Awwwwwwwwwwwkwaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrddddddddd
This past weekend a magnitude 4.5 earthquake hit near Cushing, Oklahoma. There’s a lot of oil companies at
work in Cushing. This is poor timing if you want to be allowed to frack and dump your wastewater loosey goosey because the Oklahoma Corporation Commission (OCC) is in the midst of shutting down or reducing some disposal wells in the Cushing area—in part, because of earthquakes.
Saltwater, a normal byproduct of oil and gas work, is put into deep disposal wells that scientists say have contributed to a rash of small and medium-sized earthquakes in Oklahoma since 2009.
At the time of its latest directive, the OCC said its "plan may be altered as more data is made available."
The OCC shut down a bunch of wastewater wells back in July following
a large cluster of earthquakes hitting the region. This is on top of recent evidence that God, since the fracking boom (and maybe gay marriage?), hates Oklahoma and is beginning his
end of days scenario there.
The seismicity rate in 2013 was 70 times greater than the background seismicity rate observed in Oklahoma prior to 2008, state officials said.
Pray for Oklahoma. Or, more effectively, regulate the fracking and oil industry.