What's the difference?

In Texas and Ohio?

In Texas they have dozens of earthquakes in a short span.  People become concerned and call for help.  They ban together and travel to the state capital.  Texas tells them, we'll look at it.

In Ohio they have earthquakes and they shut down drilling until they figure it out.

WHAT is the difference?  Is it companies or politicians?

The epicenter of these quakes was located in close proximity to several shale gas wells being drilled by Hilcorp Energy, an oil and gas producer based in Houston, TX-based in the Carbon Limestone Landfill in Poland, Ohio.

Hilcorp Energy, which is drilling seven wells at the site, immediately suspended all activity at its wells on Monday.

Sinkholes and Earthquakes...

Welcome to Texas.

Springtown continued to have earthquakes this weekend, making lots of folks there extremely nervous.

They can't help wonder, what's coming next after almost a tremor a day for a week.

One resident can tell you...sinkholes.

The most telling sentence from the NBCnews.com article - The family has reached out to the Parker County Commission, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, the Texas Department of Agriculture and other government agencies, but has gotten no explanation, Napier said.

Let the shakedown begin.

Taking bets on if the USGS stands up for itself.  Hopefully they stand their ground, for YOU.

Read about it on Yahoo.

According to the Associated Press, a study from the U.S. Geological Survey has found a link between oil and natural gas production and a recent spike in small earthquakes in the country. The study looked at an increase in tectonic activity in the U.S. just west of Ohio and east of Utah. It found that starting in 2001 between the state lines of Colorado and New Mexico, an increase that occurred as methane production in the area occurred. Earthquake frequency spiked again since 2009, which was around the same time and in the same area as natural gas production increased.

"BS responses"

Coming from Fort Worth.  How fitting. 

The subject today?  Injection wells.  Seems we aren't the only ones who noticed the "citizen input" meetings are similiar to those supposed "citizen input" meetings for other Fort Worth projects.  You remember, the ones where when the citizens started giving their input, the city shut the meeting down? 

Read the latest in the Fort Worth Weekly.  YOU can't afford to miss it.  Take note of the players, YOU need to know WHO they are.  

It sounds if the city is most concerned about "truck traffic".  Really?  That's your biggest concern?  And WHY would earthquakes need to be discussed on a national level when they are being felt in Fort Worth?

“You can tell the Planning Department has instructions to make this [lifting of the current disposal well moratorium] happen,” the longtime statehouse Democrat said. He’s clearly angry over how the disposal well issue has been presented. City staffers, he said, are giving “bullshit responses” to what he believes are very real concerns.

The league is not opposed to “safe drilling that respects the environment,” Wood said. “We are, however, opposed to the destruction of our most valuable and increasingly threatened natural resource — water — by its contamination and injection into disposal wells.”

Hogan said the weakness of the setback requirement is evident in the frequency with which the council has waived similar requirements for gas wells. In a substantial percentage of cases, he said, the council has allowed the standard 600-foot setback for gas wells to be  reduced even when drillers produced waivers from less than half the affected property owners.

The city staff presentation notes that having disposal wells in the city, served by pipelines, would cut down on the traffic of heavy trucks that damages city roadways and results in surface spills, including accidents involving tanker trucks.

Trice acknowledged that allowing injection wells within the city won’t stop operators from drilling other wells in the surrounding county. And it’s correct, he said, that having disposal wells in the city would reduce truck traffic only if the wells are served by pipelines.

Asked about the city staff’s views on seismic dangers, Trice said, “I’m not sure we have a take [on that issue].” The staff is concerned, he said, but “that dialogue is more appropriate at a state or national level.”

“We would hope if there is a dire safety question,” the Texas Railroad Commission or Environmental Protection Agency would address it, he said.

WTH?

The gas drilling industry swears fracking and drilling doesn't cause earthquakes.

Seismic definition:

pertaining to, of the nature of, or caused by an earthquake or vibration of the earth, whether due to natural or artificial causes.

If the "artificial causes" such as gas drilling doesn't cause earthquakes, WHY is the city of North Richland Hills covered in seismic detecting equipment by the gas drilling industry?  

WHO's responsible if your home is damaged by it?

Ask Fort Worth.  

Another Earthquake?

Another earthquake has been reported.  This one in Johnson County.  People in Burleson and Venus felt the earthquake right before 6:00 p.m.

We can't find any mention of it anywhere yet.  Just from THE PEOPLE so far.

Are you smarter than a 5th grader?

Too bad they are buying your 5th graders too.  Read the letter in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Fracking mistrust

Really? We're supposed to believe U.S. Rep. Joe Barton when he says gas drilling isn't dangerous after he's taken more than $500,000 from the gas and oil lobby? (See: "Fracking lobby donations detailed," Friday)

We're to believe the "experts" who say fracking wasn't responsible for recent earthquakes in Oklahoma even though the number and their intensity have increased dramatically?

We're to believe Fort Worth City Council members when they say current gas drilling regulations are adequate while rejecting their own air quality study's recommendations?

Most fifth-graders would be smart enough to see the correlation between fracking and the increase in earthquakes, gas leaks, noise pollution, dirty air, contaminated water, sickened people or dead wildlife.

Why not our elected officials?

Sadly, it appears that the money has rendered them all deaf, dumb and blind.

-- Sharon Austry, Fort Worth

Remember Colorado?

We were forwarded a link to an article on Oilprice.com today, U.S. Government Confirms link between Earthquakes and Hydraulic Fracturing.

Mind you, they confirmed it in the 60s...

So what happens when the government says it is and the industry says it ain't?  WHO wins?

It ain't YOU.

We'll keep the readers comment attached, it was a pretty creative way of putting it.

(Oilprice) seems like an unlikely web site to be delivering the truth – but there it is – how ironic  … it takes a “quake” to send the message to Washington – that would have been the last thing I would have guessed a few years ago.  God help us if Rick “Secede” Perry gets anywhere near the White House. He will blame “Mother Earth” for not doing its patriotic duty and having the nerve to “burp” while being “water boarded”.

 

While polluting a local community’s water supply is a local tragedy barely heard inside the Beltway, an earthquake ranging from Oklahoma to Illinois, Kansas, Arkansas, Tennessee and Texas is an issue that might yet shake voters out of their torpor, and national elections are slightly less than a year away

Don't miss the article.  What do they say about history repeating itself? 

Yeah, we felt it too

There was an earthquake in Fort Worth tonight.  Well, we don't know where it was centered but we have reports coming in from North Fort Worth of a lot of shaking going on. And Google has lit up like a Christmas tree.  And, we felt the earth shaking.

Last night there was an earthquake in Oklahoma City.  Tonight an earthquake in Fort Worth.  What does Fort Worth and Oklahoma City have in common? Aside from gas drillers? 

Just saying.  And shaking.  On Saturday night in Texas.

Incoming update - 
Word is it was a 5.6 earthquake in Sparks, Oklahoma.  Like they say, what happens in Oklahoma, doesn't stay in Oklahoma...

What happens to water mains and gas pipelines when the ground moves?

Coming Soon...

Earthquakes in Fort Worth.

What are some of the causes of earthquakes?  Yeah, we got them all.

We're about to get some more.

Where was the most recent earthquake felt in Fort Worth? Oh yes,Waxahachie.  

Read about it on FWCANDO.

Waxahachie can't catch a break

Is Fort Worth next?

First, they have their failed boondoggle.  Recently, they had an earthquake that was felt in Fort Worth.  Now, they have a major chemical fire.  WHAT kind of chemicals? Fracing chemicals.

Read Brett Shipp's report on WFAA.com.


Up until late Tuesday, about all Scott Pendery, the owner of Magnablend Inc., was telling the public was this particular facility produced was agriculture and oil and gas products. The only specific chemicals being mentioned were mostly harmless or marginally volatile.

But when pressed, the owner began telling another story.

Most of what the plant was producing was a dangerous cocktail of chemicals blended specifically to be used in hydraulic fracturing (or "fracking") fluids.

As rivers of flammable product flushed out of the Magnablend plant on Monday, all that mattered was that the workers and firefighters escaped with their lives.

A day later, local, state and federal officials began investigating what started the fire — and what all was burning.

"And so some of those products that we make in that plant do get used in that application," the Magnablend owner conceded. "Company-wide, we're probably in the 80 percentile with the oil and gas industry, and then the balance is the agriculture industry."

Later, when we tried to ask Pendery about specific chemicals parked in the tanker cars next to his facility, he ignored our questions and got back into his car without comment.

Waxahachie Fire-Rescue Chief David Hudgins told News 8 he was not aware that 80 percent of what Magnablend produces is fracking chemicals.

EPA officials said they had no idea what Magnablend was producing at the plant.

While it's legal to blend fracking chemicals, federal law states if enough dangerous chemicals are being stored on site, then the company must file a risk management plan.

No such plan has been filed for this facility.

Local, state and federal authorities continue their investigation.

Boondoggles and Earthquakes

Waxahachie Supercollider Boondoggle

Go hand in hand.

Reports coming out of Waxahachie of a 2.5 earthquake.

You know what their famous for, an expensive boondoggle.

What will Fort Worth be famous for? Time will tell.

Saltwater Disposal Hell

Oops, Well.  The word is well.

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports on the city council meeting about extending the moratorium for Saltwater disposal wells in Fort Worth for gas drilling. 

Since 2002, urban gas drilling has seeped into almost every corner of Fort Worth, Tarrant County and surrounding counties to the north, south and west. But we still don't have a good way to deal with the 3.5 million gallons or so of wastewater from hydraulic fracturing at each of those wells or the "produced water" that comes up out of the hole afterward.

The standard way is to inject it back into another hole dug into a formation even deeper than the mile-deep, gas-rich Barnett Shale. But some people call that pollution -- gas well wastewater has a salt content about three times that of seawater. Some scientists have even blamed deep injection wells for minor earthquakes in North Texas.

Our favorite part of the report?  A comment from a citizen living near a drill site.  

I married a Texan, moved here a few years ago. I have a BS degree in zoology and a certificate in Environmental Engineering Technology. I come from Alberta, known for natural gas drilling as well as oil patch drilling. What I have seen here is a joke, an environmental disaster.

They put a well in right at the edge of our property, 5 1/2 acres south of Fort Worth. I have been watching the construction, drilling and operation. Of course we get money from the company, very little actually. It is not even worth the smell, noise and damage they have done to our land. After everyone from Mansfield ISD to Tarrant County take their cuts, we get pocket change. Now we have bottom feeding lawyers and ambulance chasers sending us collection notices on taxes from every Tom, Dick and Harry out there that wants a cut.

I watched the construction and they took about every big shortcut they could. There is NO Environmental oversight what so ever. During the injection, they built a large Tailing Pond at the edge of our property. They did not use a liner, not bentonite nor plastic, in it's construction. The water was dumped in there to soak into the soil and evaporate. Afterwards it has been filled in, to hide the evidence I would guess. We have lost over 25 old growth oak trees in the space of 1 1/2 years. They have poisoned our ground water.

The fracing does occur too deep to affect the trees, that part is true. But when you do not line a tailing pond you will taint the ground water available to the plant life.

It would cost thousands to prove it, so why worry for the companies.

They are not paying the $$ to the little guys when they disrupt your life, destroy your peace and quiet and kill your trees. Where is the money going? I would look in government. Crooked bunch do nothing reprobates. Oh wait here comes another tax notice.

Odd?

WHO is blowing up levees?  The same group that is wanting to take down levees in Fort Worth, Texas for the Trinity River Vision.  Same folks who should remember Katrina all too well. 

Yes, none other than the Corp of Engineers.  SOS already.

Read about it and some of the possible consequences on NaturalNews.com

"Right now the Mississippi River is in the process of going through what we call an epic flood, meaning it's more than historic; it's more than a 100-year flood, it's more like a 500-year flood," said Gene Rench from the National Weather Service, to My Fox Memphis last Thursday. "We could flood many homes, businesses, close down factories, people could drown."

Since the time of Rench's statement, the situation has only gotten progressively worse. And yet this emerging disaster has received little attention from the mainstream media, which has instead chosen to focus on other events that, to the discerning individual, appear more of a distraction than actual news.

People living all around the flood zone are being evacuated, and ACE is planning to blow up a 64-foot levee, but most Americans are too busy focusing on meaningless royalty weddings and flimsy tales of the supposed capture of dead terrorists.

Whole lotta shaking...

Arkansas has had nearly 500 earthquakes in less than 2 months.  Don't worry, the industry says it has nothing to do with drilling.  Question is, what about those salt water disposal wells all around Guy, Arkansas?

Read about it on CNN.com.

Cleburne Shakes again

At 10:07 last night calls started rolling in about the Cleburne earthquake.

Read about it here.  Lots of shaking going on in Texas it seems.  WHY?

The study said there was a plausible connection between the series of earthquakes and a disposal process that's done after natural gas drilling. The study, however, didn’t include information about the seven quakes in Cleburne.

Fox 4 Earthquake update

Fox 4 News has the following on their website,

Don't blame the gas wells this time -- the real thing struck in Oklahoma this morning and people all over North Texas felt it.

Don't blame it on gas wells?  It was near Norman, Oklahoma...home of gas well headquarters.  Coincidence?

Fort Worth Earthquake Update

Leave it to Detective Durango to get to the bottom of things. 

Earthquake in Fort Worth?

We are hearing reports that there has been an earthquake in Fort Worth this morning?  Any Lone Star reporters out there have the scoop? 

We also heard there was an earthquake in Oklahoma this morning, right outside of Norman.  That must be why they haven't stopped in to see us today.  Looks like there have been many there in the past six months.  WHY?

We have a question, what happens to large underground pipelines when the ground shifts?

Read the Earthquake Update here.

What's shaking?

Check out the Fort Worth Business Press for the scoop from the SMU study concerning Texas earthquakes.

A study of the small earthquakes near the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport in 2008 and 2009 says the saltwater injection disposal wells in the area were a “plausible cause” for seismic activity.