Avoiding Fracking Earthquakes: Expensive Venture By Edward McAllister

United States - With mounting evidence linking hundreds of small earthquakes from Oklahoma to Ohio to the energy industry's growing use of fracking technology, scientists say there is one way to minimize risks of even minor temblors.

Only, it costs about $10 million a pop.

A thorough seismic survey to assess tracts of rock below where oil and gas drilling fluid is disposed of could help detect quake prone areas.

But that would be far more costly than the traditional method of drilling a bore hole, which takes a limited sample of a rock formation but gives no hint of faults lines or plates.

The more expensive method will be a hard sell as long as irrefutable proof of the link between fracking and earthquakes remains elusive.

"If we knew what was in the earth we could perfectly mitigate the risk of earthquakes," said Austin Holland, seismologist at the Oklahoma Geological Survey. "That is something that we don't have enough science to establish yet."

A 4.0 New Year's Eve quake in Ohio prompted officials to shut down five wells used to dispose of fluid used in the hydraulic fracturing process. That comes less than a year after Arkansas declared a moratorium due to a surge in earthquakes as companies developed the Fayetteville Shale reserve.

Experts say the quakes do not necessarily appear to be caused during the process of fracking, a controversial extraction technique that involves injecting chemical-laced water and sand into shale rock to release oil and gas.

Instead, it's the need to dispose of millions of gallons of contaminated fluid extracted from each drilling site, either to be recycled or trucked to a separate location to be pumped deep underground.

The pressure caused by water pushed far below the surface for a long period has been linked to an increase in seismic activity, as water enters fissures and lubricates fault lines which can cause earthquakes in places otherwise free of them.

"It basically greases the wheels of the earthquake process that is there naturally and causes the earthquakes to occur at lower stress levels than they might normally have needed to occur," said Larry Brown who chairs the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.

Precautions can be taken to mitigate risks of earthquakes near disposal wells, such as lowering injection pressure and avoiding areas with a history of seismic activity, though none of these guarantee total safety.

QUESTIONED LINK
On paper, the link between fracking and quakes is compelling. As the oil and gas industry embarked on a massive expansion of hydraulic fracturing across Arkansas, Pennsylvania and elsewhere, the number of earthquakes in areas where wastewater was injected back underground surged tenfold.

Data from Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, which had seismographs set up in Youngstown on Saturday, concluded that the earthquake occurred at the same depth as the well, about 2 miles below the surface.

"There is a relationship between when they started to inject into the well and the earthquakes started near the bottom of the well so it is unlikely to be coincidental," said John Armbruster at Lamont-Doherty.
But some researchers say the link has not been proven.

In Oklahoma, which saw a tenfold increase in earthquakes since 2009 to over 1,000, officials at the Oklahoma Geological Survey (OKGS) say more proof of a link to fracking is needed.

"The strong correlation in time and space as well as a reasonable fit to a physical model suggest that there is a possibility these earthquakes were induced by hydraulic fracturing," according to a OKGS report released in August. "However, the uncertainties in the data make it impossible to say with a high degree of certainty."

Ohio's Earthquakes Linked to Fracking

The town of Youngstown, Ohio has went through it's eleventh earthquake in the months since fracking began in the area.  Geologists are saying they have little doubt about the link, which is also confirmed by the USGS and Columbus's 10TV.com via SinceDutch.


On November I wrote about the ties to fracking in Great Britain and I admit I was somewhat skeptical.  However now it seems like those ties can also be found here in the United States.  I don't know what other kind of warning would be needed for the people, especially the leaders, of this country to get the hint.  Fracking not only makes us able to light our water on fire or make people phenomenally sick, but is proven to be the reason why places like Arkansas, Maine, Oklahoma are experiencing more earthquakes than they should.

I suppose it won't be until we have them more and more often, our drinking water is useless, and smoking inside of a house is dangerous for everyone that we realize - too late for any of us unfortunately - that fracking is definitely not the way to go when it comes to a viable energy solution.

Here's the video from SinceDutch that shows a direct correlation between fracking and Ohio's earthquakes.





Update: Ohio shut down five fracking facilities owned by Northstar Disposal Services LLC as a precautionary measure.  

Ohio's Department of Natural Resources deputy director Andy Ware said "[according to a geologist] there is a strong chance there is a fault line very close to the site of the well."

Odd Stories: Blackbirds Fall in Beebe Once More

Beebe, Arkansas – Once again the town's blackbirds have faced a grisly death, most likely due to people setting off fireworks according to scientists.

Roughly 200 of the birds were found all over the town's streets on New Year's Day which, while not remotely as high as the five-thousand that died last year, was still pretty disturbing for people.



Scientists looking into the event think the fireworks spooked them so much they slammed into buildings, cars, and each other.



What doesn't seem to be addressed however is the fact only the blackbirds seem to be affected and only in Beebe is it happening. In other areas of the country blackbirds aren't falling out of the sky or spooked. Other birds in the city don't appear to be affected either, leading one to think there is something more sinister at hand.



KATV reported on December 15^th National Geographic was supposed to air a special on the 22 of the month but pushed it back at the last second. Called “Omens of Apocalypse (domestically)”/”Omens in the Sky (internationally)”, the special will air on March 22^nd. Hopefully this, as well as the questions I posed, will at least be addressed.