It's not Fracking that Causes Earthquakes

[Anonymous]

Yeah, just some.  It's an industry that supplies you with energy.  It's not inherently greedy as you seem to suggest.  Thousands of people engaged in it try to do the right thing both from a social and an environmental standpoint.



What's the long term cost going to be of what?  Of fracking as a resource extraction technique?  Pretty minimal.  The earthquake thing is a total red herring and in most geological conditions, the water tables wouldn't be affected even if the fracking does occur too close to the surface.

Everyone not only tries, but must comply with safety..



I don't get the greed accusation either, it's for the common good.

[RW]

I don't believe the social and environmental stewardship line for one second.  I think MANY do the bare minimum (if that) to meet regulatory markers.  



Face it.  Energy companies are treated with contempt because they repeatedly fail to respect the environment - sometimes with catastrophic consequences.  They should be kept on a damn short leash IMHO.

Would energy companies exist if you did not use their product?

We need oil and gas at this point in time.  I accept that.

[RW]

Yeah, just some.  It's an industry that supplies you with energy.  It's not inherently greedy as you seem to suggest.  Thousands of people engaged in it try to do the right thing both from a social and an environmental standpoint.



What's the long term cost going to be of what?  Of fracking as a resource extraction technique?  Pretty minimal.  The earthquake thing is a total red herring and in most geological conditions, the water tables wouldn't be affected even if the fracking does occur too close to the surface.

Everyone not only tries, but must comply with safety..



I don't get the greed accusation either, it's for the common good.

Accusation?  You think oil and gas companies extract oil and gas for the greater good?  No.  They do it to make money.

[Anonymous]

Flaming water because of fracking was a myth that was debunked long ago.



Does fracking cause flaming water faucets?



This is a well-traveled mythology, so let's take a closer look. First, naturally occurring methane has been well documented all across the country – and for many years prior to drilling.

In Michigan, naturally occurring methane was documented in the 1960s, and in Pennsylvania in the 1980s – decades before hydraulic fracturing and shale development came to those states. Two U.S. Geological Survey studies found lots of methane in Pennsylvania and New York water wells prior to any drilling. Another peer-reviewed study examining 1,700 Pennsylvania water wells in both natural gas-producing and non-gas producing areas determined that "methane is ubiquitous in groundwater" in the region.

There have been efforts to debunk the fracking/flaming faucet myth. The documentary "Truthland" highlights an upstate New York resident setting his water on fire – while pointing out that the state had a fracking moratorium for years. Another documentary, "FrackNation," features three U.S. towns called "Burning Springs," because residents can ignite their water on fire. All got their names long before "fracking" ever became a household word. One of these is in the Niagara Falls, N.Y., region, where one visitor, D.W. Clark, observed in 1845:

"Arrived at the Spring, the attendant closed the door of the house to exclude the light, and then we were treated to a very fine illumination from the burning of the inflammable gas, which rises to the surface with a slight cracking noise, and readily becomes ignited by a lighted match being placed in it. The faces of those standing near looked like the 'weird sisters' of Macbeth around the cauldron of Hecate..."

A pair of anti-hydraulic fracturing films depict landowners lighting their water, but it was determined the methane in those cases had nothing to do with fracking. One involved a Colorado case in which investigating state regulators determined the methane was "not related to oil and gas activity," but to the landowner drilling his water well through several natural gas-bearing rock zones.

Another showed a Parker County, Texas, landowner lighting the end of his garden hose. But a state investigation determined that the landowner had hooked up his hose to a gas vent, not a water line. A state district judge later ruled this created a "deceptive video" intended to scare other residents and to attract the EPA's attention. Texas regulators looked into the case and found that the methane "signature" indicated it came from a shallower zone into which several water wells had been drilled – not from the Barnett Shale from which companies have been producing natural gas.

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