Quakeahoma--shaken and stirred--a lament

Location of today's big one, three smaller ones, and blue dot disposal wells.

Earthquake Central...It rolled the house about 5 am two days ago...a rumble coming through the trees and then a crack and more, waking the entire area, doing damage. A 4.3 earthquake. Thirty minutes later there was another one, over 3. Since then there have been about eight more throughout the day. The epicenter was about three miles from here. There have been more since, including news of a "re-activated" fault in the area.
Oklahoma is the most seismically active state in the country, other than Alaska. The year is setting records for 4+ quakes and more.

Severe damage near epicenter

Everybody knows why, but nothing is being done, because our government officials are owned the the perps--energy companies.
The once key to the oil boom was "fracking," pumping water deep into the earth to free oil. But then the water had to be disposed of, so they began injecting the water into wastewater wells back into the earth. Oklahoma has many small faults, and this water pressure has obviously spurred these quakes.
Of course the government officials and oil companies deny it, but scientists here and around the country know it is the case, having plenty of research to back it up, as do most people in the state. 
But, pardon the pun, our leaders and owners have had their heads in the sand.
Perhaps now, something will be done, as the puppet governor and corporation commission seek ways to postpone any significant action. They may no longer be able to. Nothing illustrates what I called the two Oklahomas years ago. There's the relative prosperous urban, and the slowly declining rural.
As long as the quakes were hurting poor people in relatively unpopulated, low-vote areas, the big dollar, big city boys and girls could ignore them. Now however, we'd made national news, and quakes are affecting the voting centers. Articles in the mainstream media are now reporting this.

Oklahoma's wastewater injection wells

We are a three industry state--energy,  military bases and ag. And one industry is in deep trouble. Gasoline prices tumble with the price of oil, energy companies are laying hundreds of employees off. In spite of declining revenue, our government "leaders" cut taxes this year, and now the state budget disaster will harm thousands in the next year. They euphemistically call it a "Revenue Failure."
We need a different kind of quake--it'll probably take deaths. Ironically, what could also change things is if a big quake damages the oil hub at Cushing, shutting off oil across the country. That will bring down the state economy even more. 
Government leaders and chamber of commerce PR types  brag about "The Oklahoma Standard," but the reality is a looming disaster caused by not facing facts and acting on them, because of political pressure and corporate ownership.
In the meantime, there will be more and more quakes, more and more damage to houses and businesses, more and more government "studies" and "committees" and postponements, more and more industry denials.
How long until this shaken state's population gets stirred enough to do something about it?

(Thanks to information and help from The Journal Record, photo from NewsOK)
 

Boomtown, Oklahoma, energy icon

I heard somewhere that more than 5,000 people a month are moving to Oklahoma City in the past three  months, thanks to the job market, especially in energy. Boomtown. Perhaps not since the Run, or the 8os oil boom. Don't know.

Devon Tower, seen from The Womb, symbol of OKC's energy growth

But I do know an incredible amount of energy seems to sizzle from the place, a far cry from 20 years ago when downtown was dead, and the state was languishing. The transformation since the Murrah Federal Building bombing is nothing short of miraculous.
I can refer to many trends and incidents, and books have been written about this Dust Bowl, oil bust poor fly-over state changing. Yes, the state is more conservative politically than ever, but there's an undercurrent of energy different from oil and gas that bubbles toward the surface of young people and will change the state even more. 
Sure the conservative politicians brag about our independence, but the downtown transformation was a tax-supported effort, not free-enterprise. And the state still sucks heavily at the Federal teat , with Tinker, FAA, Altus , Enid and more...all of which they ignore, like the current mayor in his national speeches.

If there is one icon of the new energy I see-beyond revitalized Paseo, Plaza District, avant-garde new restaurants, excellent museums, The Thunder, The Devon Tower, and more--it is The Womb, owned by Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips,the weird, stereo-type knocking band that even makes the Neanderthal legislature nervous.
We recently attended the reopening of  this physcheledic gallery off Broadway, thanks to invitations by Jake Harms (future-son-in-law--artist and partner of cool step-daughter Alexx Reger) who manages it and who helped paint much of the  jarring exterior
Look at this place...it is not your stereotype of Oklahoma. Energy oozes from this place like oil and gas from Audrey McLendon's and Cheaapeake's fracking, to the more respectable towering influence of Devon energy's new dominating skyscraper...but it doesn't cause physical earthquakes...just cultural ones.

Me, at entrance of The Vagina, Photo by Susan

As and old-guy, I don't necessarily "like" the art inside, thought a drink inside the "Vagina" is, well, juicy and enervating  and fun. But it doesn't matter. You should see the young people (those under 40 at my advanced age) attending things like this.
This is the kind of energy that is revolutionizing Oklahoma, once old white guys have gone the way of drab buildings. You had to go inside the red-lit "Vagina" to get a drink. It was an adventure, and most of all, fun, because the people think life is supposed to be fun, not uptight.
Art and energy like this is infectious, impossible to ignore, among all the ho-hum or negative images of Oklahoma. Oklahoma's real energy industry isn't under the ground, but above it, in people who demand difference. It's not about being cool, I think, though many do. I think it's about creativity, pushing the boundaries--which is the real pioneer spirit--and having fun.

Fracking and water

"Much obliged" to my friend and newspaper publisher Ray Lokey of Tishomingo for this comment on Facebook, and to blog friend Ron Rabenold in Pennsylvania, for more takes on the fracking issue:  (Ray's paper, the Johnston County Capital-Democrat, has been in the forefront of dealing with threats to the local water quality and supply)
Ron's Comment: Ronald Rabenold I challenged the accepted status quo in regard to fracking in our state when I ran for State House last year...Private Corporations are running amok...I feel their right to swing their fist extends beyond the tip of my nose....

Ray's Take:  Ray Lokey Terry, I discovered this link over the weekend http://fracfocus.org/which has a wealth of information, including regs for Oklahoma. Greatest concern here remains groundwater contamination of the Arbuckle-Simpson Aquifer, although to my knowledge no fracking is currently going on within its boundaries. While fracfocus.org shows drilling well locations, when it comes to earthquakes, I am more interested in disposal or injection well locations which I have been unable to find thus far (although they may be there; just haven't found them yet). While I maintain a healthy skepticism, I am somewhat amazed at the number of oil and gas wells across the state and how few problems have been encountered so far.

Home | FracFocus Chemical Disclosure Registry

fracfocus.org

FracFocus is a hydraulic fracturing chemical registry website designed to provide information about chemicals used in the HF of oil and gas wells.

Is Quakeahoma "Fracked" up?

This  won't be real popular in Oklahoma since state politics and culture are so subservient to oil companies, but the increases in Oklahoma earthquakes may indeed be linked to energy companies' "fracking" processes underground to extract more oil and gas (Injecting brine and chemicals at high pressure underground to fracture rock). 
This blog has never been political, but that doesn't mean issues can't be discussed, especially health and environmental. We've seen an increase in earthquakes here and elsewhere to make it a national topic of debate. Thus a new study, plus an HBO documentary will cause a lot of denials and excuses in the coming weeks. The energy companies claim it is environmentally safe. Further west, it is a topic of controversy because of the use of scarce water resources. And everywhere, there's the question of effects on the ground water table.
For a look at what I'm talking about, check out colleague Kurt Hochenauer's analytical blog post today, on Okie Funk, Notes from the Outback. Worth reading. Fracking 
And if you want another view, here's Bloomberg, the major national financial report.  Earthquakes