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Should fracking companies pay for damage caused by fracking created earthquakes?

Should fracking companies pay for damage caused by fracking created earthquakes?

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    54
should wind power companies pay for all the birds they kill?
 
jamesrage said:
Should fracking companies pay for damage caused by fracking created earthquakes? This of course assuming that it is proved that fracking is causing earthquakes.


Yes
No
Other

I say yes.If I drive my car into someone's home and cause damage then I would be held liable. So why shouldn't the fracking companies be held liable for the damage caused by their activities?
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Hard to say. I think if we knew fracking can cause earthquakes and then someone fracked and caused one, it's a lot more open shut. Of course they're liable. But if we prove that fracking increases the local probabilities of earthquakes, then can we hold actions that were previously done with grace of government and ignorance of consequence be held to the same standards? Or is plausible deniability enough to remove one from liability?
 
Fracking practices -- specifically disposing of wastewater from fracking through injection wells drilled into the precambrian layer -- do cause earthquakes.

It was studied and concluded that an injection well near Youngstown caused small quakes there, including a 4.0 on New Year's Day 2012.

Also near Youngstown, there was a case of a fracking company disposing of its brine by simply dumping down storm sewers. In that case, the company's owner was jailed. But that proves two things: 1. there are risks of widespread damage from these drilling practices. 2. Even if the practice of fracking itself is relatively safe, human error -- intentional or not -- adds another very real layer of risk to public health.

Fracking is a situation where the risks are evident, but so are the gains. It's basically not feasible to expect what are essentially small companies to pay for widespread damage. They don't have the resources. Assuming that all regulations have been followed and that any practices that are shown to cause harms are ceased, then I think we have to accept some fallout as the price of progress.

However, we need to heavily regulate and keep a close eye on these practices. What I find disturbing is that many of these companies spread a lot of disinformation about the risks of fracking and disposal. I worked for a newspaper that ran many, many pro-fracking editorials and routinely dismissed those with concerns as crackpots. It's clear now that there are real risks, but the press releases from many in the industry continue to insist that the practice is completely safe. That, to me, is fraud.

And, of course, there are instances where communities have fought to keep fracking out, only to be overruled by state courts. Those communities have a real grievance. States should be made to pony up the resources to mitigate any damages that have been imposed on those populations, and any company that chooses to practice in those particular communities should be held liable, as they're knowingly putting these people at risk despite clear objections.

My general answer to the OP's question, however, is no.
 
d0gbreath said:
The Texas State legislature, for one.
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So why should they pay damages for something the govt gave them permission to do? Does anyone believe that studies weren't done prior to getting permission? No doubt in my mind that a risk assessment was done.
 
American said:
So why should they pay damages for something the govt gave them permission to do? Does anyone believe that studies weren't done prior to getting permission? No doubt in my mind that a risk assessment was done.
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can you show that government gave them permission to damage the environment and create conditions where earthquakes would occur?
 
apdst said:
Sure, if you can prove that cracking caused the earth quakes.
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It is pressure from waste water injection, not a big hammer making cracking.

Do try and research before posting.

Knowledge can be very helpful.
 
SMTA said:
It is pressure from waste water injection, not a big hammer making cracking.

Do try and research before posting.

Knowledge can be very helpful.
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How much pressure is forced into the formation? Oh, and it isn't waste water.
 
haymarket said:
Nowhere in those links does it say the government gave permission to fracking companies to damage the environment and cause earthquakes.
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You're not very serious. It also doesn't say in those documents that the company intended to cause earthquakes. Intention means more than the law these days, just ask the FBI director and Hillary.
 
American said:
You're not very serious.
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As a heart attack.

It also doesn't say in those documents that the company intended to cause earthquakes. Intention means more than the law these days, just ask the FBI director and Hillary
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Get real. It does not have to say they intended to cause earthquakes. If you want to blame the government, you have to prove that the government was a willing partner in the causing of the earthquakes. And the previous weak sauce you presented comes nowhere near that standard.

And Hillary has not a damn thing to do with it so blow that dog whistle to somebody who salivates when they hear it.
 
apdst said:
How much pressure is forced into the formation? Oh, and it isn't waste water.
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It's also called flow back..

Please try again after exhaustive research.
 
apdst said:
Fracking doesn't cause earthquakes. Why are liberals anti science?

Scientists: Fracking Is Not Causing Earthquakes | The Daily Caller
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You have to read past the headline.

Hornback and fellow SMU researchers found that wastewater injection wells, not fracking itself, are behind the rise in earthquakes in North Texas. Oil and gas companies take brine and other substances out of the ground when extracting fuels and then inject the waste from that process back into the ground.

The huge increase in oil and gas drilling has forced billions of wastewater underground in recent years. The EPA and states regulate the disposal of wastewater into underground wells — before 1985 companies could dispose of this water in state waterways.

Underground wastewater storage is an improvement over disposing of such waste in waterways, but the large increase in wastewater storage is being linked to increases in magnitude three and larger earthquakes. The U.S. Geological Survey notes that from “1973–2008, there was an average of 21 earthquakes of magnitude three and larger in the central and eastern United States.”

“This rate jumped to an average of 99 M3+ earthquakes per year in 2009–2013, and the rate continues to rise. In 2014, alone, there were 659 M3 and larger earthquakes,” the survey notes.
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SMTA said:
It's also called flow back..

Please try again after exhaustive research.
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You have no clue what you're talking about, do you? LMAO!

Injection isn't flowback...lol. You don't get flow back while you're injecting sand into the formation. It's physically impossible and if you do, something is wrong
 
Nilly said:
Lol. From your article



Which fracking companies still do thus rendering your point moot.

(as the OP asks about fracking companies, not fracking itself)
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You do understand that waste water isn't pumped INTO an oil resevoir, right? Its all about the oil being pumped OUT.
 
Cardinal said:
As even your own terrible source says, it's caused by the injection of waste water in deep wells. As a result of fracking.

As multiple people have told you already.
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It's physically impossible for static water to move billions of tons of rock. You understand that? Its simple physics.
 
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