Peak Oil is You
Donate Bitcoins ;-) or Paypal :-)
Page added on October 14, 2015
2 More Fracking-Related Earthquakes Hit Oklahoma Despite New Rules Meant to Prevent Them
Two earthquakes registering at a 4.5 and a 4.4 magnitude shook frack-happy Oklahoma on Saturday, some of the strongest felt in the state this year. The stronger quake occurred just a few miles from the city of Cushing, which holds one of the largest crude oil storage facilities in the world.
The recent quakes struck only a handful of weeks after the Oklahoma Corporation Commission (OCC), the state’s public utilities commission, shut down several disposal wells around Cushing and issued new regulations meant to prevent more earthquakes in the area, according to Al Jazeera.
This map shows earthquakes with 2.5+ magnitudes within a 400-mile radius of Oklahoma City. On Saturday, a 4.5 quake hit the city of Cushing, a major crude oil storage hub. Photo credit: NewsOK
A local report said that the stronger 4.5 magnitude quake occurred around 5 p.m. Saturday evening and could be felt in the nearby cities of Stillwater, Guthrie, Sapulpa, Oklahoma City and other parts of the metro. There were multiple aftershocks in Cushing, recorded at 3.0, 3.2, 3.1, 2.8, 2.7 and 2.5.
Bob Noltensmeyer, Cushing Emergency Manager, told the Associated Press he had not received reports of significant damage in the area although there were “shattered nerves.”
“This one was pretty strong,” he added. “The whole house shook.”
A 4.4 was also recorded on Saturday at 4:20 a.m. about 18 miles southwest of Medford and about 100 miles northwest of Cushing.
America’s heartland used to register earthquakes from two a year to almost two a day. This year, roughly 700 earthquakes of magnitude 3 or higher has shook the state, compared to 20 throughout 2009, as the Associated Press pointed out.
The Sooner State’s seemingly never-ending earthquakes appear to be a man-made side effect of the country’s drilling boom. Scientists say that the injection of wastewater byproducts into deep underground disposal wells from fracking operations are very likely triggering the major increase of seismic activity in Oklahoma, which is not near any major fault lines.
“What’s at risk is that when you put water into the ground, it’s never going to come back out. You’re putting it in places it has never been before,” George Choy, a seismologist at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), told the AFP about the spate of recent tremors.
As Al Jazeera reported, the OCC previously required disposal well operators to show that water is not being injected below the state’s deepest rock formation, which is believed to contribute to the tremors. The commission issued rules on Aug. 4 to 12 operators of 23 wells that said they had 60 days to reduce the amount of saltwater being injected into wells. Incidentally, Oklahoma has about 4,500 disposal wells with about 3,500 in operation, so these regulations only applied to a small fraction of the wells.
The energy industry is, in a word, everything for Oklahoma. The state is one of the top natural gas-producing states in the nation. One-quarter of all jobs are either directly or indirectly tied to the energy industry.
However, as the state continues to rattle almost daily, even pro-business Oklahoma Gov. Fallin changed her tune about the link between fracking and earthquakes for the first time at the state Capitol last month, admitting a “direct correlation between the increase of earthquakes that we’ve seen in Oklahoma [and] disposal wells.”
Still, Fallin said earlier this month (via NewsOK) that she is still weighing some of the pros and cons of fracking in her state.
“We want to do it wisely without harming the economic activity we certainly enjoy and the revenue, quite frankly, we certainly enjoy,” Fallin said. “The council has worked very hard to ensure the energy sector, state agencies, environmentalists and academia are all talking and sharing that data and we have a scientific-based approach to reducing seismicity in our state.”
36 Comments on "2 More Fracking-Related Earthquakes Hit Oklahoma Despite New Rules Meant to Prevent Them"
Plantagenet on Wed, 14th Oct 2015 1:39 pm
Its been known for a long time that pumping water into fault zones reactivates the fault zones and causes earthquakes.
Sadly, Oklahoma is only now figuring this out.
Cheers!
rockman on Wed, 14th Oct 2015 3:31 pm
Scientists say that the injection of wastewater byproducts into deep underground disposal wells from fracking operations are very likely triggering the major increase of seismic activity in Oklahoma…” Utter bullshit. First the obvious: the earth can’t tell if the injected fluids came from a frac’d well or an unfrac’d well. But even the report itself says the tremors are related to injection wells and not from frac’d wells. Second here’s how you can seperate correlation from causation: long before the first injection well began disposing frac fluids many thousands of disposal wells in OK have injected BILLIONS OF BBLS of oil field fluids for more then HALF A CENTURY. So why now would injection wells start causing tremors last year when they weren’t causing them for the last 50+ years when thousands of times more fluid was injected into wells? Especially since most of the frac fluids were injected into the same disposal wells that have slready been injecting for DECADES. Yes: there was not a surge in new disposal wells at the time the number of frac’d wells boomed.
Go ahead…make ny day and try to disprove the readily available FACTS. LOL.
Apneaman on Wed, 14th Oct 2015 4:45 pm
Rockman the scumbag fracking apologist. Has to be because that is how he gets his blood money. Causing earthquakes and poisoning unborn fetuses. How many people have you poisoned rockman? Mothers and their unborn? You are a world class piece of shit. You would not know a fact if it smashed you in the face. Maybe that’s why you had to adopt. Maybe you spent too much time around the toxic work you do and it made you impotent and sterile. Couldn’t happened to a nicer guy.
New Report Finds Fracking Poses Health Risks to Pregnant Women and Children
http://ecowatch.com/2013/06/13/report-fracking-health-risks-pregnant-women-children/
Apneaman on Wed, 14th Oct 2015 4:48 pm
How Oil and Gas Disposal Wells Can Cause Earthquakes
https://stateimpact.npr.org/texas/tag/earthquake/
Apneaman on Wed, 14th Oct 2015 4:50 pm
Earthquakes Induced by Fluid Injection FAQs – 9 Found
http://www.usgs.gov/faq/categories/9833/3428
Apneaman on Wed, 14th Oct 2015 4:54 pm
rockman and his cocksucker cohorts in the fracking industry are completely full of shit, Almost every time they open their mouths it’s another LIE. No matter how many times they are exposed, the lying is non stop. It becomes second nature when you have been doing that long.
A New Kind of Frackademia? New Environmental Inspectors Offered Free Industry-Funded Classes on Fracking
http://www.desmogblog.com/2015/10/05/new-kind-fracademia-environmental-inspectors-offered-free-industry-funded-classes-fracking-and-drilling
Apneaman on Wed, 14th Oct 2015 4:55 pm
Congress-backed Interstate Oil Commission Call Cops When Reporter Arrives To Ask About Climate
http://www.desmogblog.com/2015/10/08/iogcc-cops-climate-change
Apneaman on Wed, 14th Oct 2015 5:06 pm
The problem with the rockmen – the oil men in general and especially the ones from Texas, is they have gone most of their lives looked upon as heroes of the economy, but now that the bill is coming due and the truth is coming out about their decades of crimes, they can’t handle it – not even the slightest bit of criticism. So now it’s defensive comments, pretzel logic and excuse making every time another truth of their crimes is exposed. Lied about AGW going back to the late 70’s, lie about safety, corrupted untold politicians with oil money, funding multi billion dollar a year climate denial industry, poisoning pregnant women and their unborn babies, causing earthquakes and lying, lying, lying. Same as it ever was. Rockman why are you constantly looking for support and allies around here? Were not your mommy.
USGS: Fracking Wastewater Disposal Wells Are Causing Oklahoma Earthquakes
“The United States Geological Survey, for its part, has said in the past that the injection of fracking wastewater into deep geologic formations was a likely cause of the increased seismic activity in Oklahoma.”
http://www.desmogblog.com/2015/02/26/usgs-fracking-wastewater-disposal-wells-are-causing-oklahoma-earthquakes
makati1 on Wed, 14th Oct 2015 8:51 pm
So true, Ap. So true. Capitalist greed is killing us.
dooma on Wed, 14th Oct 2015 9:41 pm
pumping water into the ground is bad enough.
Pumping SALT water into the ground is sheer lunacy. Do the even care about the damage that it will do to a fresh water table?
Boat on Wed, 14th Oct 2015 9:53 pm
Apeman,
What corporation doesn’t lie and take advantage in every way. Even the Supreme Court recognizes this. Corporations are people to. The only safe guard we have are competing corporations looking for market share. Lobbyists and lawyers against lobbyist and lawyers.
GregT on Thu, 15th Oct 2015 12:33 am
“Corporations are people to (sic).”
While in a legal sense this is now true, we need some serious reform.
“The only safe guard we have are competing corporations looking for market share.”
And which corporations do you believe will rise up in your ‘competition’ scenario Boat? The ones that are telling the truth, and doing their best to act responsibly for the people and the planet, or those who are better at lying and taking advantage?
The ‘market’ is the biggest destructive force in the entire history of mankind. If left to it’s own devices, our species, and most all other life on this planet, will end.
Apneaman on Thu, 15th Oct 2015 1:31 am
Earth’s worst extinction “inescapably” tied to Siberian Traps, CO2, and climate change
“The link
Seth Burgess and Samuel Bowring confirmed the long-hypothesized link by comparing new, high-precision dates from volcanic rocks with equally precise dates for the mass extinction measured from volcanic ash in sediments spanning the end-Permian boundary in China. By ensuring the same labs and chemical tracers were used in both sets of measurements, they were able to compare the dates at an unprecedented precision of 0.04% or better, even though the rocks sampled were from locations thousands of miles apart.
The Siberian Traps are an example of a rare geological phenomenon called a “Large Igneous Province” (LIP) which has been linked to 4 out of the “big 5” mass extinctions since animals evolved. The new timeline enables science to zoom in to the details of the terrible events 252 million years ago, in which more than 90% of marine, and some 75% of land life went extinct.”
http://www.skepticalscience.com/Burgess-Bowring-2015-Siberian-Traps-Dates.html
rockman on Thu, 15th Oct 2015 7:13 am
I’m going to assume most understand that the Apneaman is intentionally trying to confuse folks by not acknowledging that even the folks writing the reports admit that the earthquake activity in OK is not related to frac’ng but to the injection of fluids…all fluids. Unfortunately for him all Apneaman can do is to try to build a very transparent straw man argument to rant about the potential dangers of frac’ng. The authors of the report understand that frac’ng itself isn’t the issue.
Again if someone wants to challenge what the Rockman has said then go ahead. Apneaman has failed miserably. You just have to explain how the BILLIONS of bbls of non-frac fluids injected under OK for many DECADES prior to the increase in tremors didn’t cause such seismic events while the very much smaller volume of frac fluids injected has caused the increase. Remember the reports says it’s the injection process of frac fluids that correlates with increased seismic activity…not frac’ng itself. Also understand that most the frac fluids (which are about 99% water) are being injected into wells that have been in service for 25+ years.
But again if one doesn’t understand the distinction between correlation and causation I’m sure they are helpless lost at this point. LOL. In fact there’s very strong correlation between the number of articles discussing the Kardashians and increased OK seismic activity. Thus that chatter must be the CAUSE. If folks would just stop talking about Kim things would return to normal in OK. LOL.
If one wants to understand the potentially deadly implications of increased seismic activity in the OK region go search “New Madrid earthquake”. That’s a subject that should be worrying those folks IMHO.
makati1 on Thu, 15th Oct 2015 7:27 am
rockman, does selling an addictive drug ever bother you? You are making your living selling a poison that is killing the ecology and then trying to make others feel guilty about pointing it out. You are a typical Texan, I think. All hat and no cattle.*
*”All hat and no cattle.” (US, idiomatic) Full of big talk but lacking action, power, or substance; pretentious.
If the Us had not stolen Texas from Mexico, you would be speaking Spanish and living in some hovel with your 8 kids, I think. LOL
joe on Thu, 15th Oct 2015 8:11 am
Don’t read this. Look away now. By order of the ministry of ExtraordiNary liEs and Reactionaries aGainst realitY.
Davy on Thu, 15th Oct 2015 8:26 am
A lot of bitchin and whinnin for Texas when the real killer is Asia. The largest middle class in the world looking to get rich quick and burning more coal than the rest of the world combines to do it. Asia is truely awful in this regards. We have no hope as long as the Asian hordes choose to rape and pillage the earth.
GregT on Thu, 15th Oct 2015 11:21 am
‘We have no hope as long as the Asian hordes choose to rape and pillage the earth.”
We do have a choice though Davy. We can all stop buying American company products manufactured in Asian sweatshops. Sure those products would cost more, but at least we would have better control over our own pollution, and we could keep the jobs at home.
Davy on Thu, 15th Oct 2015 12:04 pm
Greg, Canada does not do the same thing or is it only American companies that use the Asian sweatshops?
GregT on Thu, 15th Oct 2015 12:34 pm
Davy,
Most of the brand name products in our big box stores are manufactured by American corporations. It has been that way for as long as I can remember. Even our big box stores are mostly American owned. Canada has been Americanized Davy, ever since NAFTA was rammed through. Instead of again accusing me of being an anti-American, how about acknowledging what I have said. We have exported our pollution and our jobs mostly to Asia, in return for cheaper consumer goods. In Canada, we are exporting our natural resources to Asia as well.
Davy on Thu, 15th Oct 2015 12:46 pm
Greg, do Canadians own stock? If not then I guess you are right. Greg, are you bustin my balls on something that has been made clear by me on multiple occasions to come to the rescue of your buddy dog paw. Oh, and as far as calling you anti-American you wear that badge with honor.
My original comment was generated and directed towards dog paw who was bashing rock and Texas. If you want to get into a pissing match bring it on. Otherwise stay out of my business with dog paw. I do not get between your petty fights with planter and boat.
GregT on Thu, 15th Oct 2015 1:02 pm
I stand by what I said Davy. We, Americans and Canadians, are exporting our pollution and our manufacturing jobs mostly to Asia, in return for larger corporate profits and cheaper consumer goods.
We, as around 5% of the world’s population, are responsible for 25% of the world’s pollution, energy consumption, and resource use. It’s always easier to point fingers at others, but I refuse to do so. I accept that my western way of life is far more responsible for raping and pillaging the Earth, than any other culture around the world.
GregT on Thu, 15th Oct 2015 1:05 pm
And the truth be told Davy, us Canadians are actually worse than you Americans.
Davy on Thu, 15th Oct 2015 1:14 pm
Ok, Greg, let’s leave it that so neither one of us has a new front openned up with our ongoing wars with those we despise. Lincoln once said after Confederates were taken off a Britsh vessel and the British objected “one war is enough, release them”
Apneaman on Thu, 15th Oct 2015 3:25 pm
Another scumfuck fossil fuel EXTRACTION company gets exposed for their crimes, lying and hiring lying scumbag lawyers. In the WSJ nonetheless. Ha ha. Yes Rupert Murdoch and Co will abandon all of them in the end. Oil, gas, coal – all fucking liars who may one day get their just rewards.
Alpha Natural Discloses Payments to Climate Change Skeptic Chris Horner
“We’ve known for years that Chris Horner and his front group have secretly been supported by companies that don’t want their names associated with attacking climate scientists,” said Michael Halpern, program manager for the Center of Science and Democracy at the Union of Concerned Scientists.
But until Alpha’s bankruptcy, he said, “the funding organization and individuals have been so opaque it’s been difficult to understand who is really behind it.””
http://blogs.wsj.com/bankruptcy/2015/10/15/alpha-natural-discloses-payments-to-climate-change-skeptic-chris-horner/
Attorney Hounding Climate Scientists Is Covertly Funded By Coal Industry
https://theintercept.com/2015/08/25/chris-horner-coal/
Boat on Thu, 15th Oct 2015 4:13 pm
gregT,
But when I mention how we eat the pollution and ship food all over the world. Crickets. How we deplete our soil to feed the world. How we waste out water to feed the world. How we waste a huge chunk on our economy plaqying policeman for the world and eat the pollution from all those factories. How we import oil turn it into finished petroleum products for the rest of the world and eat the pollution. So GregT, why is always one sided with you. Think balanced dude. You sound like Fox and MSNBC
GregT on Thu, 15th Oct 2015 5:04 pm
Stop doing all of those things that are causing your pollution then Boat. And while you’re at it, stop manufacturing all of your toys in other countries to take advantage of cheap foreign labour while polluting their countries as well.
Stay at home and deal with your own problems, and let other countries deal with theirs. The world has had enough of US imperialism.
Boat on Thu, 15th Oct 2015 5:24 pm
So if another country want to make money making toys for US children that is US imperialism. Were gonna have to tie you to a chair and appointment you with oil and chase them daemons out. You got some serious problems son.
Apneaman on Thu, 15th Oct 2015 5:36 pm
Boat, feed the world? Are you giving the food away for free or selling it just like any other commodity? Why do so many Americans always try and make it look like they are doing everyone a favour when they are only trying to make money? You’re full of shit again boat.
GregT on Thu, 15th Oct 2015 6:03 pm
“making toys for US children”
I never called you a child Boat, you’re ( notice the apostrophe ) putting words into my mouth.
GregT on Thu, 15th Oct 2015 6:24 pm
“appointment you with oil”
I believe that the word you were looking for here is actually ‘anoint’.
And it would be we’re, not were.
And daemon means: (in ancient Greek belief) a divinity or supernatural being of a nature between gods and humans.
So I assume that you meant demons?
As in;
We’re gonna have to tie you to a chair and anoint you with oil and chase them demons out.
Boat on Thu, 15th Oct 2015 6:24 pm
Apeman,
Go check out the facts. The US is the leading exporter of food but pays some of the highest prices in the world. Same with drugs. Not only do we have to fund the research but end up paying more for the end product. If you choose to trust the internet you can get cheaper drugs through Canada and India. If you want cheaper food, you have to drive to Mexico.
Apneaman on Thu, 15th Oct 2015 7:02 pm
boat, you’re a fucking retard plain and simple. A babbling fool who doesn’t even make any sense most of the time.
Boat on Thu, 15th Oct 2015 7:12 pm
Of course, it doesn’t fit your anti American platform.
GregT on Thu, 15th Oct 2015 7:13 pm
Food Power
“In international politics, food power is the use of agriculture as a means of political control whereby one nation or group of nations offers or withholds commodities from another nation or group of nations in order to manipulate behavior. Its potential use as a weapon was recognised after OPEC’s earlier use of oil as a political weapon. Food has a major influence on political actions of a nation.”
“Food power is an integral part of the politics of food. The idea of food power is used in embargoes, employment, and food politics. In order for a nation to utilize food power effectively, the nation must effectively apply and display scarcity, supply concentration, demand dispersion, and action independence. The four main nations that export enough agriculture to be able to exert food power are the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.”
““Food is a weapon”, stated Earl Butz, the United States Secretary of Agriculture, in 1974.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_power
Teach a nation to grow their own food, and they will become independent. Supply a nation with food, and that nation becomes enslaved.
GregT on Thu, 15th Oct 2015 7:33 pm
American Drug Cartels
“The United States has been waging a war on drugs in the wrong theater. The biggest drug cartels are right here in our own front yard. They are not over seas; they are not south of the border; they are right here in River City, folks. I am talking about the legal drug pushers – Pharmaceutical companies.”
“Americans pay up to 60 times more than our international counterparts for the exact same drugs. Why? Because most other nations cap the prices that can be charged for medication. That is precisely why Americans spend more on health care than anyone in any other country in the world. We are not healthier for it either. That, my friends, is the power of single payer health coverge for all. Reduced drug prices for all. The governments who pay the medical bills don’t want medication to cost so much, so they do something about it.”
“What can be done? Government could limit profits on medications. They could impose price caps, like other countries have.”
“Think of the savings for the government a moment. If drug prices were capped, then Medicare and Medicaid would not be on the hook for such charges. Insurance premiums could come down too. It is win-win for everyone but the American drug cartels. Let’s call them what they really are.”
“The only ones who lose in a price capped market are the pushers. And the Congressmen whom they don’t get elected.”
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/05/14/1384668/-American-Drug-Cartels#