Hydro fracturing is a process which involves mixing waste water with sand and gravel in oil wellsat high pressure to break rock in order to produce oil or gas (Watson, 2016). This process of injecting waste water back to the ground leads to the development of an earth quake. The process though not an environmental friendly, has good returns inviting government support and rebellion from environmental activists. These activities are believed to have started many years ago and are viewed to be increasing rapidly. A study conducted by the university of Texas states that humans have been causing these earth quakes for more than 100 years. The railroad commission, a Texas commission which deals with regulation of oil and gas dismissed the study and termed it arbitrary (Watson, 2016).
Study shows that Hydro fracking produces earth quakes with low magnitudes. Such earth quakes can go unnoticed unless special equipment are deployed to assist in discovery (Watson, 2016). Residents at Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Arkansas have always faulted their states governments for failing to regulate the life threatening activities. In Oklahoma for instance, the state government has ordered the operators to reduce the amount of water used in oil and gas fields to minimize the earth quakes magnitude. The Railroad organization has also adopted the same approach in minimizing the water volumes injected in the oil wells. Geological Scholars have argued that the process in future will lead to an occurrence of a damaging earth quake.
However, oil and gas representatives have argued that fracking cannot explain the occurrence of earth quakes throughout the world. It might be true that fracturing can be a cause to the increasing number of earth quakes, but there do not exist any evidence to support the claim. It is sufficiently evident that Hydro-fracking causes water pollution because it has been proved by people who live in vicinity of the activity.ReferencesWatson, B. A. (2016). Fracking and Cracking: Strict Liability for Earthquake Damage Due to Wastewater Injection and Hydraulic Fracturing.