ManO'War;1034441 wrote:You guys do realize that fault lines run down through Ohio...this has nothing to do with any drilling.
My god, didn't any of you ever take a geology class, or even watch the Science Channel??
GoChiefs;1034460 wrote:But the drilling is causing the plates to move and shift around...duh.
I Wear Pants;1034467 wrote:There are legitimate concerns/questions with gas drilling and such involving environmental issues. Drilling causing earthquakes is not one of those concerns.
My guess is that you guys haven't done much research into this issue. All (admittedly limited) available research at this point indicates that fracking causes lots of minor seismic activity (sub 5.0 quakes). That much doesn't appear to be debatable--very clearly, fracking causes minor quakes. The concern is over whether the process has the potential for causing larger quakes, what the risks are, and whether those risks are worth it when compared to the obvious financial/employment benefits.
I would love to see these issues resolved: I'm a landowner in the Marcellus region (for a property that already produces decent oil revenues), and I'm an energy/environmental regulatory attorney who represents shale gas companies, so for a number of reasons, I really want this to go forward. But it's very important to do it right and make sure what we're doing isn't going to cause huge headaches down the line.