Lawyers for a resident of Pawnee, Oklahoma, have filed a request to open a class action lawsuit against area oil and gas companies claiming that their practices caused an increase in earthquake activity in the area.
Filed on behalf of Pawnee resident James Adams, the suit could include other residents if approved by the judge. The suit alleges that wastewater pumped into wells for disposal contributed to a 5.8-magnitude earthquake that took place in September as well as the many aftershocks that followed, according to State Impact Oklahoma.
The lawsuit would seek compensation for damage to homes and property as well as emotional harm.
“Dangerous tremors have become a constant threat to the residents of Pawnee, but the energy companies behind them don’t seem to care,” said attorney Robin Greenwald in an emailed statement, State Impact Oklahoma reported.
Other earthquake-related lawsuits have been filed in Oklahoma, where half of the reported earthquakes over a magnitude of 5 have occurred in 2016, according to The Associated Press.
Two oil companies, Eagle Road Oil and Cummings Oil Company, were named in the suit, but 25 more unnamed companies were also referenced.
A 2015 U.S. Geological Survey showed that oil and gas production were responsible for the huge increase in earthquakes over the last 100 years, the AP reported.
Steps are now being taken by some companies to reduce the amount of wastewater resulting from oil and gas production and to stop pumping it into wells.
Attorney for the lawsuit Curt Marshall said that hundreds of homes have been damaged by the earthquakes, including foundation and wall cracks and short-circuited electrical outlets, according to the AP.
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