The process of hydraulic fracturing is a mining technique which uses injected fluid to propagate fractures in a rock layer to release hydrocarbon deposits that would otherwise be uncommercial. Developed in the U.S. and first used in 1947 for stimulating of oil and natural gas wells, the use of “fracking” soared in the past decade as thousands of wells have been drilled into the Marcellus Formation, also referred to as the Marcellus Shale, a deposit of marine sedimentary rock found in eastern North America.
While initial environmental protests of the technique centered around its possibility of polluting underground water aquifers as a number of known carcinogenic substances are used in the procedure, more recently research has focused on an even more ominous byproduct of the technique – the increased possibility of earthquakes. While in the U.S. the U.S. Geological Survey and the state governments are investigating the link, in Britain the Department of Energy and Climate Change on 17 April published an independent expert report recommending measures to mitigate the risks of seismic tremors from hydraulic fracturing and invited public comment on its recommendations.
The report reviewed a series of studies commissioned by Cuadrilla, whose fracking operations in Lancashire aroused public debate, and the document “confirms that minor earthquakes detected in the area of the company’s Preese Hall operations near Blackpool in April and May last year were caused by fracking.” Full article at: UK Govt. Seismic Fracking Report Certain to Sharpen Debate
Those experts don't know fracking shit. Bunch of fracking scientists sitting around playing with their fracking dicks all day.
The fracking itself doesn't cause earthquakes. The underwater storage of the fluid does, and only when done near fault lines. Granted, there is obviously more of a need for these storage wells due to the uptick in fracturing, but earthquakes are not the result of the fracking itself.
And besides, these earthquakes are very minor and occur rarely, especially when you consider the over 140,000 storage wells present in the US.
What worries me about fracking is the unknowns. Once the fracking fluids goes into the ground - it's done. If you find out in 10 years that some aquifers are more interconnected and that there are VOC's and other shit in your water....there's only one solution - to move.
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