Intussen ligt de gas- en oliewinning in Oklahoma bijna op de reet, dit vanwege de lage olieprijzen. Lullig dat de door deze prijs werkloos geworden werknemers, nu te maken hebben met veel meer aardbevingen en dat zal nog jarenlang zo blijven.......
Fracken werd o.a. door Obama en Bush gestimuleerd middels subsidies en 'makkelijke regelgeving' t.a.v. winning in natuurgebieden, vervuiling van de bodem, vervuiling van grondwater en vervuiling van rivieren en oceanen...... Wat betreft die rivieren en oceanen: de oliemaatschappijen mogen het zwaar vervuilde water, dat voor fracken werd gebruikt, 'gewoon' in de rivier dan wel oceaan dumpen......
Na het fracken, waar men op relatief dicht op elkaar gelegen plekken schaliegas en -olie heeft gewonnen, blijft een maanlandschap achter...... In feite is het ontbreken van regelgeving, een vorm van subsidie, immers er hangt wel degelijk een enorme prijskaart aan, neem alleen al de grondwatervervuiling en de aardbevingen door schalie-olie- en schaliegaswinning...... Daar kan men in Groningen over meespreken.......*
Hier het artikel van Anti-Media:
Fracking Has Made Oklahoma As Earthquake-Prone As San Francisco
March
7, 2017 at 9:12 am
Written
by Anti-Media
News Desk
(MINTPRESS) For
the last several years, something strange has been going on in
Oklahoma. While the occurrence of earthquakes in the state usually
hovers between one to three quakes annually, Oklahoma is now
averaging one to three significant earthquakes per day.
According
to a
newly released USGS earthquake risk map,
Oklahoma is now just as likely as San Francisco to experience a
disruptive, damaging earthquake over the course of the next year.
However, unlike San Francisco, Oklahoma’s heightened earthquake
risk is not the work of any natural phenomenon, but rather a man-made
one.
Unlike
most earthquake-prone states in the U.S., Oklahoma isn’t located
above an active fault line. Instead, Oklahoma is positioned on top of
the Woodford oil and gas shale, which has been a hotspot for oil and
gas development over the last decade. The Woodford Shale, which
covers nearly the entire state and is known for its
geological complexity,
was among the first domestic natural gas formations to be tapped
using hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” a highly controversial
fossil fuel extraction technique proven
to cause damage to the environment.
Among
the technique’s many negative environmental effects is a rise in
seismic activity, as it literally fractures bedrock through
injections of pressurized liquid, known as “wastewater.” In
addition to the
documented toxicity of
wastewater, its repeated injection deep into the Earth has been
scientifically proven to stimulate major seismic events.
A
2016 study published
in Science used
Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) to show that
wastewater injection causes a major buildup of pressure beneath the
Earth’s surface by pushing groundwater potentially thousands of
feet deeper underground. The study states that as displaced water
travels down, it induces seismic activity, resulting in man-made
earthquakes. The scientific evidence that fracking increases the
incidence of such quakes is so compelling that the connection is even
recognized by state and federal officials,
despite fossil fuel lobbying efforts.
The
U.S. Geological Survey 2107 earthquake forecast map. (U.S. Geological
Survey via AP)
In
Oklahoma, however, these earthquakes have been happening so
frequently that they have been described as “swarms.” The
dramatic spike in significant earthquakes has unsurprisingly
coincided with the expansion of fracking throughout Oklahoma. Ever
since Devon Energy drilled the state’s first
fracking well in
2005, the number of significant earthquakes – those with a
magnitude of 3.0 or greater – began to average two or more daily
less than 10 years after the state’s fracking boom began.
Earthquakes of that magnitude are easily felt and capable of
inflicting damage on structures. While Oklahoma has
introduced restrictions on
the volume of wastewater injections, it has not been enough to
negate the risk or incidence of
earthquakes in the state.
Though
energy companies like Devon Energy and Newfield Exploration have
reaped huge profits by drilling in the Woodford Shale, Oklahoma
residents will continue to feel the drilling’s seismic consequences
long after extraction stops. As indicated in the 2016 Science study,
seismic activity induced by fracking was found to increase even when
injection rates at fracking wells declined, as previous injections at
higher volumes had already caused the worst of the damage. Even if
all fracking wells in the state were shut down tomorrow,
fracking-induced earthquakes in Oklahoma would continue.
The
economic fallout caused by unstable global oil prices has made the
situation in Oklahoma even more complicated. While the price of oil
per barrel was close to 100 dollars near the height of the boom, oil
prices dropped significantly in 2015, reaching about 37
dollars per barrel in March of that year.
The
price drop caused Oklahoma’s fossil fuel-dependent economy to
contract by 2.4 percent in
2015, the worst performance nationwide at the time. Thousands of
workers in Oklahoma were laid off as a result. Even after fracking
becomes unprofitable or unfeasible, Oklahomans will be left with its
unsavory environmental and economic impacts for years to come.
* Zie: 'Rutte: "We hebben de Groningse gaswinning gehalveerd....." Dus klaar is Mark! AUW!!!'
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