DALLAS — After years of official skepticism, publicly funded studies in Texas and Oklahoma cite oil and gas industry activity as the probable cause of earthquakes in the two states.
"Based on observed seismicity rates and geographical trends following major oil and gas plays with large amounts of produced water, the rates and trends in seismicity are very unlikely to represent a naturally occurring process," said a Tuesday statement from the Oklahoma Geological Survey.
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Conducted by geophysicists at Southern Methodist University and the University of Texas, the study found that earthquakes in Azle, Texas, a western suburb of Fort Worth, were caused by the same process.
"This report points to the need for even more study in connection with earthquakes in North Texas," said Brian Stump, SMU's Albritton Chair in Earth Sciences. "Industry is an important source for key data, and the scope of the research needed to understand these earthquakes requires government support at multiple levels."
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"Not only can earthquakes generate a great deal of damage to your property, but they can also cause a great deal of damage to your personal finances if you're not sufficiently covered," Doak wrote in January 2013.
Since the SMU/UT study was launched, dozens of earthquakes have also struck north Dallas and the suburb of Irving, even though Dallas places setback restrictions that oil and gas officials consider a virtual ban on drilling within the city limits.
That could change under House Bill 40 passed by the Texas House on April 21.
The legislation allows cities to regulate activities above ground that involve matters such as firefighting, policing, noise and pollution.
But the bill strips local governments of the power to ban oil and gas drilling within city limits.
The bill was drafted in response to a voter-approved ban on oil and gas drilling in Denton in 2014.
Denton homeowners petitioned for the ban because of complaints about noise, vibrations, lights, heavy truck traffic and vapors from hydraulic fracturing operations in residential areas.
The Texas Municipal League, which represents cities on issues in the Legislature, objected to HB 40 but managed to change some of the language, giving cities more rights, said Bennett Sandlin, executive director of the TML.
"The original form of those bills was very harmful to cities," Sandlin said. "It's still not great, we would prefer no bill. All we ask is reasonable health and safety regulations."
After TML testified on the bill in committee, a fiscal note was added that the bill would have a "significant fiscal impact on a city that has regulations in place."
"The bill would have an impact on distance regulations established by municipalities," the note said. "This impact could cause close proximity of oil and gas wells to homes and other structures, resulting in lower property values and lower local property tax revenues."
Ratings analysts have said that permissive laws on hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," transfer risks to cities and utilities, particularly those that rely on groundwater.
The oil and gas industries in Oklahoma, Colorado and Texas have challenged claims by environmental groups that fracking fluids injected underground can cause earthquakes. The industry has invested heavily in political campaign contributions and public policy organizations designed to tout the benefits of fracking while minimizing the risks.
However, studies have been on the books for decades showing how injection wells have caused earthquakes in Colorado and New Mexico.
Even after the SMU/UT report supported theories that the temblors were caused by drilling, Azle's state representative, Phil King, R-Weatherford, continued to oppose local restrictions. "This adds even more support to the fact that a state agency with the scientific expertise is the entity that needs to be regulating those type of wells," King told the Dallas Morning News.
Representatives of Oklahoma Oil & Gas Association continued to call for more study after drilling was linked to the earthquakes, saying there is "no new insight" in the Geological Survey's announcement.
"There may be a link between earthquakes and disposal wells, but we -- industry, regulators, researchers, lawmakers or state residents -- still don't know enough about how wastewater injection impacts Oklahoma's underground faults," association president Chad Warmington said.
In a press release Warmington said oil and natural gas producers have contributed valuable, proprietary seismic data to researchers to improve fault maps. He said producers also have agreed to provide additional information about their disposal well operations to the Oklahoma Corporation Commission as it works to mitigate the risk of induced seismicity.
Warmington also maintained that a moratorium on disposal wells is not feasible.
"Not only would that halt oil and natural gas production in Oklahoma, there is no scientific evidence that stopping wastewater injection would result in fewer earthquakes," he said. "That is why we need a better understanding of what is causing our earthquakes."
Warmington noted disposal well operators have voluntarily ceased operation of specific wells linked to earthquakes.
He said safety continues to be a priority for the state's oil and gas producers, with an eye toward protecting the environment, the community and their workers.
For now, the question of a fracking ban appears moot as falling oil prices have curtailed activities, leading to massive layoffs.
However, the issue of rights to mineral resources below ground remains important for the industry, which expects to reopen wells when oil prices rebound.
