fracking News

Texas Regulators Limit Oil and Gas Disposal Wells in Bid to Reduce Earthquakes in West Texas

The state’s oil and gas regulatory agency last month suspended nearly two dozen permits that let companies inject saltwater water into the ground, a routine industry practice that regulators said has contributed to the rising frequency and magnitude of earthquakes …

3rd Circuit Finds Insurer Not Liable for Botched Fracking Operation

A well servicing company that damaged 53 natural gas wells by using a defective chemical during a hydrofracking operation is not entitled to insurance coverage for a $13 million jury verdict because there was no accident, a panel of the …

Pennsylvania Lifts Ban on Gas Production in Polluted Village

One of Pennsylvania’s largest drillers will be allowed to extract natural gas from underneath a rural community where it has been banned for a dozen years because of accusations it polluted the water supply, according to a settlement with state …

Gas Driller Pleads no Contest to Polluting Town’s Water

MONTROSE, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania’s most active gas driller pleaded no contest Tuesday to criminal charges, capping a landmark environmental case against a company that prosecutors say polluted a rural community’s drinking water 14 years ago and then tried to …

Risk of Quakes Caused by Oil, Gas in New Mexico Rising

CARLSBAD, N.M. (AP) — Multiple earthquakes were felt earlier this fall in West Texas, leading regulators in that state to designate a seismic response area and call for less wastewater from oil and gas development to be injected in disposal …

As Climate Fight Intensifies, U.S. States Seek to Block Local Natural-Gas Bans

March 5 — Lawmakers in at least five U.S. states have proposed bills since mid-February to prevent cities from banning natural gas as an energy source in new buildings, marking an escalation in the national battle over the fuel’s role …

Adams Could Be 1st County to Enact Oil, Gas Location Rule

DENVER — Adams County could become the first community in Colorado to require a larger separation between new wells and occupied buildings than the state mandates, as leaders at both the state and local level wrestle with how to implement …

Study Suggests Earthquakes are Triggered Well Beyond Fluid Injection Zones

Using data from field experiments and modeling of ground faults, researchers at Tufts University have discovered that the practice of subsurface fluid injection used in ‘fracking’ and wastewater disposal for oil and gas exploration could cause significant, rapidly spreading earthquake …

Study Finds More Evidence That Energy Waste Wells Cause Quakes

Scientists say they have more evidence that an increase in earthquakes on the Colorado-New Mexico border since 2001 has been caused by wells that inject wastewater from oil and gas production back underground, similar to human-caused quakes in Oklahoma and …

Dutch Court Holds Energy Firm Liable for Emotional Suffering

A Dutch court ruled Wednesday that an energy company jointly owned by Shell and ExxonMobil is liable for the psychological suffering of residents in the north of the country whose homes have been damaged by small earthquakes caused by gas …