The First Warning that Fracking Might Cause Earthquakes

It seems as if the idea of a link between earthquakes and hydro-fracture drilling is a new concept, brought on only after recent earthquakes in Ohio and out west. Actually, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a warning over thirty years ago (almost 40 years ago in fact)  that the hydro-fracture drilling method could cause earthquakes.

They Called it Right Before the First Well Was Ever Fracked!

Before the first hydro-fracture drilling test well was even drilled in 1975 in Los Alamos, New Mexico, as part of an experiment for geothermal energy production, the GAO reported to the President of the Senate and to the Speaker of the House of Representatives that the process had the potential to cause earthquakes. (Check the end-note - it mentions the possibility of earlier fracking.)

Two Other Potential Issues the GAO Warned About in the March 6, 1975 Report

Two other issues brought up in the report that might reasonably be expected to come up as use of the process expands (Direct quote from the 1975 GAO document):

1. "How  long  can  production  from  a  geopressured  zone  be sustained  without  decreases  in  temperature  and  pressure?" 
2. "How  much  will  the  land  sink  if  large  quantities  of geopressured  fluids  are  removed?" 

Where to Read the Full 1975 GAO Document, if Interested

REPORT  TO  THE  CONGRESS:

Problems  In  Identifying, 

Developing,  And  Using Geothermal  Resources: Department  of  the  Interior Energy  Research  and  Development  Administration

(Note: According to Wikipedia's Hydraulic_fracture page, which you can trust or not as you choose, the first frac job was done in 1947 in limestone deposits. The document linked above, however, does describe the 1975 drilling experiment as the first.)

New Texas Rule on Fracking Brine Disclosure

The proprietary list of  chemicals used for fracking a well are about to be revealed, beyond what environmental investigators have already discovered by poring over MSDS sheets and reading hazmat info on frac trucks.

A new rule from the Texas Railroad Commission requires public disclosure of fracking brine chemicals. Oil and gas driller using the hydraulic fracturing method will also be required to disclose the quantities of fresh-water used in each "drill".

(Colorado also recently enacted a similar rule, though, it's careful to protect the proprietary (aka secret) rights of the driller.)

Read more details about this here, or check out the FracFocus link on the side of this page.