The recently created House subcommittee that is looking at the issue of seismic activity in the state and its relation to energy production convenes Monday at 1 p.m. A link to a live online video of the meeting is here. The subcommittee was formed in January after a series of small quakes hit the Azle area in northern Parker County. Its members include Phil King, R-Weatherford and is headed by Rep. Myra Crownover, R-Denton.
Several states have already taken steps to curtail activities at wastewater disposal wells that regulators have linked to seismic activity. Those include Ohio, which shut down four disposal wells near Youngstown in late 2011after a 4.0 earthquake in the vicinity. On May 1 William Ellsworth, a seismologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, said the rise of quakes in North Texas since natural gas production swelled has led him to conclude that "it is certainly possible" that the quakes are related to injection wells in the area. Injection wells at Dallas/Fort Worth Airport and near Cleburne were were closed in 2009 after quakes nearby.
-- Jim Fuquay
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