Earthquakes can’t be linked to XTO drilling activity, railroad commission finds
A wastewater disposal well operated by XTO Energy cannot be linked to the rash of earthquakes that rattled Reno and Azle residents more than a year ago, state officials reported.
Following hearings that were conducted in June, Texas Railroad Commission examiners concluded in a preliminary report issued Monday that “the evidence in the record does not support a finding” that the well “is likely contributing to seismic activity.”
In the report, the hearing examiners also discount a study released in the spring by Southern Methodist University researchers that linked the oil and gas process to the flurry of earthquakes that hit the Azle and Reno area from November 2013 to January 2014.
The findings of the SMU-led study were “not sufficient to reach a conclusion,” the report states, but rather “a start toward understanding the issue” of injection wells and seismic activity. The report also admits that there is nothing in the record to say that the earthquakes were caused naturally.
Read more: http://www.star-telegram.com/news/business/barnett-shale/article33224445.html
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