Fracking Industry-Linked Earthquakes in Oklahoma Crack Political Party Lines

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Sara Winsted, a resident of Edmond, Oklahoma, an upscale Oklahoma City suburb, wonโ€™t be surprised if her house falls down before state legislators take action to stop theย earthquakes.ย 

Her feeling of hopelessness intensified after she attended two public meetings: a town hall organized by State Rep. Lewis Moore (R-Arcadia) at the University of Central Oklahoma (UCO) in Edmond, and a public hearing at the state capitol in Oklahoma City led by State Rep. Richard Morrissette (D-OKC).

Though the U.S. Geological Surveyย has determined the use of fracking wastewater disposal injection wells is the cause of the stateโ€™s earthquakes โ€”ย and predicted a magnitude 5.5 or greater quake is probable โ€” the use of disposal injection wellsย continues.


Sara Winsted at a hearing on earthquakes at the State Capitol. ยฉ2016 Julieย Dermansky

Winsted joined the grassroots group Oklahoma Coalition Against Induced Seismicity, which has called on legislators to pass a temporary moratorium on injection wells that are disposing of frackingย wastewater.

Instead of doing that, state legislators passed SB 809 in May last year. The law limits the ability of local governments to regulate oil and gas operations. Now only the governor and the Oklahoma Corporation Commission (OCC), the agency that regulates the stateโ€™s oil and gas industry, can take any meaningfulย action.

The new law follows Texasย legislation passedย aย few months after Denton residents approvedย a ban on fracking,ย negating theย initiative.ย 

Sinceย DeSmog met with Winsted in 2014, the seismic activityย impactingย Oklahomaย hasย notย abated.

โ€œIn 2015 we had 907 quakes of a 3.0 magnitude andย above. And now on Januaryย 14thย and we have already had 59, and theย dayย is still young,โ€ย Winsted said beforeย the Edmondย town hall inย started. โ€œWhat ever the OCC is doing is not enough.โ€ย ย 

Ariel Ross, a professor of English at OSU and an organizer of Stopย Fracking Payne County, thought it was great that people were finally given a forum to speak out, but was skeptical an event organized by Rep. Moore would lead to any kind of meaningfulย action.

โ€œMoore has publicly asked if the quakes could be caused by drought,โ€ Ross told DeSmog, โ€œbut now he is saying that there needs to be more action since his home has damage, and women are calling him concerned about theirย โ€˜nests.โ€™โ€

Ross questions his authenticity and fears the meeting was a publicityย stunt.ย 


State Rep. Lewis Moore fielding questions at a tense town hall meeting.ย ยฉ2016 Julieย Dermansky

Moore opened the town hall with a presentation that claimed fracking isnโ€™t part of the earthquake problem, it is only injection well use. He suggested finding alternative ways to dispose of the fracking industryโ€™sย wastewater.

Some in the audience hissed when he suggested finding a way to recycle the waste by spraying it on crops, as is being done in California. Then he proposed sending the wastewater to Texas. Sharon Wilson, Earthworks Gulf Coast representative, quickly let him know that Texas doesnโ€™t wantย it.

Someone asked whatย it would take to get a moratorium on injection well use, and wanted to know who is in charge. Moore said Gov. Mary Fallin is the only one who holds power to call for aย moratorium.

But Fallin, who didnโ€™t attend either meeting, had previously stated that matters related to the earthquakes are in the OCCโ€™s hands, and she has faith that it has the situation underย control.

Moore pointed out that the OCC has asked oil and gas companies to reduce the amount of water they are injecting into wells. SandRidge Energy refused to comply, stating the OCC lacks authority to force them to shutย down.

Moore hopes to be able to strengthen theย OCCโ€™s regulatory power, though some argued the regulators already have the power to force the issue, but lack theย will.

None of Mooreโ€™s suggested alternatives to a moratorium on injection well use were wellย received.

Many cited other statesโ€™ decisions to shut down disposal wells where earthquakes became a problem, including Ohio and Arkansas. Once the injection wells stopped operating, theย earthquakesย stopped.ย 

Moore claimed he wants to stop the earthquakes as much as the next person, because his wife is not happy about them either. He hopes that the wife of the Speaker of the House is upset, too, suggesting the wrath of politiciansโ€™ wives might kick the legislators intoย action.

VIDEO: Cathy Meadows Questions State Rep. Lewis Moore at a Town Hall Meeting inย Edmondย 

โ€œYou are late to the party, whether your wife is upset or the Speaker of the Houseโ€™s wife is upset,โ€ Cathy Meadows, a resident of Edmond, toldย Moore.

โ€œFracking may not cause earthquakes, but you cannot frack without producing this dirty water,โ€ Meadows said. โ€œAnd until there is a comprehensive affordable plan to deal with this water, why do you notย support aย moratorium?โ€ she askedย Moore.

โ€œThis is an issue that will turn a red state blue,โ€ Meadows warned, drawing a standingย ovation.

โ€œI have changed my prayer from โ€˜Dear Lord donโ€™t take my home’ toย ‘Dear God, donโ€™t take my home before my insurance is canceled at renewal time in June,โ€™โ€ Beau Williams, an Oklahoma-based lawyer and co-counsel in an Oklahoma County class action lawsuit, told theย crowd.

โ€œThe courts will move faster than the legislature,โ€ Williamsย said.

The class-action represents everyone living in Oklahoma County. It includes suing for damages and asking for an injunction from a judge to stop fracking and saltwater injection at highย pressure.

VIDEO:ย Rep. Richard Morrissette Calls For A Moratorium on Saltwater Injectionย Wells

Before the meeting ended, State Rep. Richard Morrissette (D-OKC) called for bipartisan action at the start of the next legislativeย session.ย 

โ€œThis is an issue that is not political, When a house shakes, it is not a Republican or Democratic house,โ€ he said. โ€œWe go into session on February 1, and by the end of the week we could have aย bill and a moratorium against all saltwater injectionย wells.โ€

He encouraged Rep. Moore and everyone at the meeting to join him at the capitol the next day for the public hearing he wasย chairing.

VIDEO: Rep. Richard Morrissette Talks to DeSmog After the Town Hallย meetingย 

Public Hearing on Earthquakes at the Stateย Capitol


Casey Camp-Horinek at a hearing on earthquakes in the House Chambers of the State Capitol building. ยฉ2016 Julieย Dermansky

Rep. Moore wasn’t present at the beginning of the earthquake hearing at the State Capitol in Oklahoma City the next day when a crowd of more than 200 had to be moved from reserved small committee rooms to the Representatives’ Houseย chambers.

Invited speakers included Insurance Commissioner John Doak;ย Todd Halihan, a hydrogeophysics professor from Oklahoma State University; Tulsa geologist Bob Jackman and Scott Poynter, an Arkansas attorney who filed a class-action lawsuit against oil and gas companiesย for damageย caused by induced seismicity and will be seeking a federal injunction against saltwater injection well use on behalf of the Sierra Clubโ€™s Oklahomaย chapter.ย 

Commissioner Doak explained how insurance companies set policies based on catastrophic damage, not ongoing earthquake events. Insurance companiesโ€™ย actions are based on past quakes. And since aftershocks can cause further damage, it is not unusual to impose a wait period on homeowners for filing a claim for a set number of days until after seismic activityย stops.

But for homeowners, that is a quagmire, since seismic activity is a daily occurrence making it impossible to file theirย claim.

One homeowner asked why the injection well companies arenโ€™t being forced to pay for everyoneโ€™s insurance since they caused theย quakes.


Angela Spottsย at the earthquake hearing in the State Capitol.ย ยฉ2016 Julieย Dermansky

Angela Spotts, theย founder of Stop Fracking Payne County and a Stillwater homeowner, reminded everyone that the earthquakes were a nationalย problem.ย 

Not only would a large earthquake devastate the state, it would likely cause the companies that caused it to go under too, leaving taxpayers nationwide on the hook to pay for Oklahomaโ€™s recovery.ย She gave a plug for Bernie Sanders because he is the only candidate againstย fracking.


Todd Halihan speaking at the State Capitol.ย ยฉ2016 Julieย Dermansky

Professor Todd Halihan explained the basic science behind the industry-induced earthquakes, and discredited a rumor spread by industry shills that a lake getting full was to blame for the earthquakes last year. He closed his presentation with his concern forย children.

โ€œNo school will hold an earthquake drill to teach kids to climb underย the desk, hold on and wait, not run, not get out of the building. I cannot persuade school districts to do this because either they donโ€™t consider any hazard to exist or they are afraid of scaring children,โ€œย Halihanย said.

โ€œShakeout.orgย has instructions on how school administrators can run an earthquake drill,โ€ he added, encouraging the audience to make administrators aware ofย that.

Oklahoma has not had a seismologist on staff since Austin Holland quit his post in July 2015. According toย Bob Jackman, a former geologist for the oil and gas industry, it makes no sense the state doesnโ€™t have a seismologist or its own geologist.ย ย 

โ€œIt is like trying to cure Ebola without having a doctor.โ€ Jackman warned if a big quake hits that impacts Cushing, where much of the nationโ€™s oil reserve is stored, there will be โ€œballs ofย fire.โ€

Anti-frackingย activist Sharon Wilson, Earthworksโ€™ Gulf Coast representative, offeredย theย Oklahomans her services as a FLIR camera operator. FLIR cameras areย usedย by regulatorsย toย document fumes not visible toย the naked eye. She is willing to come and expose potential leaking gas atย frack sites if anyone takes her up on herย offer.

Earthworks did just that atย Porter Ranch, California, helping to bring that gas leak to the nationโ€™s attentionย with FLIR cameraย footage.

It isnโ€™t just the earthquakes the fracking industryย has brought to Oklahoma, she warned; it isย waterย contamination andย bad air,ย too.ย 

Over the course of the hearing, Morrissette touched on the emotional issues brought up at the Edmond town hall.ย โ€œHow many children now sleep with you because they are scared?โ€ he asked.ย Nearly all hands wereย raised.

He then encouraged those at the meeting to knock on Gov. Mary Fallin’s door, who, he suggested, might be watching the livestream of the event. He also scaled back his call for a moratorium from the night before, and instead talked about trying to overturn SBย 809.

VIDEO: Casey Camp-Horinek Speaks at Hearing onย Earthquakes

Spotts reminded Morrissetteย that some of the worst earthquakes have happened since the state started restricting wells, and that a total halt to wastewater injection is the stateโ€™s only hope to stop theย quakes.

Casey Camp-Horinek, a representative from the Ponca tribe, challenged Morrissette, saying if he wonโ€™t call for a stop to injection well use, she will. She reminded him that her tribe isnโ€™t represented by Gov. Fallin and is a sovereignย nation.ย 

Winstedย left the first town hall meeting feeling energized and optimistic, but thoseย feelings were short-lived.ย Her spirits were crushed by Morrissette,ย who went from saying he would introduce legislation to pass aย moratorium that could possibly go into effect by the end of the first weekย ofย the new session, to suggesting weaker measures the nextย day.

Morrissette, who will term out after the 2016 session, seemed to be grandstanding for a possible run in the Senate, Winstedย said.

Now thatย Oklahoma has become known as the most earthquake-proneย placeย in the world,ย few are debating the science that disposing of frackingย wastewater in injection wells is the cause of theย earthquakes.

Theย stateโ€™s lack of action was described by Jackman as a bet with theย devil.


Shirley Herkert with her granddaughter Caitlyn Zeno. ยฉ2016 Julieย Dermansky

Julie-Dermansky-022
Julie Dermansky is a multimedia reporter and artist based in New Orleans. She is an affiliate scholar at Rutgers Universityโ€™s Center for the Study of Genocide and Human Rights. Visit her website at www.jsdart.com.

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