LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--During 2012, Plains Exploration & Production Company (PXP) released a series of technical studies which purported to demonstrate that their oil recovery operations, including “fracking” (hydraulic fracturing), in the Los Angeles Inglewood oil field, have no known adverse effect on the public. But studies by Stanford University civil engineer Richard L. Meehan conclude that this is not true.
Meehan has found that the activities in the Inglewood oilfield have resulted in reactivation of geologic faulting, affecting residential property and two elementary schools. A new video by Meehan presents the evidence for ongoing oilfield causation of surface and property damage in this urban setting. It also demonstrates that hydraulic fracturing for hydrocarbon recovery can be hazardous in relatively shallow geologic environments with faults and earthquakes as commonly found in California. Conclusions regarding the safety of “fracking” elsewhere do not apply in California.
For more information:
Video (14 min) rebutting PXP position
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4sm7DdIMkk
Background at:
www.stanford.edu/~meehan/inglewood/