Oklahoma Tries Stronger Measures to Stop Earthquakes in Fracking Areas

"The guidelines are the first aimed at earthquakes caused by fracking itself, not only by the injection of oil and gas wastewater deep underground."

"Oklahoma regulators released for the first time guidelines aimed to reduce the risk of major earthquakes being generated from fracking operations, including a mandate to immediately shut down operations in the event of a quake measuring 3.5 or higher on the Richter scale.

State officials at the Oklahoma Corporation Commission have tried a series of steps in recent years to bring down the number of earthquakes likely linked to local oil and gas activity. All the previous initiatives, however, focused only on underground oil and gas wastewater disposal triggering earthquakes, not hydraulic fracturing activities used to simulate a well before extraction.

The new voluntary rules, which are now in effect, instruct companies on how to respond to magnitude 2.5 earthquakes or greater that strike within 1.25 miles of their fracking operations."

Zahra Hirji reports for InsideClimate News December 22, 2016.