SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Sunday's earthquake damaged 40-50 buildings, officials said. (Photo: AP)
Oklahoma Earthquake Shows Fracking's Potential for "Serious Harm"
"We don't need a major earthquake that claims lives and costs millions in damage to tell us the rapid increase in fracking...is the cause"
Nov 08, 2016
The earthquake in Oklahoma on Sunday that damaged dozens of buildings near the pipeline epicenter of Cushing is further proof that fossil fuel extraction activities are too dangerous to continue, environmentalists said Monday.
Oklahoma, which has seen a rapid increase in earthquakes that scientists have linked back to hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, was hit with a magnitude-5.0 event on Sunday, with tremors being felt as far away as Arkansas and Missouri. Officials said 40 to 50 buildings had been damaged, and some gas leaks were reported; although they have since been contained, the Oklahoma Corporation Commission ordered all pipeline companies under its jurisdiction to pause operations, EcoWatch wrote.
Sunday's event was the 19th earthquake to occur in Oklahoma in a week, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), although it was only the third to register above 5.0 on the Richter scale.
Still, said the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD), that's about 19 too many.
"We don't need a major earthquake that claims lives and costs millions in damage to tell us the rapid increase in fracking and wastewater injection in Oklahoma and neighboring states is the cause," said the group's public lands campaigner Taylor McKinnon. "The USGS has already linked seismic activity to wastewater disposal associated with fracking and has raised the risk for damaging quakes in Oklahoma and Kansas."
CBD in May called on the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to cancel 11 pending oil and gas leases in Oklahoma over earthquake risks. On Monday, the group made that call again, "before more serious harm occurs."
"It's only a matter of time until these increasing quakes cause catastrophic damage," McKinnon added. "Alongside the worsening climate crisis, earthquakes are yet another reason that President [Barack] Obama should end the federal fossil fuel leasing programs now."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Nadia Prupis
Nadia Prupis is a former Common Dreams staff writer. She wrote on media policy for Truthout.org and has been published in New America Media and AlterNet. She graduated from UC Santa Barbara with a BA in English in 2008.
The earthquake in Oklahoma on Sunday that damaged dozens of buildings near the pipeline epicenter of Cushing is further proof that fossil fuel extraction activities are too dangerous to continue, environmentalists said Monday.
Oklahoma, which has seen a rapid increase in earthquakes that scientists have linked back to hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, was hit with a magnitude-5.0 event on Sunday, with tremors being felt as far away as Arkansas and Missouri. Officials said 40 to 50 buildings had been damaged, and some gas leaks were reported; although they have since been contained, the Oklahoma Corporation Commission ordered all pipeline companies under its jurisdiction to pause operations, EcoWatch wrote.
Sunday's event was the 19th earthquake to occur in Oklahoma in a week, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), although it was only the third to register above 5.0 on the Richter scale.
Still, said the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD), that's about 19 too many.
"We don't need a major earthquake that claims lives and costs millions in damage to tell us the rapid increase in fracking and wastewater injection in Oklahoma and neighboring states is the cause," said the group's public lands campaigner Taylor McKinnon. "The USGS has already linked seismic activity to wastewater disposal associated with fracking and has raised the risk for damaging quakes in Oklahoma and Kansas."
CBD in May called on the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to cancel 11 pending oil and gas leases in Oklahoma over earthquake risks. On Monday, the group made that call again, "before more serious harm occurs."
"It's only a matter of time until these increasing quakes cause catastrophic damage," McKinnon added. "Alongside the worsening climate crisis, earthquakes are yet another reason that President [Barack] Obama should end the federal fossil fuel leasing programs now."
Nadia Prupis
Nadia Prupis is a former Common Dreams staff writer. She wrote on media policy for Truthout.org and has been published in New America Media and AlterNet. She graduated from UC Santa Barbara with a BA in English in 2008.
The earthquake in Oklahoma on Sunday that damaged dozens of buildings near the pipeline epicenter of Cushing is further proof that fossil fuel extraction activities are too dangerous to continue, environmentalists said Monday.
Oklahoma, which has seen a rapid increase in earthquakes that scientists have linked back to hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, was hit with a magnitude-5.0 event on Sunday, with tremors being felt as far away as Arkansas and Missouri. Officials said 40 to 50 buildings had been damaged, and some gas leaks were reported; although they have since been contained, the Oklahoma Corporation Commission ordered all pipeline companies under its jurisdiction to pause operations, EcoWatch wrote.
Sunday's event was the 19th earthquake to occur in Oklahoma in a week, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), although it was only the third to register above 5.0 on the Richter scale.
Still, said the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD), that's about 19 too many.
"We don't need a major earthquake that claims lives and costs millions in damage to tell us the rapid increase in fracking and wastewater injection in Oklahoma and neighboring states is the cause," said the group's public lands campaigner Taylor McKinnon. "The USGS has already linked seismic activity to wastewater disposal associated with fracking and has raised the risk for damaging quakes in Oklahoma and Kansas."
CBD in May called on the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to cancel 11 pending oil and gas leases in Oklahoma over earthquake risks. On Monday, the group made that call again, "before more serious harm occurs."
"It's only a matter of time until these increasing quakes cause catastrophic damage," McKinnon added. "Alongside the worsening climate crisis, earthquakes are yet another reason that President [Barack] Obama should end the federal fossil fuel leasing programs now."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.