Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Politics and Other Controversies
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 05-20-2015, 08:08 PM
 
Location: Salem, OR
102 posts, read 138,645 times
Reputation: 89

Advertisements

I encountered someone today that firmly believes the unusual increase in seismic activity in Oklahoma is due not from fracking or other man-made activities, but a huge underground mountain chain located under Texas and Oklahoma. Based on my previous encounters with this person, he often feels to the need to rush to the defense of whatever position his "side" stands for regardless of the amount of evidence that disputes this stance.

Am I missing something? I am not even sure why this is a partisan issue. I am not an expert on fracking, but I think I can recognize a correlation when it is blatantly obvious.

It's unbelievable.

Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 05-20-2015, 08:13 PM
 
7,846 posts, read 6,379,668 times
Reputation: 4025
Quote:
Originally Posted by KJH89 View Post
Am I missing something? I am not even sure why this is a partisan issue. I am not an expert on fracking, but I think I can recognize a correlation when it is blatantly obvious.

It's unbelievable.
The truth is offensive, especially to those who reject science. Oklahoma isn't exactly the land of enlightenment in 2015.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-20-2015, 08:16 PM
 
24,364 posts, read 22,950,229 times
Reputation: 14940
Man made, but who says fracking is causing it? We have fracking here in Pa but very few, if any, earthquakes. I personally believe they're doing underground digging and carving out tunnels there. Building bunkers, working on an underground transit system, who knows.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-20-2015, 08:19 PM
 
11,755 posts, read 7,075,354 times
Reputation: 8011
Obama is a man, so it is man made. Show some leadership, goddamn it!

Mick
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-20-2015, 08:19 PM
 
7,846 posts, read 6,379,668 times
Reputation: 4025
Quote:
Originally Posted by Icy Tea View Post
Man made, but who says fracking is causing it? We have fracking here in Pa but very few, if any, earthquakes. I personally believe they're doing underground digging and carving out tunnels there. Building bunkers, working on an underground transit system, who knows.
"Screw data, this is what *I* believe."
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-20-2015, 08:25 PM
 
Location: Portland, Oregon
46,001 posts, read 35,052,752 times
Reputation: 7875
Man made, but fracking is good for you, so deal with the shaking suckers.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-20-2015, 08:37 PM
 
Location: Stasis
15,823 posts, read 12,415,231 times
Reputation: 8599
Quote:
Originally Posted by Icy Tea View Post
Man made, but who says fracking is causing it?.
The Oklahoma Geological Survey.

“The Oklahoma Geological Survey announced today the majority of recent earthquakes in central and north-central Oklahoma are likely triggered by the injection of produced water in disposal wells.”

http://www.ogs.ou.edu/homepage.php
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-20-2015, 08:42 PM
 
Location: SF Bay Area
12,287 posts, read 9,785,144 times
Reputation: 6509
The release of built up tension in small amounts over time is more desirable than one large release of tension which causes damage.

Btw, local to me we have had a string of small earthquakes, no fracking going on here.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-20-2015, 08:52 PM
 
Location: The Republic of Texas
78,866 posts, read 46,426,521 times
Reputation: 18520
Revelations I tell you... Revelations.

The 7 trumpets are already sounding all over the earth.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-20-2015, 08:56 PM
 
191 posts, read 212,316 times
Reputation: 312
Default Would you believe both are correct?

Most, as in nearly all, of the reported earthquakes have occurred in proximity two fault systems: the Humboldt fault system located immediately East of the Nemaha Ridge (running west of but pretty parallel to I-35 from west of OKC on up through Kansas City and thence it is associated with a failed rift system (the name starts with a K but I don't remember the full thing); and the Wilzetta Fault which runs WSW to ENE north of OKC through about Shawnee.

Now there is very little evidence that fracture treatments by themselves have cause significant seismic activity. However, salt water produced along with oil and gas is typically re-injected in deep wells. These wells are permitted to prevent the brine from contaminating Underground Sources of Drinking Water (USDW) which is EPA speak for "all fresh water plus all salt water that is technical feasible to treat so as to be used as drinking water". Until recently no real consideration was given to the possibility that this injection could induce earthquakes by lubricating and or forcing apart both sides of stress fracture systems. It is well known that water injection, under the proper conditions can encourage fault slippage (earthquakes)

The Oklahoma Corporation Commission has implemented changes in their permitting process, to address this issue. Basically, they are identifying all requests for permits for SWD that are located within a certain distance from all know earthquake swarms, and all "stressed" fault system, as identified by the Oklahoma Geological Survey. As part of the permit conditions the total allowed injections would be stepped up to the allowed maximums over multiple months. Also, any well that penetrated all the way through the Arbuckle Lime (one of the deepest sedimentary formations in the state), are required to be plugged back so that no connection between the injection formation and the igneous "basement" rocks exists (most recorded earthquakes occur in the igneous basement).

One of the problems with the current idea that "fracking" causes earthquakes is that we in Oklahoma has been "fracking" for the last sixty years (since about 1950). Likewise, the use of SWD wells started even earlier, and we have injected literally 100s of Billions of barrels (a barrel is 42 gallons) in the ground BEFORE seismic activity started to rise.

The reason that this whole thing has become politicized is that certain pro-environment/anti-development groups have adopted "fracking" as a boogeyman which can stand for the any part of a fairly complex system of exploration, drilling, well completion (fracture treating is part of well completion, so when you read somebody call it a drilling technique, you'll know they aren't quite a knowledgeable as they let on) production (this is where the SWD part comes in) transportation, processing, and consumption which altogether makes our way of life possible. Many of these groups and the people who support them self-identify as Democrats (or at least as liberals) while most people who actively support energy development tend Republican (or at least Conservative).


0
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Politics and Other Controversies

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top