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<\/figure>\nSomething is causing a spate of small earthquakes in the Lone Star State \u2014 and many locals think they know the culprit: the already controversial process of fracking.<\/p>\n
FORTUNE \u2014 In a small patch northwest of Fort Worth, Texas \u2014 where the Barnett Shale set off the decade-long \u201cfracking\u201d boom that\u2019s moved the U.S. closer to energy independence \u2014 there\u2019s a surprising uprising brewing over drilling for natural gas.<\/p>\n
Energy-friendly Texas is now dealing with earthquakes.<\/p>\n
Since Nov. 1, more than 30 small temblors have struck the rural area around Azle (pop. 11,000), and many residents are blaming the quakes on underground disposal wells, used to get rid of wastewater generated during the fracking and production process. Drillers inject the salty wastewater into wells a mile or two deep.<\/p>\n
The quakes have already triggered a raucous town hall meeting, a decision to hire Texas\u2019s first-ever state seismologist, and a pledge to study the problem. Unsatisfied with this response, a busload of residents, demanding that the disposal wells be shut down immediately, appeared on Tuesday in Austin at a meeting of the Texas Railroad Commission, the state\u2019s industry-friendly oil-and-gas regulator. According to an account by a\u00a0Fort Worth Star-Telegram\u00a0reporter, one protester pulled out a guitar during the meeting and broke into a rendition of Elvis Presley\u2019s \u201cAll Shook Up.\u201d<\/p>\n
The big question: Are the disposal wells causing the earthquakes?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Alan Brundrett, an insurance agent who serves as Azle\u2019s part-time mayor, has no doubt. Brundrett recalls the first earthquake he experienced, during a city council meeting in November. \u201cIt felt like someone kicked the back of your chair. It was strange.\u201d He felt another shortly after midnight in December, as he was lying in a recliner in his three-bedroom home, watching a horror flick. \u201cIt sounded like something exploded outside,\u201d says Brundrett. \u201cThe whole house shook, and the windows rattled. I jumped about two feet out of my chair.\u201d<\/p>\n
In tiny Reno, a few miles to the north \u2014 near the site of active disposal wells and the suspected epicenter of the shaking \u2014 cracks have appeared in the walls and floor of the city council chamber. Some area residents blame the quakes for sinkholes on their property and stuck doors and windows in their homes. Now Brundrett says, \u201ceverybody I know has an earthquake app loaded on his cellphone.\u201d (QuakeFeed<\/a>\u00a0is a favorite.)<\/p>\n The tremors have ranged from 2.0 to 3.6 on the Richter scale, with nine measuring 3.0 or higher, according to U.S. Geological Survey geophysicist Dr. William Ellsworth. While frightening and felt by thousands of residents, none of the quakes so far has caused injuries or major damage.<\/p>\n Hydraulic fracturing (which breaks apart shale rock to extract oil and gas) has been blamed for various ills, including contamination of water wells. Yet geologists say it\u2019s not the fracking, but rather disposal wells \u2014 which inject millions of gallons of water deep underground \u2014 that pose the greater risk of meaningful earthquakes.<\/p>\n Ellsworth, who is helping coordinate efforts to zero in on the pattern (including the installation of seismographs in the region), says few injection wells cause earthquakes, but there is strong evidence that a handful of them \u2014 perhaps located near an existing fault \u2014 do. In Texas, says Ellsworth, \u201ceverything is happening in a very limited area. We don\u2019t know that there\u2019s a connection at this point. There\u2019s a correlation, but correlation is not causation. People need to keep that in mind.\u201d<\/p>\n In a recent update to an\u00a0article<\/a>\u00a0Ellsworth published last July in\u00a0Science\u00a0(paywall), he and two colleagues noted that that the rate of quakes (3.0 and larger) in the central and eastern U.S. has multiplied to about a hundred a year during 2010-2013, coinciding with the increase in fracking, which requires disposal wells. This compares with an average of 20 quakes a year from 1970-2000.<\/p>\n In closely studied cases where disposal wells are the suspected culprit, a shutdown of the well \u2014 or even a reduction in the rate of water being injected underground \u2014 has ended the earthquakes.<\/p>\n After the string of tremors around Azle hit double figures \u2014 \u201cAnother day, another earthquake in North Texas,\u201d read one recent\u00a0Star-Telegram\u00a0headline \u2014 Brundrett persuaded the Railroad Commission to convene a town hall meeting at the local high school on Jan. 2. About 900 angry residents showed up, calling for the injection wells to be shut down immediately.<\/p>\n They booed and hooted as Commissioner David Porter refused to respond to questions, insisting that he was there only to listen. \u201cThat pissed off everybody from the beginning,\u201d says Brundrett.<\/p>\n The Texas commission has long viewed its relationship with the energy industry as equal parts promoter and regulator. Commissioners regularly win election with heavy financial support from oil and gas interests. Porter\u2019s official biography describes him as a CPA who built a successful practice in Midland, \u201cproviding accounting and tax services to oil and gas producers, royalty owners, oil field service companies, and other small businesses and individuals.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe Railroad Commission is concerned and involved, but we have to base our actions on sound science and proven facts, not speculation that appears in some newspaper articles and some blogs,\u201d he told the crowd in an opening statement.<\/p>\n After two hours, local media reported, Porter ended the meeting, then bolted out the back door, escorted by state troopers. Afterward, the Railroad Commission announced it would be seeking more data on the problem and hire an in-house earthquake expert. (Porter\u2019s staff said he would have no further comment.)<\/p>\n Those unwilling to wait rode down to Austin on Tuesday to demand immediate action.<\/p>\n Brundrett declined to join the bus trip. He believes the quakes show a clear pattern, but acknowledges the need for additional study.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m pro oil and gas,\u201d he says. \u201cWhen people turn their light switch on, they want their lights to come on. The energy has to come from somewhere. It\u2019s just sometimes being done in a bad way or in the wrong place.\u201d Like many residents in the Barnett Shale region, Brundrett has received income from leasing land to drilling companies.<\/p>\n He doesn\u2019t blame the drillers for demanding more proof. \u201cIt\u2019s common sense that everyone wants the scientific evidence. They don\u2019t want to get into the position of having to shut down everything any time everybody cries wolf.\u201d<\/p>\n But when it arrives \u2014 within a month or two, Brundrett expects \u2014 he says the disposal-well operators will need to respond quickly. \u201cIf we get the data, and it does indeed link the injection wells to earthquakes, and they fail to do anything, then it\u2019s time to get out the pitchforks and torches.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" An earth-shaking mystery in Texas by Peter Elkind Something is causing a spate of small earthquakes in the Lone Star State \u2014 and many locals think they know the culprit: the already controversial process of fracking. FORTUNE \u2014 In a … Continue reading