CNN news 2012-01-23 加文本

cnn news 2012-01-23

AZUZ: Natural gas can be used for energy. One of the ways companies that get it is called hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. It`s when engineers use water and chemicals to crack open rocks deep underground, and that releases those natural gases.

There`s a debate happening in Youngstown, Ohio. It`s not about fracking itself. It`s about what happens to the water and chemicals afterward. and it`s launched a scientific investigation. Poppy Harlow has the details on this for us.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We want to know what`s causing the earthquake.

POPPY HARLOW, cnnMONEY.COM (voice-over): Youngstown residents are demanding answers about why their houses shook on New Year`s Eve.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`ve never heard -- had an earthquake in my whole life.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was frightening.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I thought a jet airliner crashed on the side of my house.

HARLOW: It was the biggest of 11 earthquakes here since mid-March. And get this: scientists tell us they think they`re manmade.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the New Year`s Eve earthquake.

HARLOW (voice-over): Seismologist John Armbruster says the 4.0 quake was likely triggered by this disposal well, which injects wastewater from fracking and oil and gas drilling at intense pressures, nearly 9200 feet underground.

JOHN ARMBRUSTER, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY SEISMOLOGIST: Injecting this much waste is disrupting Mother Nature. And Mother Nature, in this one case, is biting back.

HARLOW (voice-over): The company, D and L Energy, says proximity alone does not prove causation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Channels one, two, and three are --

HARLOW (voice-over): Ohio called on Armbruster to help figure out what`s causing all the earthquakes --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You only need one disc.

HARLOW (voice-over): -- and closed five nearby disposal wells indefinitely.

RICK SIMMERS, OHIO DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES: It`s possible that there`s induced seismic activity, so that`s one possibility.

HARLOW: Manmade earthquakes?

SIMMERS: Correct, but we don`t have conclusive proof yet.

HARLOW (voice-over): There are more than 170 of these wells across Ohio.

HARLOW: We wanted to understand how this process really worked, so we`re getting a rare look at these massive waste tanks, and then how it is all injected deep into the earth.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Truck`s unloading the two tanks, then it is going through a filter and then injected down a hole. We`re putting it exactly where the federal government says to put it.

HARLOW (voice-over): It is mostly saltwater, but also a small amount of chemicals from the frack fluid used to break apart the shale.

HARLOW: How much drilling wastewater is being pumped deep into the earth here?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Two thousand barrels a day approximately.

MAYOR CHUCK SAMMARONE, YOUNGSTOWN, OHIO: I`ve lived here about 42 years. We`ve never had an earthquake like that.

HARLOW (voice-over): A proponent of fracking for the jobs it brings to this depressed economy, Youngstown`s mayor is now worried.

SAMMARONE: When you feel unsafe in your own house, then it`s a serious situation.

HARLOW (voice-over): The fracking boom is causing huge demand for more disposal well permits.

HARLOW: State Rep Bob Hagan is calling for a moratorium on all injection wells in Ohio.

ROBERT HAGAN, (D), OHIO HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES: It would stop the development of the best economic opportunity that`s ever presented itself over the past two decades for the state of Ohio.

AZUZ (voice-over): Scientists hope they`re a little closer to solving a historic maritime mystery. This is the remains of the H.L. Hunley. It was a Confederate submarine from the U.S. Civil War. In fact, this is the first sub in history to sink an enemy warship.

But in 1864, the Hunley sank, too, and nobody knows why. It was pulled out of the water about 12 years ago. The truss that pulled it out was removed for the first time last week. One researcher said being able to see the Hunley without the truss is like looking at the sub for the first time. He`s hoping this new view will lead to some new clues about what happened to this ship.

AZUZ: And finally today, we may never know why the chicken crossed the road.

AZUZ (voice-over): But we do know who could help stop traffic for her. Say hello to Sophie (ph), one of New York`s newest crossing guards. Her owner volunteered for the job recently on one condition: Sophie (ph) had to be able to work, too.

The mini-stop sign she`s carrying there is custom-made for canine carrying. Sophie makes every trip across the street with students. You might wonder what breed is best for this job.

AZUZ: Sophie is part German shepherd, part black Lab and 100 percent guard dog. So you better not cross her. That "tail" brings today`s program to a close. For cnn Student News, I`m Carl Azuz, and we will see you tomorrow.