The drilling industry’s refusal to acknowledge its role in seismic activity makes its critics livid.
Because the refusal to accept the science means that the industry also refuses to address the problem, former DISH mayor Calvin Tillman said, “We’re all guinea pigs right now.”
Tillman, one of the founders of ShaleTest, which helps families and communities test for drilling-related pollution, recently returned from California. There, he said, he heard a lot of discussion about smaller earthquakes leading to larger ones and about how 3.0 magnitude quakes can crack drywall and concrete driveways.
“Industry still denies it, even when studies from Oklahoma say there is a direct causation, but in Texas the industry says it’s a different geological formation, and it can’t happen here,” he said.
“What the earthquake issue does is remind us of how unprepared everyone was when the Barnett Shale boom started” said Jim Schermbeck, founder of Downwinders At Risk, an environmental organization that works on air pollution and gas drilling issues. “Everyone assumed things were hunky-dory. … Nobody evaluated the air or water contamination issues or the earthquake issue.
“Imagine if you would have talked about the industry causing earthquakes several years ago: No one would have listened. Now it’s not only a regular part of the conversation but something that people have to live with in this area.”
Wilson, the Texas representative of the Oil and Gas Accountability Project and a prolific blogger on fracking issues, said that industry denial of the problem will have major repercussions.
“There is so much we don’t know. We don’t know when the next earthquakes will appear or what damage they will do,” she said. “We have no idea of the maximum magnitude an injection well earthquake might be or how long after injection stops earthquakes might still occur.”
In Irving, Wallace said, the city suffered two of its strongest earthquakes yet — of 3.5 and 3.6 magnitude — on Jan. 6. “That’s when the injection well reopened,” she said.
The next day, the Irving school district ran its first earthquake drill.
Senaida Martinez’ three kids — one each in an Irving elementary, middle school, and high school — were full of the news.
“The kids came home and explained that as soon as the teacher feels something shaking in the room, she’s to say, ‘The ground is shaking,’ and then the kids are supposed to get under their desks or a table, cover their heads with one hand, and grab hold of a desk or table leg until the teacher calls ‘All clear.’ ”
Erica Pedroza, communications and marketing coordinator for the Irving district, said the earthquake exercise — called a ‘drop, cover, hold on drill’ — will become a regular part of school preparedness “just like fire drills and tornado drills.”
In Reno, Mayor Stokes said that when the news media began publicizing the earthquakes, the company operating the injection well there “finally cut back on the amount of water they were injecting and the pressure with which it was being injected.
“That’s when the quakes lessened,” she said.
While scientists, governments, and drillers argue, “We’re continuing to suffer,” she said.
The Barnett Shale, Tillman said, “doesn’t look like such a good deal anymore, does it?”
Greedheads are going to be greed-heads. Liars are liars. Repug Peckerwoods can be expected to remain Repug Peckerwoods. What’s new here?
Benny: You’re right. But we still do it because we learn about the issues first here in Fort Worth, and that is what gets out–along with the other nearby writers and activists–to New York and what they use as a basis for not allowing fracking. And it gets to Romania and England and Denmark and Germany—so you’re right, it’s not new that greed is greed, but the fault line issue is new enough and important enough to alert both our readers and others who have a stake in the game but didn’t know this issue existed.
Mr. Gorman, you’re absolutely right. I agree 100% with your reasoning and regret my wise-crack. My hat is off to you, Sir, and to Fort Worth Weekly. I am much more than certain that, may God forbid, if Fort Worth somehow lost the Weekly, we could never recover. You are very clearly an endearing piece of the Weekly and the Weekly is an outstanding accomplishment. May ya’ll live long and prosper. God bless you.
Hey Peter, I just snapped. Lynda Stokes, the Mayor over in Reno is my neighbor and customer at my fire-cracker stand out in Briar Tx., on the County Line. I can chunk a rock and hit her. I’m in big trouble now because I don’t know of a single soul in Reno, Briar, Parker County or Wise County who vote Democrat. I expect I’m sunk.
Thank you for your article. This is a topic that should be front page news on every paper! Please keep us posted. Natural gas an it’s horrific impact on our environment cannot be understated, we’re just oblivious to what our future holds. We need to wake up!
Not sure which injection well Ms. Wallace is referring to as being “re-opened.” There are no injection wells near the epicenter of the Irving/Dallas Earthquakes. But there are two unconventional wells that are in the immediate area of the earthquake zone. And prior to the implementation of the 2011 Fracking Disclosure Bill, there were no rules for operators to disclose the amount of water used for fracking operations. Unknown amounts of water were used to frack these two wells in 2008 and 2009. Sure do wish Ms. Wallace would tell us who told her that an injection well “re-opened.”