“Face the Storm.” Photo source: ©© Zach Dischner
Hydraulic fracturing has been blamed for environmental problems ranging from flammable tap water to minor earthquakes, to sand mining. To squeeze hydrocarbons out of shale through hydraulic fracturing of the rock, the process known as fracking, producers need to pump an enormous amount of sand into the ground…
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This week, Beverly Hills became the first municipality in California to pass a ban on fracking and related extreme well stimulation techniques with a unanimous vote.
Read Full Article, National Geographic
Beverly Hills Becomes First City in California to Pass Fracking Ban, Huffington Post
Does fracking cause quakes? California needs to know; Los Angeles Times
Induced Earthquakes, Earthquakes Hazard Program, USGS (April 2014)
A team of USGS scientists led by Bill Ellsworth analyzed changes in the rate of earthquake occurrence using large USGS databases of earthquakes recorded since 1970. The increase in seismicity has been found to coincide with the injection of wastewater in deep disposal wells in several locations, including Colorado, Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Ohio. Much of this wastewater is a byproduct of oil and gas production and is routinely disposed of by injection into wells specifically designed and approved for this purpose. Hydraulic fracturing, commonly known as “fracking,” does not appear to be linked to the increased rate of magnitude 3 and larger earthquakes. Although wastewater injection has not yet been linked to large earthquakes (M6+), scientists cannot eliminate the possibility…
California Finds More Instances of Offshore Fracking, ABC News (Uploaded 10-22-2013)
The oil production technique known as fracking is more widespread and frequently used in the offshore platforms and man-made islands near some of California’s most populous and famous coastal communities than state officials believed.
