scientists say they have uncovered the root cause of the majority of the state’s earthquakes: the oil and gas industry’s disposal of billions of barrels of water underground.
Now, as the public absorbs this information, Oklahoma’s regulatory bodies are keeping a watchful eye on these disposal wells and planning their next moves.
On Tuesday, the Oklahoma Geological Survey (OGS) issued its most strongly worded statement yet linking the oil and gas industry to the state’s earthquakes.
State geologist Richard D. Andrews and state seismologist Austin Holland say the spike in earthquakes — particularly in central and north-central areas of the state — is “very unlikely to represent a naturally occurring process.”
“The primary suspected source of triggered seismicity is not from hydraulic fracturing but from the injection/disposal of water associated with oil and gas production,” the report from the Oklahoma Geological Survey (OGS) reads.
The seismicity rate in Oklahoma is about 600 times greater than it was before 2008, around the time dewatering started in the state.
Just last year, 585 magnitude 3+ earthquakes hit Oklahoma — compared with 109 in 2013.
Interestingly enough I wrote on this same exact problem in Oklahoma back in 2014, at which time I pointed out that the 30 year average before fracking came to the state was two earthquakes that were 3.0 or higher PER YEAR.
So here we are a year later and the problem has become exponentially worse. In fact it is getting so bad that if things continue at this rate the state of Oklahoma will never stop shaking.
But you know I am sure it's all worth it because, you know, cheap oil.
I think this might be a good place to point out that harnessing wind energy does not result in earthquakes, and harnessing the energy of the sun is unlikely to shake you out of your bed at three o'clock in the morning.
Just saying.
And guess who exempted this, and everything else related to fracking from the Clean Water Act? Dick Cheney.
ReplyDeleteBUTT BUTT SARAH PALIN THINKS OIL DRILLING IS SAFE!
ReplyDeleteDRILL BABY DRILL
Just watch how Fast our Governor Mary Failing has her freaking hand out for Federal Assistance when (not if) a big quake causes death and damage to the OKC/Moore/Stillwater areas.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile we are being killed off because she won't expand the medicaid program because, you know, Obamacare. It is still unaffordable for thousands of people here to get and maintain insurance.
She is a slightly more devious version of Paylin. I sincerely hope the Capitol building is the first to collapse when the quake strikes.
Given the condition of the Capitol building that is a very distinct possibility.
DeleteTime for the governor to ban using the word "earthquake".
ReplyDeleteProblem solved.
LOL!
DeleteAnd 'fracking' will henceforth be referred to as "enthusiastically and boldly encouraging the earth to bring forth its warmth and radiance inducing juices for the benefit of Good Christian Folk"
DeleteThe answer: kinetic chargers.
ReplyDeleteyeah - you know: those wrist-charger thingies?
As long as your arm is moving the kinetic wrist-charger is passing voltage to a lithium-ion battery.
(I understand that if you put one of these on the arm of a teenage boy and send him to the bathroom with a stack of dirty magazines you can generate enough electricity to power a 32" television all night long!)
Yeah - you just need to fasten a whole BUNCH of those kinetic wrist-charger thingies to lamp-posts, parking meters, picket fences, etc. - and viola! Renewable energy problem solved! (as long as the oil industry keeps fracking those fault lines, that is).
It's way past time for all the red state people to walk up and see how incredibly screwed they are by the people THEY are electing to office: the GOP and tea party gang. My only hope: at some point, they may wake up and never vote conservative again. But by that time, it may be too late: the environment may be so damaged that we can no longer inhabit this nation and planet. All GOP: total losers, total users – of other people's money, lives, and assets. Always taking for self, and always imposing heavy rules on others and no rules whatsoever on themselves. The latter is what is packaged to the plebes as 'libertarianism' (every rule under heaven for thee, no rule whatsoever for me).
ReplyDeleteAnd what about the drinking water?!! What will the companies and state do when the aquifers are destroyed? Just let them drink fracking waste water?
ReplyDeleteThey'll go after the Great Lakes. They have been trying to get their hands on GL water for years.
DeleteYes, they want to use the water from Great Lakes to fill in all the "holes" made from fracking, all in the name of more profits, like the oil companies don't already make billions in profits.
DeleteJust like with so many things.. the thugs don't think it is real or a problem until it affects them. Let their houses shake to pieces and then maybe you'll see some action. And as was said above, they think nobody should get fed aid except and until THEY need it. NYC gets a hurricane and those people can go F themselves but if OK has a sharknado.. well then okrahoma NEEDS that aid. I say stop being such a drain on the fed budget (red states = more $$ flowing from the fed gov than to) and maybe, maybe we'll see about a few dollars for your thug state troubles. What happened to all that self-reliant talk? Yeah, that's what I thought... just thug BS.
ReplyDeleteBack in the 50's - 60's Rocky Flats was pumping plutonium wastes into the ground. We started having earthquakes. Sharp earthquakes as those plates were being lubricated from the waste waters. They were ordered to stop. Surprise! Surprise! The earthquakes stopped.
ReplyDeleteWhat if one/some of the 3.0+ earthquakes damages oil pipelines coming into/thru Oklahoma? Seems to me that oil pipelines would be vulnerable to earthquakes (or sinkholes). Cushing, Oklahoma, about 25 miles southeast of Stillwater, has the world's largest oil storage "farm".
ReplyDeletehttp://www.energyindustryphotos.com/largest_oil_storage_facility_in.htm
I'll bet that a lot of the infrastructure in OK was NOT built to the standards used in more traditionally earthquake-prone regions like California.
DeleteI suspect that one good tremor could do a massive amount of damage to the petroleum transportation and storage systems.
They passed some kind of law protecting pastors who want to express their religious freedom by refusing to perform gay weddings. Oklahoma or any state cannot make laws regarding the practice of religion. Those matters have to be settled by the officials in that religious group. Given the outlandish things said by their senators and their terrible "law," I say that they deserve every earthquake that they are getting.
ReplyDeleteI would have guessed fracking, which I guess is close.
ReplyDeleteHow many aquifers are contaminated now?