This was an article posted in December of 2015 but apparently resurfaced on July 9, 2016.Oklahoma Earthquakes: Bombshell Doc Reveals Big Oil's Tight Grip on Politicians and ScientistsThe bombshell documentary, which EcoWatch has previewed, explores the mounting scientific evidence that links earthquakes to injection wells, as well as the maddening hurdles and bureaucracy that state scientists and regulators face in their efforts to halt the potential crisis and national security threat.
Scientists have identified that the injection of large volumes of toxic wastewater left over from oil drilling and fracking operations into underground wells has triggered the state's now daily earthquakes.
In an interview with Cory Williams (D-Stillwater), the state representative reveals that state legislators have done little to address Oklahomans’ concerns. From 2009 until 2014, no earthquake-related bills were introduced, he said. "We’re jeopardizing life, safety and property in the state solely for the profits of oil and gas,” Williams claims.
In August, Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin finally admitted that there was a “direct correlation between the increase of earthquakes that we’ve seen in Oklahoma [and] disposal wells” after denying the link for several years. In May, Fallin signed legislation preventing cities from enacting drilling bans, making Oklahoma the second state after Texas to ban fracking bans.
However, as state officials voice intentions to reduce seismicity, Oklahoma has cut the budgets of the two agencies dealing with the earthquake pandemic: the Oklahoma Geological Survey (OGS) and the OCC.
In 2013, federal scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the OGS issued a joint statement linking the earthquakes to injection wells. OGS is based at the University of Oklahoma, which relies heavily on private funding largely from the oil and gas industry.
Former OGS head seismologist Austin Holland faced a lot of pressure for drawing a connection between earthquakes and wastewater disposal. He was summoned into a meeting with university president David Boren and Continental Resources oil executive Harold Hamm, who has contributed more than $30 million to the university. He was pressured to sign a 2014 position paper by former dean Larry Grillot,
concluding that the majority of Oklahoma’s earthquakes were natural.Holland resigned as head seismologist at OGS in August. “I’ve infuriated people within the university, I’ve infuriated people within the oil and gas industry.”
He said that earthquakes have always occurred in the state, adding, "If I was sure that there was never going to be anything bigger than a 3.0 that wasn't naturally occurring ... my blood pressure would probably go down a lot.”"If a [fault] slips 10 or 15 or 20 miles, you’ve had it," Noble County farmer and retired electronics expert Mark Crismon says. "This state will go back to the Stone Age in about 3 seconds.”
Very good article...more in the link:
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link to www.ecowatch.com]