🚀 go-pugleaf

Seismic activity is another reason to reject urban fracking in
Dallas‎

Dallas Morning News by Tod Robberson 1:22 PM on Thu., Sep. 8, 2011
 While the city of Dallas works to shore up the Trinity River levees
to meet stricter Army Corps of Engineers standards, I have to worry
about this report regarding natural gas fracturing around Joe Pool
Lake. In 2009, the Corps identified 190 problems that needed
immediate
attention. As of last year, fewer than half were completed. These
problems and repairs have sunk the idea of running a tollway between
the levees and have drained much of the bond money that was supposed
to go toward the tollway's construction. All those problems were
related to the natural degradation and wear-and-tear on the levees.

 Add to that the prospect of increased seismic activity that could
accompany gas  fracking in West Dallas. In July, an earthquake
rattled
the area between Waxahachie and Cleburne, in the thick of Barnett
Shale country. Another hit Cleburne on June 25. On June 12, another
was reported. The same area saw eight other earthquakes on Oct. 31
and
Nov. 1, 2008. All were low-level, never surpassing 3.0 on the Richter
scale. Mere coincidence? Perhaps. But I wouldn't take the fracking
industry's cynical denials as proof that there's no connection.

  "It also caused the Great Depression, the Black Plague, the October
Revolution and the breakup of the Beatles," guffawed Chris Tucker  of
Energy in Depth, an oil and gas industry group based in Washington,
when contacted by the Houston Chronicle after the Virginia earthquake
prompted increased speculation about linkage.

Still, there is no question that the fracking process involves a man-
made increase in seismic activity, albeit at a very low level.
Considering how fragile the Trinity Levees are, I wonder if the Corps
of Engineers needs to conduct a review of fracking's potential impact
on the levee's integrity.

-- http://dallasmorningviewsblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2011/09/seismic-activit.html