On Wednesday, 2 energy companies asked a judge to toss out a lawsuit by an Oklahoma woman who alleges she was injured in an earthquake caused by the injection of fracking wastewater deep into the ground.
Oklahomans never would have guessed 10 years ago – even 5 years ago – that their state would soon lead the world in earthquakes, but that’s the situation they find themselves in today and experts are warning the “Big One” is coming.
More than 5,000 earthquakes have struck the state just this year. Whether Oklahomans are getting used to the shaking or not, they’ve been warned that the magnitude of the quakes will only grow in severity, and they could be even stronger than the 5.6 temblor that hit the state in 2011. [1]
Earthquakes used to be more of a rarity in Oklahoma. An average of 2 quakes typically shook the state in a year’s time. But that was long ago. Now, the ground rock Oklahomans’ world hundreds of times a year.
In 2014, 585 quakes of a magnitude 3.0 or larger rattled Oklahoma – 3 times the number that rocked California. So far this year, 600 quakes have rattled the area, with the largest being a 4.5 striking the small town of Crescent. Scientists point to oil and gas drilling as the cause. [1]
Research shows that people who live near hydraulic fracturing (fracking) sites have more severe health problems than those who don’t, and wind up in the hospital more often.
Researchers from the University of Columbia and the University of Pennsylvania wrote in a study published in PLOS ONE that those who live close to the natural oil and gas drilling sites are more likely to suffer from heart conditions, neurological illnesses, and cancer. [1]
As California lawmakers decide if resident ‘water wasters’ should face jail time as a drought strikes the state, water agencies are busy working on higher rates and fees to penalize individual residents. This is happening while the act of hydraulic fracturing is polluting massive amounts of water in the state.
The “strictest conditions for fracking” to date have been passed in Germany by the cabinet, after they approved the country’s first nationwide fracking law. The law would ban fracking in specific areas to “protect drinking water, health, and the environment.”
