« Fracking and Earthquakes »

You would think that the public outcry in Pennsylvania over contaminated water supplies  caused by hydrolic fracking would be enough to alert the government that something is wrong, but no, both government and industry insist that everything is just fine in spite of flaming faucets and poisoned wells and all sorts of evidence to the contrary.

Now, in addition, we have a growing body of evidence indicating that the practice of extracting natural gas from the earth by hydrolic fracking  and injecting the toxic waste water deep into the earth in speciaslly constructed wells is  causing an increase in earthquakes.  But nobody wants to know about that, you can be sure.  There is too much money at stake and alternate methods of disposal are much more costly.

The media barely noticed on November 30th  when  seven student protesters from Oberlin College  blocked a worksite in Youngstown, Ohio to keep trucks from carrying away toxic wastewater from a fracking site.  These student protesters were the first to spend a night in jail protesting toxic waste from fracking.  They probably won’t be the last.

In December, Youngstown experienced  its 10th and 11th earthquakes of 2011, including a 4.0 tremor on New Year’s Eve, and lots of people took notice.  According to Paul Hsieh, a research hydrologist with the U.S. Geological Survey in Menlo Park, California:

Scientists have known for decades that drilling or injecting water into areas where a fault exists can cause earthquakes. That’s widely documented and accepted within the science community.It’s seen all over the world.”

Ohio isn’t the only state where fracking has led to an increase in earthquakes.  Oklahoma, Colorado and Arkansas  have all experienced an unusual increase and are all states where fracking is taking place.  A 5.8  quake in Oklahoma took place in a county where there are 181 deep injection wells, yet a study by the Oklahoma Geological Survey released a few months before the 5.8 quake  found that most of the state’s seismic activity didn’t appear to be tied to the wells.  Many residents of Oklahoma are not reassured.

When toxic waste from fracking leaks into your drinking water you may or may not feel the effects immediately.  Your drinking water may not burst into flames, it may just silently poison you.  On the other hand, when your house starts shaking that’s a wake up call that gets your attention.

The lure of cheap energy, big profits and good jobs is keeping both congress and corporations from acknowledging the elephant in the room.  Let’s rethink that situation and do somethinng before it is too late. 

Comments

[Sherri]

Others who are not willing to acknowledge the elephant in the room are those who are earning huge leasing fees for the drilling rights to their property. In many cases, the fees really are helping bail out families who are on the brink of bankruptcy or worse thus making a commitment to environmental health at the expense of immediate relief a near impossibility.