Oil and gas operators shut down two wastewater injection wells in northern Oklahoma on Tuesday and reduced operations at a third after several earthquakes centered in the town of Crescent rattled the state. Associated Press, Jul 29 2015
http://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/2-injection-wells-shut-down-after-oklahoma-quakes/
Several earthquakes shook Oklahoma on Monday as the state experiences a sharp increase in the frequency of tremors linked to wastewater disposal from gas and oil drilling, including from fracking, state and federal officials said. Reuters Jul 29 2015
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-oklahoma-quakes-idUSKCN0Q20MQ20150728
Yesterday, multiple 4+ magnitude earthquakes rattled Oklahoma and this morning three more were recorded by the U.S. Geological Survey.
All the earthquakes were in the same region and that was enough to do the unthinkable in Oklahoma—shut down fracking wastewater wells.
Daily KOS, Jul 28, 2015
Even the name sounds strangely illicit: Northern White. It’s not a narcotic. It’s sand – a very particular kind of sand mined in Wisconsin and elsewhere in the Midwest. It’s prized in large part because it can stand the pressure of being rammed deep into the earth – an invaluable part of fracking, one of the world’s most lucrative industries. Globe and Mail, Ontario. Jul 25 2015
North Carolina’s oil and gas drilling regulators are developing an extensive to-do list for their successors, and they plan to recommend a public health study for areas that could be affected by gas drilling. North Carolina Health News, North Carolina. Jul 24 2015
Going deep? A surprising number of U.S. oil and gas wells are hydraulically fractured at shallow depths, a new study finds. Science News Jul 23 2015
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/fracking-doesn%E2%80%99t-always-go-great-depths?tgt=nr
Oklahoma has always had earthquakes, but they used to be rather rare – about one or two a year that people could feel. That started to change around 2009. And by 2014, things really went crazy. Center for Investigative Reporting, Jul 20 2015
https://www.revealnews.org/article/man-made-earthquakes-fact-or-fiction/
More than 50 protesters stood in front of the Mars Area High School in Middlesex Township, Butler County on Wednesday, bearing signs that said “Ban Fracking Now” and “Stop Fracking by Our Schools”. StateImpact Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania. Jul 16 2015
https://stateimpact.npr.org/pennsylvania/2015/07/15/parents-protest-fracking-near-schools/
Residents of two northeastern Pennsylvania counties with a high density of active shale gas wells were more likely to be admitted to the hospital for heart, nervous system and other medical conditions than residents in neighboring areas with no drilling. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Pennsylvania. Jul 16 2015
It has long been apparent that a moratorium on major new fracking is in order until more is known about its risks and benefits. Los Angeles Times Jul 14 2015