Fracking company fesses up to causing minor quakes

Fracking company fesses up to causing minor quakes
It’s a rare day when an energy company takes the blame for, well, anything, but Cuadrilla Resources has broken that unspoken rule and broken with the pack when they fessed up to causing minor seismic events near Blackpool, England this past spring. The press release noted that: • It is highly probable that the hydraulic fracturing of Cuadrilla’s Preese Hall-1 well did trigger a number of minor seismic events. • The seismic events were due to an unusual combination of geology at the well site coupled with the pressure exerted by water injection as part of operations. • This combination of geological factors was extremely rare and would be unlikely to occur together again at future well sites. Apparently, the US Geological Survey has found fifty similar incidences occurred in the United States due to fracking, and while that may be all well and good in flat areas that haven’t been mined to the hilt, in areas of Pennsylvania that have already been leased, any seismic event where plenty of the houses are perched precariously on the edge of hillside or under one need to take note. Full story at Cuadrilla Resources and Oklahoma Geological Survey via Treehugger.