Thursday, July 28, 2011
Is responsibility for earthquakes being aimed at wastewater companies?
In the article "Earthquakes in Arkansas May Be Man-Made, Experts Warn, " on Fox News.com, earthquake specialist Horton and seismologist Mahdi both suggest that pumping salt water into the ground could contribute to the increase in earthquakes in the Greenbrier, AR area. The article further links the occurrence of salt water disposal to increased earthquake activity in areas as geographically distant as Cleburne, Texas and West Virginia. Later in the article, a few drilling companies are mentioned, but two companies, Clarita Operating and Deep-Six Water Disposal Services, are identified as those which"operate for-profit wastewater disposal wells in the [Greenbrier] area." Because the last new fact mentioned in the article is the identification of these two companies, I wonder if one of the goals of the article was to divert the blame away from the drillers and towards the smaller (read: fewer employees) companies which handle the waste water.
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Although the blame could be shared between the drillers and the waste water companies, would that necessarily change some residents' desire for drilling to stop?
ReplyDeleteInteresting point, I think the article does not shed enough light on the process of dumping the wastewater back into the ground. I would like to use more especially since they used the term "toxic."
ReplyDeleteI don't understand why they don't make all companies stop injecting the "toxic waste." Apparently, other companies are using an alternate method. Why not make all companies dispose of waste in a better way? Which make me wonder, how do the other companies dispose of their "toxic waste"?
ReplyDeleteGood job citing resources!
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