Confirmed: Fracking practices to blame for Ohio earthquakes

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Fracking should absolutely not be exempt from the Clean Water Act. Ridiculous.

[bedstuy]

But Snow(guy?) said we shouldn't worry about a few people in the boonies being able to set their water on fire, or whatever irrelevance it is getting in the way of Progress^TM.

This has to do with injection wells for disposing of wastewater.  As somebody that has common sense concern for the environment, I'd support legislation that forced these companies to treat their waste water and dump it at the surface.

My support for fracking has been mainly on the high plains and in Texas where the land is almost unpopulated.

It's shortsighted to just assume that fracking will be completely safe and with no negative consequences.  But it's even more shortsighted to oppose it altogether. 

Because you wanna know what fracking is doing to the energy industry?  It's lessening demand on coal.  Coal is much dirtier.... and the extraction process for coal is FAR more disruptive than a few minor tremors or a few people lighting their water on fire.

Big picture, Joe. 

Snowguy, how would you define "almost unpopulated?"  I for one would hate to be in one of those unlucky families who are forced to live in a polluted area, and you bet I'd be pissed if I had to put up with earthquakes and dirty water just because of my location.  If we're going to frack in those areas, we should at least reimburse those communities for any damages they endure.  Rural communities need to be protected as best they can.  They're on enough of a decline as it is.

I think you may be forgetting that our prior method of generating electricity, coal, was horrendous for the environment.  There is no free lunch when it comes to generating electricity. 

Fracking should absolutely not be exempt from the Clean Water Act. Ridiculous.

It's technically not covered by the CWA because the CWA covers navigable waterways.  I think fracking was exempted from the SDWA which covers environmental impacts on drinking water.

[Badger]

Not to say fracking should be treated lassiz-faire, but a 3.9 (yawn) is no reason to ban fracking and the many good paying jobs they create. Snowguy has it right.

[muon2]

I don't really know anything about the engineering of this or whether there is any real danger from these earthquakes. 

But, why are we allowing private corporations to dispose of waste products like this.  As I understand it, the environmental laws have been amended to exempt fracking from regulations on pollution of ground water.  Why does that make any sense?   

It seems like pollution and safety hazards to ground water should be treated as seriously as hazards to surface water.  Certainly, I don't see why fracking deserves an exemption from regulation.

Fracking doesn't have an exemption from ground water pollution. Depending on the state it either has the same regulation as other water from mining (and other types of mining use a lot of water) or it has more stringent regulations for ground water compared to other mining because states are more sensitive to issues of fracking technology because it's new.

The problem in many cases is that this is new to areas that generally haven't seen mining in the past, or at least the recent past. When fracking companies arrive the states start by applying the mining regulations that are already on the books. However in these new areas that aren't accustomed to mining practices things can be quite messy. A further complication for states that have ongoing conventional mineral extraction (that's most of the states) since the states don't want create a new burden on established firms.

[bedstuy]

I don't really know anything about the engineering of this or whether there is any real danger from these earthquakes. 

But, why are we allowing private corporations to dispose of waste products like this.  As I understand it, the environmental laws have been amended to exempt fracking from regulations on pollution of ground water.  Why does that make any sense?   

It seems like pollution and safety hazards to ground water should be treated as seriously as hazards to surface water.  Certainly, I don't see why fracking deserves an exemption from regulation.

Fracking doesn't have an exemption from ground water pollution. Depending on the state it either has the same regulation as other water from mining (and other types of mining use a lot of water) or it has more stringent regulations for ground water compared to other mining because states are more sensitive to issues of fracking technology because it's new.

The problem in many cases is that this is new to areas that generally haven't seen mining in the past, or at least the recent past. When fracking companies arrive the states start by applying the mining regulations that are already on the books. However in these new areas that aren't accustomed to mining practices things can be quite messy. A further complication for states that have ongoing conventional mineral extraction (that's most of the states) since the states don't want create a new burden on established firms.

I'm referring to SDWA Section 1421(d)(A)-(B) which was added in 2005.

You must be logged in to read this quote.

That excludes fracking from SDWA regulations.

[muon2]

I don't really know anything about the engineering of this or whether there is any real danger from these earthquakes. 

But, why are we allowing private corporations to dispose of waste products like this.  As I understand it, the environmental laws have been amended to exempt fracking from regulations on pollution of ground water.  Why does that make any sense?   

It seems like pollution and safety hazards to ground water should be treated as seriously as hazards to surface water.  Certainly, I don't see why fracking deserves an exemption from regulation.

Fracking doesn't have an exemption from ground water pollution. Depending on the state it either has the same regulation as other water from mining (and other types of mining use a lot of water) or it has more stringent regulations for ground water compared to other mining because states are more sensitive to issues of fracking technology because it's new.

The problem in many cases is that this is new to areas that generally haven't seen mining in the past, or at least the recent past. When fracking companies arrive the states start by applying the mining regulations that are already on the books. However in these new areas that aren't accustomed to mining practices things can be quite messy. A further complication for states that have ongoing conventional mineral extraction (that's most of the states) since the states don't want create a new burden on established firms.

I'm referring to SDWA Section 1421(d)(A)-(B) which was added in 2005.

You must be logged in to read this quote.

That excludes fracking from SDWA regulations.

I believe that only exempts the actual fracking process from US-EPA well regulations. Fracking wastewater disposal is still covered. Also states can and do regulate both the fracking and wastewater disposal process as well.