FROM MIKE RAYMedia Director DemocraticCaucus

The question of whether oil-field “fracking” and wastewaterinjection wells are causing orcontributing to the spate of earth-quakes making Oklahoma shake,rattle and roll will be addressed inan interim legislative study thisfall, state Rep. Cory Williamssaid Thursday.Williams’ request for an inter-

im study on the probable subter-ranean effects of oilfield activitywill be combined with anotherlegislator’s proposal for a studyof Oklahoma CorporationCommission injection well datamonitoring.House Speaker Jeff Hickman

approved both requests andassigned the consolidated studyto the House Committee onUtility and EnvironmentalRegulation. Interim studies can

begin on Aug. 5 and must becompleted by Nov. 12, Hickmandecreed recently.“We have been having a

swarm of earthquakes in our area,and I’m fielding a lot of inquiriesfrom constituents who want toknow what, if anything, the Stateof Oklahoma is doing about,”said Williams, D-Stillwater.By 5 p.m. Tuesday, the

Oklahoma Geological Surveyhad logged 20 earthquakes in theStillwater area during the preced-ing 30 days, and 209 tremors inthe surrounding area this year –or more than one per day, onaverage.The OGS counted all temblors

recorded in an area extending 12miles east and west of Stillwater,and eight miles north and southof the Payne County community,including Glencoe and Ripley,according to Amberlee Darold, aresearch seismologist with theOklahoma Geological Survey.

Payne County has 40 injectionwells and 260 active oil and gaswells, Corporation Commissionrecords reflect.Oklahoma has experienced

nearly 250 small-to-mediumearthquakes since January, theU.S. Geological Survey reportedthis week. That’s almost half ofall magnitude-3 or higher earth-quakes recorded this year in thecontinental U.S.Austin Holland, a research

seismologist with the OGS, saidOklahoma is experiencingunprecedented earthquake activi-ty, and said his agency is moni-toring the activity to determinewhether the earthquakes are anatural phenomenon or are man-made.No deaths or injuries have

been reported, but varyingdegrees of property damage havebeen blamed on the quakes.The OGS counted 2,270

earthquakes in Oklahoma as ofJune 6; eight of those ranged inmagnitude from 4.0 to 4.5 and alloccurred in Logan County. Incomparison, 2,848 earthquakeswere recorded in Oklahoma in allof 2013, 980 in 2012, 1,470 in2011, and 1,047 in 2010.The USGS statistically ana-

lyzed the recent earthquake ratechanges and found that “they donot seem to be due to typical, ran-dom fluctuations in natural seis-micity rates.” The agency’s

analysis suggests that “a likelycontributing factor to the increasein earthquakes” is wastewaterinjected into deep geological for-mations.Seismologists also contend

that hydraulic fracturing –“fracking,” which entails blastingwater, sand and chemicals deepinto underground rock formationsto liberate trapped oil and gas –can cause microquakes that arerarely strong enough to registeron monitoring equipment.To more accurately determine

the locations and magnitudes ofearthquakes in the Sooner State,the OGS has increased the num-ber of monitoring stations andnow operates a seismograph net-work of 15 permanent and 17temporary stations.One point of contention is

whether some injection welloperators are pumping too muchwastewater into the ground, orpumping it at exceedingly highpressures.The Oklahoma Independent

Petroleum Association reportsthat water emerges from the well-bore, along with oil and naturalgas, in some areas. Such wellstypically produce 10 times asmuch water as hydrocarbons, theOIPA claims.Regulators said Oklahoma

producers injected more than abillion gallons of oilfield waste-water underground in 2012.

and maintenance on the city’sstorm warning sirens fromJuly 2014 through June 30,2015 with total cost of$6,720.00.“We will make sure they

are updated and kept in goodoperating condition. We checkthe batteries and test. The citytests too and if there are anyfailures we fix. I believe thereare 14-or-15 storm sirens,”said Matt Baine of Total RadioInc., of Tulsa.Total Radio was formerly a

Motorola company ownedservice center. The Tulsabranch was purchased in Mayof 1995. Total Radio is anauthorized Motorola dealerand service center. The compa-ny specializes in services forcommercial, military, industri-al and public service sectors.The second contract on the

agenda was with Arledge andAssociates, P.C. in amount of$26,000 for services renderedfor the fiscal year ending June30, 2014.

The next contract was forthe Phase 8 StreetImprovement with CherokeePride Construction, Inc. for theamount of $1,323.55 with theclose-out documents.The fourth agreement was

inked with SHOW, Inc. forlandscaping on the front andside flower beds at SapulpaCity Hall through June 30,2015.The final contract is a

licensing agreement with JerryLockridge a property owner

who wants to build a fence.“I have been there. There

should be no reason to everbuild a road through. Weagreed that he can build thefence If we need it in thefuture, we can tear it (thefence) down and Lockridgewill have to build gates to letcity workers through and pro-vide us a key,” said CityAttorney David Widdoes.The next council meeting is

set for August 4.

Page 2 –– Thursday, July 24, 2014, Sapulpa Daily Herald

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County Courthouse view enhanced by photo glow

DARYL HOWARD PHOTOHE WALKS THE DOWNTOWN WITH A CAMERA HANDY. Daryl Howard took this interesting nighttime pic of the coun-ty courthouse. He took the photo Dec. 1, 2013 on a tripod, no flash, camera set at 1/30 ISO 2000. The neon effect wasadded later from a photoshop filter program. The effect is called ‘Glow Edge’ and it nicely transforms a common imageinto a more visually exciting form. The impact is particularly striking in highlighting lettering on the sign at left foreground.

State democrats to study earthquakes