From: NY Times
By MICHAEL WINES APRIL 21, 2015
Sparks, Okla., in 2011. A series of shocks that year exceeding magnitude 5.0 caused millions of dollars in damage in the state. Sue Ogrocki/Associated Press
Abandoning years of official skepticism, Oklahoma’s government on Tuesday
embraced a scientific consensus that earthquakes rocking the state are
largely caused by the underground disposal of billions of barrels of
wastewater from oil and gas wells.
The state’s energy and environment cabinet introduced a website detailing
the evidence behind that conclusion Tuesday, including links to expert
studies of Oklahoma’s quakes. The site includes an interactive map that plots not only earthquake locations, but also the sites of more than 3,000 active wastewater-injection wells.
The
website coincided with a statement by the state-run Oklahoma Geological
Survey that it “considers it very likely” that wastewater wells are
causing the majority of the state’s earthquakes. MORE