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And so a somewhat stronger earthquake than usual did happen Thurs. night, 4.1 in magnitude, 12 mi. ENE of Hennessy, or fairly near Enid. I didn't sense it. That area of the state has worried me for long being one the most consistently active areas of the state. A 5 or 6+ earthquake from there is too close for comfort to Stillwater.
And so a somewhat stronger earthquake than usual did happen Thurs. night, 4.1 in magnitude, 12 mi. ENE of Hennessy, or fairly near Enid. I didn't sense it. That area of the state has worried me for long being one the most consistently active areas of the state. A 5 or 6+ earthquake from there is too close for comfort to Stillwater.
Some people get "house fever" and just have to have it. Shyster developers feed into this by overbuilding the home with all manner of fancy stuff (granite countertops, luxury master suites, hot tub). Its only 6 months later when they realize that they grossly overpaid for the home for any number of reasons like:
1) It's in the flight path of the airport that's been there since the 1920's.
2) It's near an oil production area that can operate 24 hours a day.
3) Its near the gun range and/or police/sheriff/fire training facility.
4) The river/stream nearby floods every 3 to 5 years.
5) The interstate curve/exit built in the 1950s or 1960s has a lot of road noise.
6) The light commercial/industrial area nearby has a lot of semi trucks driving through it.
7) The view you paid for is actually land owned by someone else who is now developing it.
It's the responsibility of the Planning and Zoning boards to help avoid these kinds of scenarios. The issue is that many of them get run by the developer's buddies or become under pressure to approve the plat to generate revenue for the city.
Just out of high school and my senior year, we moved to a quarter mile from the beach. Sounds great but in addition to the climatic part, and how far inland the fog got in winter, it had a secret. The national list of toxic sites was being assembled but had not been released yet. Across the street was this old processing plant, no longer in operation but never cleaned out. Behind it was a wet pool of mud. It was called the mud dump.
When the list came out, our mess across the street was number two on a list of all national toxic sites. They didn't touch it for a time, just covered it, as that part of the operation would release a lot of toxins.
A year after moving there I developed an auto immune disease which had no other cause. I think my parents might have moved, too, but who was going to buy the house?
It was a nice house with what counted as extras in the seventies. That and being a quarter mile from the pacific ocean should give it great value. But once the list came out you knew nobody was going to buy in that area.
After that, eventually, they brought in equiptment and took away the plant, and then dug out endless truckloads of contaminated soil. They wore breating masks, but nearby residents were never told what to do. Once, my dog wandered over there and we had to rush him to the vet. He survived but it gave us some idea of just how bad it was. And it was being released into the air and smeared all over the street. The smell was noticable when it got wet.
When they got out the structure, they had a dilema. The remainder was in a soupy mess. If not removed it would continue to contaminate. But just to distrub it would release at least twenty times more. So they covered it in dirt and sand and so on. One of the neighbors kids were all sick and moved just leaving the house. They claimed the piled on stuff would seal it under the ground.
Then a couple years later, it was tested and had become even worse. This time they dug out the whole area and made a crater which they then refilled. And it was all that could be done. At no time were close by residents given any information on the dangers until they leaked out in a law suit. But knowing doesn't fix it.
My mom grew weak and sick and it took a little while for a diagnosis as a form of cancer/luchemia, and died that fall. Even before it became apparent, I could see how Dad was losing it, especially memory, and complained about how hard it was to breath. There was a spike in the area of auto immune disease and they were doing nothing about containing the mess, and no plans to help people leave.
Dad had faded into himself and his cancer stole everything about him. It was a fast and damaging form, likely environmental. Mom was 'there' but growing so weak I'd take a breath of relief when she was alive in the morning. I'd had surgery and was doing a bit better, but it wasn't until later that it got worse. A lot of the neighbors had been sick. The company paid out nothing as they only owned the property but had not created the 'conditions'.
The soil in that area is still all these years later considered contaminated, and its a cancer cluster. So close to open beach, people will pay well to be in walking distance. The danger under your feet is reduced, but still there, but there's not a lot of places the ocean is that close. Eventually, the area where the mud dump had been was dug out to be a huge crater, and sealed off and then refilled with clean dirt, and planted so the soil would be covered in plants and not disturbed. The bad stuff isn't gone, but as much as it can be.
If at the start they'd been open about the toxic nature of it, and they'd offered relocation money to people, I'll bet many would have taken it. And if they'd done the best they could and not been wary of the losses, maybe the damage they left wouldn't have been as bad. But there was no real care but money.
If you don't bother to look and discover your new castle had a jet taking off over the house three times a day, then it is on you. You can visit and see and hear. If its things which are hidden, like the soil being bad under your door, then it depends on how easily it is to get information. With us, when we looked they knew and also knew how bad it could get. But it was kept a secret. If it hadn't been, we'd have gone elsewhere and maybe the future would have been different.
I had to look up the city website to pay my property tax, and they had some stats. Since 2010, and the arrival of all the quakes, Cushing's population has dropped from 10,000, to 8,000. I can't find the figure but the most recent since the bad quake is now in the 7's. I didn't look at the values of real estate, especially homes, but wonder what the value of homes has shrunk since we're trapped by powers that be that don't value the welfare and safety of individuals who are in the way.
I also wonder about sales of homes. They were lower cost than other places before, and now I'm sure its less. Really, would you buy now, especially knowing that it's likely to be worse over better? Yes, its cheap but so is the least expensive on the shelf, but it likely won't last as long as better ones.
I am considering going back to California, (not Riverside, though, unless all the smog has blown away. I value breating). Norcal would also be of interest. I'm sure I could find a place to live, but it wouldn't be like your OWN home. I've had apartments and just 'feel' the people behind the walls and hate the place. But then with the drought, the current fire and the one up in Napa will only be the first. I wonder, are those who came here from California following this fire with sad memories?
Maybe some place off the beaten track up in rural norcal.... It sure is a temptation.
I think there, the fraking causing a quake would lead to some sort of enforced responsibility, and rules. Sometimes you NEED rules and should have them. Fraking is one of them. If a company caused a quake, even a small one, it should pay for the damage. It shouldn't matter which state or area it happens in. Here in OK, its a gee sorry, want some money, and then pennies on the dollar. People don't matter, just greed.
I want the movie theater and the book store back and the little place with rocks (am a major rockhound) and classic household things. I'll always remember, my inlaws visiting and he played one of the origional albums for a gramaphone, asking who knows it was. It was 30's jazz. I knew immediately and it was just such a cool thing.
I'm sure he's gone too. I hope he was able to get his classic stuff out.
Soon I fear Cushing will be fast food, cheap stores, Walmart, pizza places (LOVE Mazzios, they should remain), and unless you work in oil, you have a plan to leave. At the very least, these drilling and oil companies should have to pay out to residents the cost of repairs in full. Of course, when you own the politicians you get your way.
I honestly wonder if the state capital lost to an earthquake, more people would decide that its time to say a firm and meaningful NO, and send a bill.
I like Cushing. However the twin potential natural disasters do concern me. I grew up in SoCal and experienced lots of earthquakes. With the potential big one always looming.
However the cost of living is so low that is appealing. California is so out of whack with cost of living I cannot see myself every going back there. The somewhat affordable areas are out in the desert or in the central valley. And with that you have high gas prices, over priced rent and housing etc. Better in Nevada, Arizona or New Mexico IMHO.
I like Cushing. However the twin potential natural disasters do concern me. I grew up in SoCal and experienced lots of earthquakes. With the potential big one always looming.
However the cost of living is so low that is appealing. California is so out of whack with cost of living I cannot see myself every going back there. The somewhat affordable areas are out in the desert or in the central valley. And with that you have high gas prices, over priced rent and housing etc. Better in Nevada, Arizona or New Mexico IMHO.
I grew up in socal too. I remember when the Valley was smaller houses and lots of trees and no freeways, and we'd go to Santa Monica, it was also this friendly, relaxed place with older houses. The other half of my my mom's family all lived in San Pedro. My grandmother moved to a little house near the water and we visited often. But it was a very nice time and place to be in socal. It wasn't the everyones in a hurry to get there yesterday place it became. I think that's one of the things I appreciate about Cushing. It reminds me a lot of some of what made socal a comfortable place to live.
In some ways, I'd love to move back to socal. But I'd basically have to rent a room. Been there, not doing that again. And the person your renting from is probably renting it out to pay the bills. The thing about Cushing, and especially my little house, is it does remind me of the Valley, and especially my grandmothers little house. I remember the Valley before the freeways, and Mom grew up in North Hollywood, and my aunt and uncle were in Van Nuys. Thing is, to go back it won't be anything like that anymore, and it was already getting too 'busy' when we moved to the beach. You just can't go home again.
I'd move to Arizona if I knew where an old friend of mine lived. But when I visited we drove all over the state and up in the northern parts its just beautiful, with those small old towns... That would be very cool.
Right now, thought I do think about where else I'd go, I have to be realistic and admit that the cost of living in Cushing can't be beat and the small town area I live in really does remind me of the areas where my grandparents lived. And there is no smog. As I had extreme breathing problems with it its a huge motivation to stay.
I just finished reading an eye-opening book called Blowout by Rachel Maddow. A good portion of the book is devoted to Oklahoma to its Fracking and Quakes. A very scary book to read. It was written in 2019 and I do hope things have changed for the better since then in Oklahoma. Like more money for its schools and more tax revenue from the energy companies there.
I just finished reading an eye-opening book called Blowout by Rachel Maddow. A good portion of the book is devoted to Oklahoma to its Fracking and Quakes. A very scary book to read. It was written in 2019 and I do hope things have changed for the better since then in Oklahoma. Like more money for its schools and more tax revenue from the energy companies there.
Earthquakes have been coming down since 2015. Its just a fraction of what it was. The state finally dealt with the situation by shutting well sites near recent earthquakes and that made the difference. Its really a non issue at this point and should left to the states do decide if they want to allow it or not.
I am not a big fan of information given out by a star of a cable show. Anyone who gets in that line of work has dubious credibility to me. I know maddow is a Rhodes Scholar etc. Its like going to a used car lot and the salesperson states they have a PhD and you should trust them in the car purchase. The question is not that but why a person with a PhD chose that line of work. Same for Maddow. The pioneer in her line of work was Larry King. I guess the answer is money. Lots of money in being a star of a cable show.
That being said fracking is very important to the Oklahoma economy. When oil prices plunged early this spring lots of people were quickly laid off. If Democrats get their way fracking will stop and it will devastate Oklahoma.
I just finished reading an eye-opening book called Blowout by Rachel Maddow. A good portion of the book is devoted to Oklahoma to its Fracking and Quakes. A very scary book to read. It was written in 2019 and I do hope things have changed for the better since then in Oklahoma. Like more money for its schools and more tax revenue from the energy companies there.
As Oklazona stated, things are way better than they were just a few years ago regarding fracking and quakes.
However it may just be the downturn in drilling in the oil industry which has reduced oil extraction activities here.
But we have cleared the main hurdle. For a number of years oil companies and conservatives in Oklahoma steadfastly refused to believe that fracking was the culprit for the earthquakes.
Then they went with this odd notion that it wasn't "fracking" it was the disposal wells that caused the earthquakes as if somehow this was actually different. (Disposal wells store the wastewater from fracking).
Finally, they admitted the truth, the fracking was causing the earthquakes and began to work with a more regulated and restrictive program. The results were almost immediate but again, it coincided with less activity.
I'm sure the Maddow book was written before the positive changes were implemented (it might have been released in 2019 but I'm sure the data was from the earlier times) and I'm sure she made it sound worse than it even actually was because that is her agenda as part of the green energy club.
I hate to parrot Mr Trump but.....we'll see what happens.
Finally, they admitted the truth, the fracking was causing the earthquakes and began to work with a more regulated and restrictive program. The results were almost immediate but again, it coincided with less activity.
I'm sure the Maddow book was written before the positive changes were implemented (it might have been released in 2019 but I'm sure the data was from the earlier times) and I'm sure she made it sound worse than it even actually was because that is her agenda as part of the green energy club.
I hate to parrot Mr Trump but.....we'll see what happens.
I agree. What big oil got away with in Oklahoma could get me on a long rant about banning all political donations but that is another story.
Not a fan of Trump and I am fine with alternative energy getting more attention but I do have a problem with the Democrats and fracking. Even if we got to the point of not needing fossil fuels other countries will still want to buy it and for American jobs we should produce all the oil we can. And it seems we can do that without making Oklahoma the earthquake capital of America.
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