To the editor:

What materials are already injected into the existing wells in Douglas County and where are they? Is the county really looking for oil or disposing of unwanted, hazardous industrial byproducts? The class of well proposed is a class 2 well; is it a disposal well, an enhanced recovery well, or a hydrocarbon storage well? What guarantee is there that the wastewater will not affect underground water supplies or contaminate surrounding farm land where food is grown or pastures where livestock live?

In conducting some research, I have two additional questions. “The culprit of earthquakes near fracking sites is not believed to be the act of drilling and fracturing the shale itself, but rather the disposal wells.” (stateimpact.npr.org/texas). So, can you tell the general public that there is NO NEED for concern about earthquakes? “An unprecedented increase in earthquakes in the U.S. mid-continent began in 2009. Many of these earthquakes have been documented as induced by wastewater injection … We find that the entire increase in earthquake rate is associated with fluid injection wells. High-rate injection wells (greater than 300,000 barrels per month) are much more likely to be associated with earthquakes than lower-rate wells.” (www.fractracker.org) The Lawrence Journal-World stated on Oct. 24 that, “The applications note a maximum of 100 barrels per day for each well, which totals 8,400 gallons of waste water per day.” Who will regulate or monitor the amount of wastewater per day?