There was a 2.3M earthquake near Cleburne, TX early this morning.
About Sharon Wilson
Sharon Wilson is considered a leading citizen expert on the impacts of shale oil and gas extraction. She is the go-to person whether it’s top EPA officials from D.C., national and international news networks, or residents facing the shock of eminent domain and the devastating environmental effects of natural gas development in their backyards.
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IT’S NOT DRILLING! IT’S NOT DRILLING! IT’S NOT DRILLING! IT’S NOT DRILLING! IT’S NOT DRILLING! IT’S NOT DRILLING! IT’S NOT DRILLING! IT’S NOT DRILLING! IT’S NOT DRILLING! IT’S NOT DRILLING! IT’S NOT DRILLING! IT’S NOT DRILLING! IT’S NOT DRILLING! IT’S NOT DRILLING!
(If you tell a big lie and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie – Joseph Goebbels ).
I can personally testify that obtaining earthquake information “automagically” is relatively easy for a computer programmer. I can also personally testify that obtaining the latitudes and longitudes of oil and gas wells can be a very frustrating enterprise. States, such as Oklahoma, seem to go out of their way to repress the dissemination of the locations of wells. Other states, such as Texas, put their oil and gas well locations behind a “paywall”. The locations for Texas wells can be obtained, on a county-by-county basis, and only for a fee.
It is my humble opinion that the States are acting in their own perceived self-interest, irregardless of the cost to the “peasants”, in a manner similar to the “cities-first” policy as presently implemented in China. This policy, coupled with the “Goebbels” mentality mentioned above, leaves little room for those in rural settings to seek legal redress for their grievances.
In short, it is “exploitation without information” and is akin to “exploitation without representation.” And to think that at one time there was a country that staged a revolution over “taxation without representation.”
I wonder that happened to that country?
Actually, K Quixote, we do have access to a lot of information about the drilling sites. And it’s free. Learning to navigate the Texas Railroad Commission web site requires a lot of time. After months and even years, it has been possible to stumble through and figure it out. None of it is “user friendly,” or “intuitive,” for a quick look, to be sure. :=)
I ‘m not speaking about the “manual” methods of obtaining data, rather I’m talking more about the “programmatic” methods of obtaining well type and location data. The intention is to be able to marry the earthquake data with the well location to see if there are correlations.
The ultimate goal is to have the ability to manifest a “time-series animation” for most any location of the country, starting with the most tectonically quiet regions that have just recently started to experience temblors and progressing to those regions that were initially less quiet.
The ability to associate a certain type of well beginning fracking/injection operations in a known location with emergent “swarms” of earthquakes, if any, would be beneficial to all parties involved, to wit:
+ The operators could adjust their injection volumes, or toggle them on and off as needed, to minimize the number of earthquakes (I don’t know if doing such is even feasible).
+ The property insurance companies could begin to adjust their earthquake insurance premiums based upon empirical rather than anecdotal evidence.
+ The health insurance companies could begin to adjust their insurance premiums based upon empirical rather than anecdotal evidence.
+ Graduate students of geography and economics, using earthquake, well location, and Census data could see if there are correlations between socio-economic status, well locations (e.g. NIMBY-effect and wealth), and possible diasporas following the start of fracking/injection operations (e.g. folks leaving town due to air/water/health quality issues, a.k.a. “take the money and run”).
+ Academicians and policy makers could take the data and conduct studies that might impact legislation or public policy.
+ Local officials might possibly be able, with the help of analysts, to figure out whether the revenue stream from fracking/injection operations (if any is locally taxable) offsets the loss/gain, if any, of property values (i.e. property taxes or tax abatements) and/or population (i.e. sales taxes).
+ A long-term database of earthquakes and well sites, independent of the government’s database(s), would be available as an “open-source” for any and all to use, both pro and con. Such a long-term database could also be used to assess whether site remediation was being conducted in a timely manner according to ordinance or law.
The list above could go on, but I think you get the idea.
That’s pretty impressive, and you make great points. Unfortunately, the earthquakes are going to have be a lot stronger than 2.3 before anything changes. If the large and growing number of people getting sick and dying isn’t enough (yet) property damage still has a way to go before anything meaningful will happen.
Ed Ireland just found another study he really likes that shows that the vehicle traffic is actually causing twice as much emissions than natural gas development is.
So, Ed must be recommending stricter air rules for vehicles? Let’s see how well that goes over.
Not necessarily GhostBlogger.
It’s more the sum of the parts in the long-run that is more worrisome rather than the short-run fracking operations of today. For example, the summation of these parts might prove to be overwhelming to some:
+ Ground water contamination with poisons, carcinogens, tetragens, and their ilk.
+ Ground water contamination with volatile/flammable chemicals.
+ Nearby vehicular traffic (noise, dust, 24-hour operations).
+ Increased wear and tear on the existing roads required to support increased vehicular traffic.
+ Air pollution from fracking operations emissions.
+ Anthropogenic earthquake activity where there was infrequent or virtually no activity before. In addition, the occurrence of significant earthquakes where there were few before.
+ Increased health-care costs at the individual, county, and state levels. Most indigent health care is funded by the Counties/States via Medicaid programs
+ Increased health-care premiums.
+ Increased property insurance premiums.
+ Decreased property values for the landed gentry nearby.
+ Increased rents for the common folk.
+ Gradual diaspora of the population caused by the aforementioned side-effects of fracking operations.
+ Potential loss of taxable revenue due to decreased property values and sales taxes, especially when primary fracking operations terminate but the after-effects still remain.
+ Cost of site remediation after the various fracking operators declare bankruptcy, due to falling prices/demand and/or increasing expenses, with insufficient funds being present in the “sinking funds” earmarked for said remediation.
+ After said bankruptcies, the inability to find/assess liable operators in the cases of site remediation and/or repair.
+ The inability to attract new property developments due to fracking operations being planned, conducted , or being presently conducted in the proximity.
+ The negative effects of air/water/noise pollution upon nearby agricultural operations.
+ The worries of whom to approach for redress of grievances years down the line when side-effects begin to manifest themselves.
Once again I could go on, but the important take-away from all of this is that I could come up with the list of the above potential impacts all off the top of my head. The above list is based upon my over 25 years of living or working in close proximity to massive petrochemical plants, witnessing first-hand the personal and societal manifestations of the above-mentioned “symptoms”.
You are correct, WC. Keep up the good sleuth work!
Apparently, there have been earthquakes before in this area that have been associated with saltwater disposal wells.
http://www.fwbog.com/index.php?page=article&article=166
“After some initial data from their study showed a possible correlation between small earthquakes that occurred near a Chesapeake disposal well close to a mapped fault south of DFW airport, Chesapeake officials made the decision to close both the DFW disposal well and one in Cleburne.”
http://energyandenvironmentblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2009/08/water-disposal-wells-possibly.html
“. . . .However, their research indicates a potential correlation between Chesapeake’s Salt Water Disposal (SWD) well at the southern end of the DFW Airport. There is a major fault running northeast/southwest through the airport, and the C1DE SWD is approximately 2,400 feet away. Although the research is not conclusive, Chesapeake has shut in that particular well as a precautionary measure.
Additionally, Chesapeake has also shut in the South Cleburne SWD as another precautionary measure. Although smaller in nature, there is a regional fault in the southern part of Cleburne, which is another area of recent seismic activity.
Tuesday night a lady testified to our City Council that she and her neighbors have felt tremors in SE Arlington (where there is a huge number of padsites).
you must also take into account mnpsetoaghere and solar flares.. both also produce similar lights in the sky.. so data will have to be shown that at these points in time..these were not the origin or the lights in the sky these are influences that just can not be ignored.. and are happening now.. we need to distinguish haarp from these instances and real natuaraly phenominon or a direct result in response to harrp or not. there will always be a base of highly unstable particules.
To the paranoid people out there, please study the history of quakes to date. Oh no!, there was one in the Memphis, TN area,…Oh wait not much drilling there. Or how about the one in Glen Rose just about the time the new power plant was ready to come on line, well that one must have been from all the radiation. Please let it go. We all get a quake now and then, and NO,.. I do not work for any drilling company or the like. How many of you know about the “natural fault line just south east of Cleburne? All the media hype gets this stuff going now with the drilling, why did they not bring up the quakes before the drilling?