Oklahoma has been experiencing a lot of shaking and rattling lately. In the last thirty days alone Oklahoma has experienced 76 earthquakes, and this number is increasing every day. At the time of this writing, the most recent recorded earthquake was a 3.3 magnitude quake in Lincoln County.
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Why has Oklahoma been experiencing such an increase in seismic activity in the last couple of years? This question is a very volatile one as of late. The University of Texas at Austin did a recent report on the same kind of activity in Texas, and found some very interesting results: most of the earthquakes that occurred in the Barnett Shale region of North Texas were located within close proximity to one or more injection wells. These injection wells are used to dispose of wastes that are primarily from petroleum production used in hydraulic fracking.
The 5.6 magnitude quake that occurred near Prague, Oklahoma last November is also suspected of being associated with injection wells, as there are injection processes going on in this area. This was the quake mentioned on several news programs and broadcast across the country. Its force damaged homes, buildings and even caused a major buckling in U.S. Route 62. 
There are many who are still skeptics that injection wells could cause earthquakes. However, in Youngstown Ohio a state probe concluded that injection wells caused 12 earthquakes in 2011 in that area. Because of that the State of Ohio set in effect new rules to limit or at least slow the development of injection wells in their state.
IIn a similar vein, the state of Arkansas recorded a noticeable reduction in the earthquakes experienced in central Arkansas after the closing of two injection wells in the area. The agreement to close these sites was reached after the Arkansas Oil and Gas Commission did preliminary studies showing that activity at these injection sites could be linked to over 1000 quakes in that area within a 6-month time frame.
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Oklahoma has nearly 11,000 functioning injection wells across the state. Unlike Ohio and Arkansas, Oklahoma has not limited the number of injection wells near known fault areas, nor imposed major regulatory laws. Correcting this lack of regulation is essential to control injection wells and the related problems in our state. 
local tank battery, which has four Unfortunately, Oklahoma has a tendency to taking its time with implementing new regulations, adopting a policy of ‘let’s wait and see’. This is especially true concerning areas that would affect the oil and gas industry. Hopefully, this mindset won’t lead the state and its people much farther down the path of destruction before we decide to make some changes in the way we do things. .
An injection disposal facility
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Sample Collected From Wet Landfarming
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