Most of us have heard on the news lately about the many different earthquakes and tremors that have been causing concern in our state. News media is often times placing the blame of these events on companies drilling in or near the small town of Greenbrier, or more specifically, the disposal of wastewater in injection wells. Are these deep drillings into Earth the cause for our earthquake and tremor troubles?
I believe that the answer to this question is yes. There has been research and studies done that help us answer this question. Studies have shown that 90% of earthquakes since 2009 have been within 6 kilometers of salt-water injection wells. http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/03/01/fracking-earthquakes-arkansas-man-experts-warn/ In many places the instances of earthquakes has greatly increased since drilling started in these specific areas. I think that there has to be something to these findings. It is too much of a coincidence for these problems to start where they have never been before until the drilling was started.
I think that with more research, it will be proven that the drilling and wastewater in injection wells is the culprit for our recent problems. No other reasonable explination has been found. We now need to focus on a solution. Is the drilling worth it? Is there another way to dispose of the wastewater caused by drilling? These are things we need to figure out before we cause more damage that we are prepared to deal with.
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