by James Tricoli
AMHERST TIMES
The past five days my wife and I spent with my son’s family in Washington DC. It was a great time but I also had time to visit other friends of mine. Washington is a hot bed of all types of news. One of the big tropics I was informed about was the serious danger man has created in nature.
I will use Texas for example where man is causing earthquakes. Nature forces most earthquakes but humans are causing earthquakes too. Texas, in the past decade, has experienced an unnatural number of earthquakes.
Scientists believe the process of fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, produces a lot of waste water which is injected deep into the ground to get rid of it. When wastewater finds its way into dormant faults, pent-up tectonic stress releases and the ground shakes.
In March 2016,the USGS published a map of the most likely areas where human-made earthquakes will strike in the United States. About 7 million people are at risk of these events with Texas and Oklahoma among the most susceptible states.
Amherst will have this problem if Governor Cuomo lifts the ban on fracking in New York State.
Originally published on Amherst Times. Republished with permission.
