The AP reports that the regulatory agency overseeing Texas oil and gas industry has determined that a series of small earthquakes in North Texas likely were not caused by drilling operations by an Exxon Mobil subsidiary. The preliminary findings mark the first decision by the Texas Railroad Commission since it was authorized last year to consider whether seismological activity was caused by injection well operations, which store briny wastewater from hydraulic fracturing deep in the subsurface. The Commission ordered hearings after a university study suggested two company wells were responsible for quakes that shook Reno, Texas, in 2013 and 2014. Commission investigators concluded that a well where Exxon Mobil subsidiary XTO Energy pumps millions of gallons of the wastewater likely did not cause the quakes, but also said there was not enough evidence to demonstrate the earthquakes were naturally occurring. Parties have 15 days to respond. The report was released Monday, a day before a new law took effect barring Texas cities and towns from banning hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, and limiting local authority to restrict other oil and gas operations. Reno Mayor Lynda Stokes, whose city passed an ordinance banning injection wells, said she was not surprised by the commission findings and was not sure what legal recourse was available. She said that the Commission has given industry free reign. The study published by Southern Methodist University geologists in April pinned the earthquakes to an XTO well and a well operated by Houston-based Enervest. The study concluded that the quakes were triggered by rumblings in the shallow Ellenburger formation that migrated down the fault into the deepest layer of rock. The company environmental geologists denied any connection.
Original Working URL: https://www.lohud.com/story/opinion/contributors/2015/09/30/view-nuclear-power-key-curbing-climate-change/73020808/
Managed & Built by I2M Consulting, LLC | © 2010-
