Last night, during his video conference at Youngstown State University, Dr. Ingraffea of Cornell emphasized that one of his biggest concerns regarding fracking is the now established fact that not only can the waste injection wells cause earthquakes, but that fracking wells do as well.
He cited the latest study by the British Columbia Oil & Gas Commission that documented over 30 seismic “events” from April 09 to December 2011 – the largest a 3.8 on the Richter scale. (This is similar to findings by the Oklahoma Geological Survey from 2011 – links below.)
Dr. Ingraffea stated that his concern wasn’t that these temblors would necessarily destroy homes or other above ground structures, but that they can harm the integrity of wells and their infrastructure, causing leakage and fluid migration in unpredictable ways. These studies also act to expose the falsity of industry claims that wells are inherently safe.