Oklahoma Puts Limits on Oil and Gas Wells to Fight Quakes.
'Faced with a six-year barrage of earthquakes that piecemeal responses have been powerless to stop, Oklahoma regulators are imposing sweeping restrictions on the oil and gas industry wells causing the tremors.
On Monday, the state Corporation Commission asked well operators in a Connecticut-size patch of central Oklahoma to reduce by 40 percent the amount of oil and gas wastes they are injecting deep into the earth. The directive covers 411 injection wells in a rough circle that includes Oklahoma City and points northeast.
It follows a February directive that imposed a 40 percent cutback on injection wells in a similar-size region of northwest Oklahoma.
The actions signal a far more aggressive effort to curb earthquakes that have grown in size and frequency as more oil and gas wastes have been dumped into the ground. Oklahoma this year has recorded three of the largest quakes in its history, registering magnitudes of 4.7, 4.8 and 5.1.'>>>
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/08/us/oklahoma-earthquakes-oil-gas-wells.html?