Let's be clear: Fracking has not been shown to cause significant earthquakes

U.S. Geological Survey scientists have confirmed that small earthquakes can be caused when wastewater from hydraulic fracturing is injected deep into the earth. But Mike Soraghan of Energy and Environment News reports the news media and foes of fracking have confused the public into thinking it's fracking itself that causes the quakes. That is frustrating, said Senior USGS geophysicist Bill Ellsworth, who is leading research about wastewater injection wells and earthquakes. He said terms are being misused by the media, which adds to the public's confusion.

"Ellsworth has stumbled upon a key fault line in the nation's debate about its onshore oil and gas boom," Soraghan writes. Industry use the term "fracking" to describe just one part of the whole extraction process, but critics use the term "fracking" to describe all aspects of drilling into deep shales, while critics "apply the 'fracking' moniker to all aspects of shale drilling -- from the first truck that shows up at the well pad all the way through to waste disposal and plugging." In the middle, Soraghan writes, are the media, which have only "a passing interest" in the matter.

Ellsworth says he and other seismologists have a responsibility to "set the record straight" on fracking, deep wastewater injection and earthquakes. "As scientists we have an obligation to try to give people the benefit of scientific understanding," Ellsworth said. "The public has legitimate concerns for which it needs good information." (Read more)